Physical activity is vital to keep our muscles, joints, bones, and organs in tip-top shape.
Yet, the importance of deep breathing for your overall well-being cannot be overstated.
It’s important to keep our physical and mental health sturdy by providing enough clean oxygen for our muscles and organs.
Diaphragmatic breathing exercises are great movements to relax the body and mind by accessing and influencing the parasympathetic nervous system, which is a subsystem of the autonomic nervous system.
Nervous system biology
Your nervous system is made up of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.
The central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord.
The peripheral nervous system comprises the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.
The somatic nervous system is under our voluntary control. It allows us to move around by contracting our skeletal muscles at will.
The autonomic nervous system is what we’ll be talking about today.
The autonomic nervous system is not under our selective control. This neural system automatically regulates certain parts of our body without conscious interference, which means it happens outside our awareness.
The autonomic nervous system can be divided into two different neural systems:
Its main function is calming the body by putting us into a relaxed state.
For example, reducing our heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and reduced rate of aging …
This neural system has a stimulating effect on our organic structure. It’s the system that is active when we experience a “fight or flight” situation.
A couple common symptoms of an engaged sympathetic nervous system are experiencing an increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, heightened muscle tension, and producing more cortisol, which is our stress hormone.
We’re not going to explain each nervous system in depth, as this is too time-consuming and not necessary for what I’m explaining today.
However, we’re going to talk a bit more specifically about the parasympathetic nervous system and how we can influence it with specific deep breathing exercises and by breathing deeply through our bellies in general.
The function of the parasympathetic nervous system
As we’ve already explained briefly, the parasympathetic nervous system has a calming influence on the body.
Thus, its purpose is to get and maintain our physical structure in a relaxed state. This way, we spend and waste less of our valuable energy resources.
The parasympathetic nervous system is very important for our general well-being because being in a stimulated state (engaged sympathetic nervous system) places an incredible amount of strain on our body, while simultaneously using a ton of energy.
This was especially essential in ancient times when food was scarce.
Not to mention that being in a prolonged state of hyper-stimulation and extreme energy output ages our body tremendously in just a short amount of time.
That’s why we typically want to be and stay calm. An engaged parasympathetic nervous system can help us to loosen up and remain tranquil to prevent wasting valuable energy. This will also prevent the many detrimental side effects from being in a prolonged “fight or flight” response.
Take note that the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) has a very critical function in the body as well and is thus not necessarily bad. But it is damaging to our bodies when it’s engaged for prolonged periods.
How does deep breathing affect the parasympathetic nervous system?
One of the many benefits of taking slow, deep breaths is naturally engaging the parasympathetic nervous system. That’s why it has a calming effect by default.
Did you know that most people are not breathing deeply enough most of the time? There’s a big difference between deep and shallow breathing that the majority might not even be aware of.
Have you ever noticed that you take superficial breaths with your upper chest when tense and fuller breaths through your belly when relaxed? That’s not a coincidence.
Parasympathetic vs. sympathetic breathing
When comparing the two, we’ll notice a couple of key differences.
Parasympathetic nervous system breathing is slow, controlled, and deep, with an emphasis on a drawn-out exhalation that increases parasympathetic activity, leading to relaxation. It’ll slow your breath and heart rate and cause your blood vessels to widen, while simultaneously narrowing the bronchial tubes.
On the contrary, sympathetic nervous system breathing is rapid, uncontrolled, and shallow, with an extended inhalation resulting in more strain due to the increased engagement of the sympathetic nervous system. This will increase your heart rate and breathing frequency.
Deep breathing benefits
- Reduces stress
Diaphragmatic breathing aids us to feel calmer, and more relaxed, which improves our mood. It prevents, or at the very least lessens the negative mental and physical consequences of stress and breathing superficially.
There’s a link between deep breathing and anxiety as well. Taking slow, deliberate breaths has a positive result on anxiousness and can help to reduce the sometimes crippling symptoms associated with anxiety and phobias.
