Breathe Through the Holidays
By Tory Wegner, LAc
The holidays are upon us once again and what should be a wonderful time of year, for many has turned into a time of extra stress! People are working, traveling, and not to mention shopping, trying to get all the loose ends tied up before the end of the year. It’s no surprise that the clinic is full of sick and stressed out people right now.
I want to help people relax by reminding everyone to take a deep breath. I know this sounds pretty rudimentary, I mean we all know we have to breathe to live, but there are physiological benefits to paying attention to how we breathe. Here’s a quick and basic science lesson: the body’s autonomic nervous system (ANS) is divided into two main parts, the sympathetic and parasympathetic branch. The sympathetic system is the “fight or flight” response system. During times of emotional stress our sympathetic nervous system is stimulated and affects a number of physical responses. Our heart rate rises, we perspire, our muscles tense and our breathing is rapid and shallow. If this process happens over a long period of time, the sympathetic nervous system becomes over stimulated leading to an imbalance that can effect our physical health resulting in inflammation, high blood pressure and muscle pain to name a few…this may sound familiar because it’s a state that most people are in! The parasympathetic system on the other hand is the “rest and digest” system and is responsible for helping our bodies recuperate and return to a balanced state.
Deep, slow breathing is the fastest way to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. Active breathing techniques are the basis for yoga, meditation, tai qi, and gi gong practices because they help make a connection between body and mind. There are many different breathing exercises out there and lots of resources. A good book by Stephen Elliot is called “The New Science of Breath” and Dr. Weil has a book called “Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing.” Dr. Weil’s website has good information too and here is a simple “4-7-8” breathing exercise from it.
Sit straight, and place the tip of your tongue behind your front teeth and keep it there through the entire exercise.
Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound
Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose, count to 4
Hold our breath for a count of 7
Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound, count of 8
This is one breath. Now inhale and repeat the cycle
Practicing deep breathing every day will keep you out of chronic stress mode and help make the holidays a little more enjoyable. If you start feeling stressed this holiday season, remember to take control and focus on full, deep breathing!