Your Key to Your Nervous System: Your Breath

by Nina

Have you ever wondered why you tend to yawn when you’re sleepy? Well, a yawn is a great big inhalation. And because your heart rate tends to speed up on your inhalation, that yawn in the middle of that boring lecture or business meeting is little message to your nervous system: wake up! On the other hand, when you are upset about something, you tend to sigh. That sigh—try one!—is an extra long exhalation. Because your heart rate tends to slow on your exhalation, that sigh while you are feeling emotional turmoil or are just stuck in traffic is a little message to your nervous system: take it easy, buddy, slow down a bit.

Your autonomic nervous system is the part of your nervous system that controls the functions of your body, such as digestion, heartbeat, blood pressure, and breathing, that are “involuntary,” meaning the functions that you don’t have to think about. The autonomic nervous system is also the part of your nervous system that sends you into stress mode (fight or flight) and that triggers the relaxation response. And while you cannot tell your nervous system directly to slow your heart beat, digest your food more quickly (that would be nice, wouldn’t it?), or to start relaxing right this minute, you can control your breath.

Think about it: even though you breathe without thinking about it, you can intentionally hold your breath, speed up your breath, slow down your breath, breathe through one nostril instead of the other, and so on. And this ability to alter your breathing is what gives you the key to your nervous system, providing you with some control over its “involuntary” functions.

Tide Under First Bridge by Brad Gibson

In my post on the stress response (see "Chronic Stress: An Introduction"), I mentioned that in stress mode your body uses more oxygen (for fighting or fleeing) while in relaxation mode your body needs less oxygen (for resting and digesting). It turns out that by intentionally taking in more oxygen (either by speeding up your breath or by lengthening your inhalation) you can stimulate your nervous system and that by taking in less oxygen (by slowing your breath or lengthening your exhalation), you can calm yourself down. It’s that simple. (See "Stress Test" for my example of using breath practice to stay calm during oral surgery.)

Yogic breath practices have evolved over thousands of years as yogis experimented on themselves and passed on their discoveries their students. And while some schools of yoga teach yogic breath practices (pranayama) to beginners, the type of yoga that I’m trained in, Iyengar style, considers breath practices to be so powerful that pranayama is introduced very gradually.

We’ll be introducing some simple breath practices in the coming weeks, but until then start by tuning into your breath throughout the day. When you’re standing in a long line at the post office, fighting the crowds at the grocery store, or are stuck in traffic, are you taking quick breaths, deep breaths or sighing? When you’re taking a hot bubble bath, petting your dog, or chatting with your partner after a good dinner, are you taking slow breaths, shallow breaths, or—oops!—yawning?

Yoga for Insomnia, Part 1

by Nina

Paul Weston and his new therapist from "In Treatment"

There I was on Saturday night, doing that thing where you talk out loud to a fictional character on your TV screen. But, really, Paul Weston in Season 3 of “In Treatment” was asking his new therapist for another Ambien prescription. And when he told her that he’d been taking Ambien every night for over a year, I just lost it. I said, “That’s addiction, not a solution! You need to help him wean himself off the pills!” But his therapist wouldn’t listen to me. And then Paul told her that even with the pills he didn’t sleep through the night, but always woke from a nightmare after several hours, and then had trouble going back to sleep, often taking another Ambien to get himself through the second part of the night. He was worried that he might have Parkinson’s Disease. But even though I begged her to offer him an alternative, in the end his therapist wrote him another prescription and said he could come back and talk to her if he wished, so besides the pills all she had to offer him was long-term talk therapy.

Then on Sunday morning I was doing it again because I read an article in the NY Times “Sleep Medication: Mother’s New Little Helper” (see here) about mothers who can’t sleep because they are too stressed out about all the little things they had to do, and instead spend hours in the middle of the night fretting over their “To Do” lists. Both the author of the article and the women themselves seemed to think the only options these women had were sleeping pills or lack of sleep. “Conscious relaxation!” I shouted to the author and the women in the article, but to no avail. It is just part of being a mom these days, they claimed. Some of them even talked about how useful it was to have time to themselves in the middle of the night, when they could get even more work done.

It’s a good thing I can rant in this post today! I do think sleeping pills can be useful on a short-term basis to get you through a short, difficult spell, but they are not a long-term solution because they do not solve the underlying problems (and you do, in fact, become addicted after just two weeks). If you read my first post on chronic stress (see here) you will know that what’s keeping both Paul and the women in the NY Times article from sleeping well is chronic stress. And a different solution to their insomnia could be practicing yoga stress management techniques. So what would I prescribe for Paul Weston?

