Groov co-founder Sir John Kirwan credits deep breathing with “saving his life”. He practices deep breathing around six times a day to calm his body and relax his mind. It’s one of the most powerful things he does to stay mentally well.
So, why is deep breathing so powerful? What does deep breathing do to our body and mind?
Let’s take a closer look at the science.
Stress is more than just a feeling. When you’re stressed, your clever body tries to protect you from harm. Your sympathetic nervous system kicks into gear, which triggers your fight or flight response.
Fight for flight is typically characterized by:
Short, rapid, shallow breaths
Elevated stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline
Faster heart rate
Reduced pain perception
When your body is in fight or flight, it’s trying to pump more oxygen to your brain and prime you to deal with danger. Fight or flight works wonderfully when there’s a serious, immediate threat to contend with – like a car hurtling towards you.
The problem is, the fight or flight response is very sensitive. It’s easily triggered by all sorts of things, like unread emails or a frightening scene on television. Your amygdala, the part of the brain that initiates the fight or flight response, does not differentiate between real, immediate threats and threats in your imagination.
To complicate things further, fight or flight is an automatic response. Even though you know it’s ‘just an email, not a tiger’, your body will respond as if it’s about to face a tiger!
Deep breathing is your ticket out of fight or flight and back into relaxation. Deep breathing helps trigger your parasympathetic nervous system, which controls your ‘rest and digest’ response. That’s science speak for: deep breathing helps you feel calm. It lowers your heart rate, decreases your stress hormones, and signals to your body that it’s safe to relax.
Relaxation is about more than just feeling chill, although that’s a lovely side effect. Staying relaxed actually improves your ability to function well in most situations (with the notable exception of when you’re running away from a tiger).
When you’re relaxed, your body finds it easier to digest food, make complicated decisions, heal and recover, build new neural connections, and sleep deeply. You’re more likely to feel capable of tackling difficult tasks. And, you’re less likely to feel anxious.
Of course, you need both the fight and flight response and the relaxation response to stay safe. But in today’s modern world – with all our notifications and alerts – it’s easy to spend too much time in fight or flight. When you’re constantly on high alert, you’re at greater risk of burnout. You also miss out on vital rest and recovery.
Deep breathing is one of the fastest ways to switch from fight and flight to relaxation. It’s something you can do quickly and easily whenever you start feeling stressed. That’s why Sir JK practises deep breathing six times a day.
Stress is ever-present – potentially lurking around every corner or in every email – and deep breathing is the antidote. It helps you feel more in control of your stress response, instead of feeling like your stress response controls you.
The ability to switch off the fight or flight response is arguably deep breathing’s biggest benefit – but there are plenty of other great reasons to breathe.
Science shows that deep breathing also helps to:
Improve posture
Lower heart rate and blood pressure
Support the immune system
Improve digestion
Improve core muscle stability
Support you to cope with anxiety
There’s also plenty of anecdotal evidence about deep breathing. People often report feeling happier, clearer, and more mindful when they take time to breathe deeply.
Give it a try and enjoy the benefits of deep breathing for yourself. Your body, mind, and stress response will thank you for it.