A systems view of biological health

Section 4: Practical exercises

8.3 : Miscellaneous notes 3: Breath

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Your breath can be a useful way to help find sensory and physiological stability and a general awareness of safety. If you are already quite well emotionally resourced, and feel generally safe, then it is possible to use the breath. If there is anxiety, then the breath tends to become short and the lungs tend to only inhale and exhale at the top or bottom. Then an increasing reservoir of carbon dioxide builds up in the periphery of the lungs - which then creates an excess of oxygen in the body, along with a state of physiologically-induced anxiety! This is yet another feedback loop in the body. Most people who are breathless are stuck in an in-breathm and actually need to breathe OUT first - so that they can breathe new air in.

So using the breath : first, focus on achieving a very deep exhalation [1] and let your body breathe itself on the inhalation. Repeating this several times, and then after about 10 breaths "helping" the inhalation to be full for about 3 breaths will help to clear stagnant carbon dioxide, and replenish the lungs with oxygen. This can produce a sense of energised calmness. The effect can be increased if you follow this clearing-out with a couple of minutes of 10 second breath cycles. i.e. 10 seconds = 4 seconds out, 1 second pause, 4 seconds in, 1 second pause.

Do NOT attempt to use the breath if you are feeling very anxious, or if your breathing is permanently restricted to the top of the lungs. If you are not sure about either of these, better not to bother counting the breath at all. But it is still always useful to exhale long and deeply to clear out any stagnant air.