During the afternoon or evening, Paul should practice calming yoga poses, such as restorative poses, supported forward bends or supported inversions (such as Legs Up the Wall Pose). Seated meditation is another good option for this time of day. If Paul can do Savavana or yoga nidra without falling asleep, these practices would also be effective, but taking a nap won’t be effective. The idea is for him to switch his nervous system from chronic stress to the relaxation response, providing him with time in a state of conscious relaxation. (See here for info on the difference between conscious relaxation and sleep.)

Then when Paul is in bed trying to fall asleep, I’d recommend either yogic breath awareness (or extending the exhalation) or a self-guided Savasana (such as progressive physical relaxation of different body parts) so that when he falls asleep he will be more relaxed (and will hopefully sleep deeper and longer). Even though he has important things to worry about, the key is to keep his mind on neutral subjects when he is going to sleep (he can always do his worrying the next day!).

Finally, if Paul wakes in the middle of the night, rather than getting up and turning on the light to read a book, work on the computer, or watch TV (these activities are mildly stimulating), I’d recommend that Paul stay in bed in the dark, and again do a yogic breath practice or a self-guided Savasana. There is a good chance this will help him get back to sleep again. Granted, worrying is very tempting; in the middle of the night it feels like important work. But like any other practice, moving the mind away from worry to a more neutral subject gets easier and easier with experience.

“Paul,” I’d say, “I’ve been there, too. And these are all practices that have helped me learn to sleep better, even during stressful times.”

STRESS TEST

by Nina

“You did great,” my oral surgeon said. “In fact, you were the most relaxed patient I’ve ever worked on. You even fell asleep there for a while.”

“Wasn’t asleep,” I mumbled through my numb and swollen lips. “Was doing yogic breathing.”

He looked at me with fascination, then quickly handed me a piece of paper and a pen. “Could you write down what you did for me?”

“Uh, email you later?”

Of course I didn’t become so good at yogic breathing just so I could stay, uh, relatively relaxed during gum surgery (though it was certainly an interesting test of my skills). As someone who once suffered from agitated depression, I’ve been using yogic breathing, along with many yoga techniques, for many years to manage my stress levels for my emotional wellbeing.

Under the Beach Umbrella by Joan Webster

Now it turns out that I’ve been practicing yoga for healthy aging while I was at it. Because I can tell you right now that along with exercise and diet, stress management is one of the most important keys to healthy aging. Chronic stress contributes to many common age-related diseases, such as high blood pressure and heart disease, and can cause a weakened immune system overall. It also affects the quality of your life. Possible effects of chronic stress include: chronic anxiety or depression, insomnia and/or fatigue, headaches, and digestive disorders.

And how does yoga help you manage your stress? Let me count the ways:

1. breath practices and meditation trigger the relaxation response 

2. inverted poses (and semi-inverted poses) physically reduce your stress levels

3. restorative yoga poses relax your body and quiet your nervous sytem 

4. active yoga poses (such as standing poses, twists, and backbends) release stress from your body and create a focus for your mind

5. yoga philosophy teaches you to cultivate equanimity in the face of difficulty

Over time, I’ll be providing detailed information and instructions for techniques in each of these different categories. And I hope very much that you’ll find one or more that’s useful.

And in case you’re wondering, yes, I did eventually email my oral surgeon. Next time you’re in a dentist chair (or are lying sleepless in bed, need a break after a stressful day, or just want to experiment), maybe you can try:

Breath awareness. Focus your attention on your natural breath, observing how your abdomen or chest rises with your inhalation and falls with your exhalation. When your mind wanders from your breath (to the dental procedure or any other topic), simply, and without judgment, return your attention to your breath. It is natural to be distracted from this practice, but it seems to work even if your attention wanders repeatedly.

Focusing on your breath will enable you to keep your mind of neutral topics rather than stressful ones, and after 10 or 20 minutes, the relaxation response (identified by Dr. Herbert Bensen of Harvard Medical School in the 1970s) will be triggered.

Extending the exhalation. The heart slows during the exhalation (and speeds up during the inhalation) so extending your exhalation is a relaxing breath practice (and also provides the benefits of breath awareness above). Take a deep soft inhalation followed by a deep soft exhalation. At the end of the exhalation, instead of inhaling again, retain your exhalation for one or two beats. Repeat through the procedure. Keep it easy. At no time should there be strain. If needed, return to your natural breath at any time.

During my procedure I did the second breath practice (extending the exhalation). But I’m very experienced with yogic breathing, and we generally recommend that beginners to start with simple breath awareness.