The Path to Breath is Paved with Good Intentions

I work in a fairly high stress environment. Lots of folks opinions, lots of high visibility decisions, a lot of direction that I need to provide to a lot of people that do a difficult job. This demands a certain confidence in one's actions, and a lot of peers and co-workers carry themselves as such. So I thought 30 seconds was not a lot to ask. Boy, was I wrong.

I teach breathwork for as a free service at work, and when I do, I think of the benefits I'm looking to provide. Mental clarity, calm during stressful situations, how to shake off the "brain fog" of long sessions, and how to appropriately gauge reaction and response, I tie all my sessions to these things. Specifically, breathing patterns. 30 seconds.

When I taught my first CRB (Cognitive Reset Breath) technique class, I thought that most folks would have a fairly easy time grasping it. We started as normal, quick work around of bio-mechanics (lateral expansion of the lower and then upper ribs, head over shoulders, shoulders over hips, relax the jaw and neck) and then we started. Inhale, breathe in deep and slow through your nose, slowly, try and relax the bridge of your nose for 8 seconds now hold, relax for 5, now out for 12 seconds and hold for 5, repeat. 30 seconds a breath.

The first 30 seconds, I saw folks visibly struggling, when the second hold was done and it was time to inhale for 8 seconds, many had filled their lungs in 2. They were holding or straining to inhale more. That longer hold did them no favors and more people were not letting their breath go, rather forcing the air out to again hungrily consume another breath. We had not even been breathing for a minute.

Instead of the intended effect, which when done properly (inhale 8 seconds, hold 5 seconds, exhale for 12 seconds, hold for 5 seconds, repeat for 5 minutes) can lead you into a state of calm, focus and clarity by dropping your nervous system from a sympathetic state (BEARS COMING TO GET ME!) to a para-sympathetic state (Oh wait, it's Yogi with a pic-a-nic basket).

Essentially, this comes down to helping guide something called the Baroreflex. As you slow your breath out, your heart rate drops. As this does the baroreceptors in your arteries send signals to the brain, saying "pressure is rising" or "pressure is falling" through the vagus nerves. The brain manages this information accordingly, heart rate, vasal dilation, the releasing of certain hormones such as cortisol, and many other things.

When your exhale is slower than your inhale, the body creates rhythmic blood pressure waves, about 5-6 breaths per minute on average. However, when you hold for too long, breathe in too quickly, and exhale forcefully, the opposite happens. Which is what I currently had on my hands. I work in education by the way. At the district level. So imagine a bunch of school principles just got put into fight or flight mode. And YOU are the one that did it.

On an interesting side note, you know what also doesn't work, is explaining to the people you just put into John Wick standby that they were doing it wrong, and thus they now feel the way they do. 30 seconds. Less than a minute is all it took. Now that is the power of breath.

If anyone ever tells me that breathing does not have any real world, physical effect, that it never has any consequence on outcome or it is simply something that we cannot control. I will probably smile, nod and think of the shortest breath work class that I held to date. Breath is a tool, you truly are your body's alchemist.

This brings me to this blog's conclusion. If a room full of people could be turned on edge so easily, it's absolutely possible for you to regain clarity and focus under even under troubling circumstances. When you are overwhelmed, you can reset yourself to a place of action and awareness. It's a choice. It's an intention. Can you do the work to gain that power? Can you push past the uncomfortably? Can you lean in and meet that stress with relaxation? You are your body's alchemist.

The first law of alchemy, at least according to Full Metal Alchemist, is the Law of Equivalent Exchange. I have this tattooed on my right arm. "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return, in order to obtain, something of equal value must be lost." Are you willing to let go of the habits and behaviors that no longer serve you? Are you ready to gain what that gives in return? Here may be a good place to start. Be well and breathe deep.