And while this will be challenging at first, it’s something we can gradually accomplish by becoming more aware of our breathing patterns. Start by noticing the differences between deep and shallow inhales.
- It lowers the heart rate
Deep breathing exercises lower our heart rate, which has multiple health benefits like reducing the risk of a stroke, decreasing cardiac workload, …
- It lowers blood pressure
People, especially athletes, tend to have lower blood pressure.
A lower blood pressure has multiple health benefits, such as a lower risk of stroke, and a decreased risk of health problems such as heart and kidney diseases.
- Allows your body to tolerate intense exercise
Intense exercise means expending a lot of vigor at a rapid pace. To manage this intensity appropriately, correct breathing must be a priority.
This means that learning to control our breathing can enhance our physical performance.
- Expend less energy
Breathing less often allows us to conserve more energy, freeing up valuable resources for other essential tasks.
- Improves core stability
Diaphragmatic breathing can assist with the stabilization of the trunk.
These oftentimes overlooked intrinsic muscles play a much more important role regarding core stability than was previously thought.
Parasympathetic deep breathing exercise
- Sit or lie down in a comfortable position.
Lying down on your back is generally an easier position to take deep breaths since it allows the lungs to contract and expand fully because there’s less muscular tension.
- Put one hand on your belly and the other hand on your chest.
By putting one hand on your belly and the other hand on your chest, you’ll feel as if you’re breathing through your belly instead of shallowly.
- Take a deep breath through your nose.
Taking a deep breath through your nose means your belly should expand while inhaling air deeply through your nose.
- Breathe out slowly through your nose.
Breathe out in a slow and controlled manner through the nose. You know you’re doing good when your belly “shrinks” again.
→ Your chest should not rise or move when you’re taking deep breaths correctly.
If your chest does tend to rise, then that’s typically a sign that you are breathing through your chest instead of your diaphragm. This means that you’re breathing too superficially, which is suboptimal for your general well-being and overall athletic performance.
The first step towards slow, deep breathing without having to think about it is knowing and noticing the differences between the in and exhaling of both deep and shallow breathing.
This is just one specific example of a parasympathetic deep breathing exercise, but many more exist.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is breathing autonomic or somatic?
Breathing typically happens automatically due to our autonomic nervous system because it doesn’t require any intentional effort or thought to do so.
Yet, it can be controlled by the somatic nervous system if we consciously decide to manipulate our breathing. We can make our breathing quicker, shallower, and uncontrolled to engage the sympathetic nervous system.
On the contrary, we can also breathe slower, deeper, and more controlled to relax to employ our parasympathetic nervous system.
For everyday use, we want to utilize our parasympathetic nervous system since it’s healthier, requires less energy, and is less taxing on the body.
Effects of deep breathing on the brain
Deep breathing affects the brain positively by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system, which puts our body in a tranquil state by easing anxiety. Thus, the fight, flight, or freeze response remains at bay.
Breathing deeply will increase the oxygen supply to the brain, which is highly beneficial if we must think or make critical decisions.
It allows us to concentrate for longer periods, while also having more energy because exerting ourselves requires a lot of oxygen.
Furthermore, it aids in improving our mood since we’re more relaxed while experiencing less stress.
How does deep breathing reduce stress?
Deep breathing reduces mental strain by triggering a relaxation response due to activating the parasympathetic nervous system. As a result, our body gets put in a relaxed state, reducing tension and mental tension.
Deep breathing causes us to breathe deeper, more controlled, and slower, which has a positive, soothing influence on our body’s involuntary functions. It’ll slow down our heart rate, breathing frequency, and blood pressure, which is typically very beneficial for our overall well-being.
Final note
Diaphragmatic breathing is critical to activating our parasympathetic nervous system to wind down our body and decrease stress as a result.
That’s why it’s in everyone’s best interest to learn how to practice it to improve our health while reducing anxiousness at the same time.
Taking some time to think about our breathing patterns will go a long way toward creating a healthier lifestyle.
