Breathing to Regulate Stress
Using the Four Part Breathing described below, you can help regulate stress in two minutes any where any time! Learn with the breath to Respond rather than react
● Hack the nervous system to be more available for more options in life
● Lower your stress to think more clearly
● Feel happier and more relaxed through your day
● Be a better influence for others
● Have as more relaxed and healthier body
● Be more focused on what is important
● Have less pain in your body
We have the best tool for managing stress with us all the time, the breath!
The breath is a quick and easy way to lower stress: it’s easy to access and affects the heart, brain and diaphragm among other organs. The polyvagus nerve is connected to most of our internal organs, heart and brain and is activated when we breathe. It can downregulate our nervous system, affecting what is called the parasympathetic part of our nervous system, which will signal the body to relax.
Here is a way to relax right away. The “how and why” below helps strengthen your practice. Enjoy and reach out for more tools and to support you with raising your energy for doing what you most love. For a free training and video click here.
The practice-lower stress right away!
Four Part Breathing:
It takes 2 minutes for the nervous system to change using the breath. So, when you practice the breath, time yourself for two minutes.
Here are the Four Parts:
Breathe In
Pause
Breathe Out
Pause
More Instructions: Notice the inhale, pause, exhale, and pause as you breathe. Do this for 2 minutes and just observe. You can also take this a step further and hold the pauses longer. Breathing out is more calming to the body, so if you lengthen your outbreath to for example 6 counts and your pause after the out breath holding for 3 counts, and keep the inbreath at 4 counts for 2 minutes, this will also calm your nervous system.
Measure your stress level just by noticing. Awareness is an important step toward increasing relaxation. Label your stress level using numbers 0 to 10. Do this afterward to notice the after affect. (this numbering process will help tell your conscious mind how effective this practice is and help you choose to do it again if it is succesful. Just one number lower in stress is progress!)
Why Does This Work?
The diaphragm is lodged under the ribs. It is one of the muscles we can control with the breath, and the vagus nerve is affected directly by its movement. This in turn can down regulate the nervous system since the vagus nerve is related to calming functions via its impact on the heart, brain and organs. HRV-or heart rate variability which measures the coherence of the mind and heart has also been shown to improve with focused slowed breathing and extending the out-breath.
Front and bottom view of the diaphragm is located under the rib cage.
Cross session of the Diaphragm showing opening for Polyvagal Nerve at top-see how moving the diaphragm affects this nerve!
The diaphragm is our friend! We can talk to it!
It is linked to the calming part of our nervous system, called the parasympathetic nervous system and operates most of our unconscious activities like digestion, yet we can control it with the breath. A lot of the parasympathetic systems operate unconsciously and cannot be controlled by us. That is what makes the diaphragm a unique and valuable tool!
The diaphragm relaxes when we breathe out. This signals the mind and heart to lower heart rate partly because the blood volume to space ratio in the heart is lower, so the signals do not increase the flow of blood and the heart. This is why when we breathe out more than in, and extend our pause after an out-breath, we feel often feel more relaxed. There are also calming chemicals that can be stimulated by this practice-neurotransmitter and hormones acting- that calm the system and decrease cortisol.
The diaphragm contracts when we breathe in to generate space for the lungs to take in air. This causes the ratio of blood volume to space in the heart to lower which signals the brain to tell the body to increase heart rate.
So the opposite breath practice is true, for example, some specific techniques of breathing in more quickly and shortening the pause can speed up heart rate and increase energy. Sometimes this quick in and out breathing is used to increase vitality in some traditional yoga breathing practices (be sure you check with a trained professional to learn these techniques safely). However, the four part breathing technique is about how to lower stress, so we will focus on increasing the out-breath.
The diaphragm has an opening to the vagus nerve which sends signals to the brain and is connected to most of the organs. So, by slowing the breathing with longer pauses, the vagus nerve will be affected and also send calming signals to the brain to relax.
Oxytocin is a hormone that helps us feel filled up with good feelings and resources and helps with stress regulation and is stimulated by the vagus nerve. More of this this hormone is increased and sent to the brain by the calm four part breathing.
Greater Productivity and Managing Stress
Why does it make us more productive to lower stress?
The brain uses the more developed thinking part of the brain, the neocortex, when we are calm. When we access the whole brain we experience more clear thinking.
When stressed, less of the brain is available to us. Just the primal area of the brain is available. So, we become reactive and less responsive. This is the fight or flight mode of stress and the blood goes to this part of the brain so that we can “get away from the tiger” as our bodies once needed to do! But there are usually no tigers these days; so, the increased energy and blood to the primal part of the brain builds up. It can leave us with reactivity and overwhelm. In addition, we can lose access to the kind of thinking we need under stress.
Managing Stress and Creating Healthy Habits in the Body
There is such a thing as positive or “good” stress. We can build resilience to stress through activities like exercise, breathing and even intentionally discomforting practices like cold water plunging -check with doctor always when practicing. These activities can stimulate our immune system and nervous system to be more active and resilient.
Exposing the body to manageable stress intentionally -like exercise- can help prepare us for life’s inevitable stresses. The body learns through repeated practice so by consistently applying these tools, you can develop automatic responses when needed.
Positive thoughts can play a crucial role in lowering stress. It is great to have a lot of tools available and see what works best for you.
