04/29/2019
Breathwork - to understand the effect breathing has on the body, itās important to acknowledge the nuances of the autonomic nervous system, the bodily system that regulates the internal organs, instincts, and other primal functions typically outside our conscious awareness. This system has two control functions, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. When our breathing is short and rapid, our stress hormones kick into gearāthe kind of gear that originally told us āA tiger is chasing me, I must flee!ā Todayās more mundane stressors, such as, āI have to send this e-mail before my deadline,ā or āIām kind of upset at so-and-so,ā tax our system and can drain our adrenals, leaving us depleted. We suffer from burnout and need more practices that attend to our inner nurturingāour parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is our ārest-and-digestā mode, which aids in dropping the heart rate and blood pressure, initiating a state of calm.
When we use the breath skillfully, we can support the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, ensuring healthy physiological responses. Different breath practices can ignite different states, either elevating energy or relaxing the body. We can control our emotional states and activate the parasympathetic or sympathetic systems, depending on what we need and how weāre feeling. Anxiety, poor sleep, and stress are significant factors in chronic health condition, all of which could be improved by disciplined attentiveness to the breath.