First things first, the info in this paper is based on two books: Breathe by James Nestor and Conscious Breathingby Anders Olsson. It is not a copy of those books but is a personal rendition of the knowledge I derived from them. I highly, highly recommend both of these books.
Breathing Basics – Nose Breathing
One of the core habits to follow is nose breathing. This is the easiest to remember and the least strenuous. Breathing through the nose ensures the sinuses function as intended and the air we breathe is – well – the best.
Much like a radiator and an air filter ensure the air getting to a car’s engine is clean and at the appropriate temperature, our nose and sinuses perform similar duty for our body. Features of our nose and sinuses that do this are cilia, mucus, and sinus structure. Cilia are extremely small hairlike projections that catch bits of dust, dirt, and bacteria from the air passing through the nose. Mucus is a well-known, sticky, wet substance. It helps catch and bind harmful dirt, smoke, bacteria, and dust. Sinus structure breaks down the direct flow of air into the lungs. It exposes it to body heated internal cavity space. Like geothermal heat, the nasal and sinus cavities are heated by blood vessels beneath the internal lining of the cavity. This heats the space in the cavity and contributes to the warming, or even cooling (100-degree Fahrenheit outdoor temps), of air passing into the lungs. Each of these amazing body features, all wrapped up in our nose and sinuses, relies on nose breathing. Breathing through the mouth and throat does expose the air to some internal cavity space and mucus. However, mouth breathing doesn’t engage cilia and reduces mucus and internal cavity exposure. Simply put, nasal breathing directly leads to us having safer, healthier, air in our lungs.
Breathing for Anxiety/Fear
Anxiety has become a monstrous word today. The religious past would’ve referred to anxiety as fear, and I’m sure there are many clinicians who would disagree with me using the words fear and anxiety synonymously. However, severe fear and severe anxiety are definitely synonymous. I personally prefer the word fear on the grounds that fear implies the person experiencing it can control the mental experience. Anxiety on the other hand reads like a disorder, with a locus of control mostly caused by external, uncontrollable factors. This is a linguistics and a diagnosis debate though, and unrelated to breathing. Whether one chooses to experience fear or anxiety – breathing is a way for someone to, at least partially, control the negative experience of fear.
The primary tricks I use to counteract fear are slowing the pace of my breathing down and full exhales. Although, these are healthy breathing practices without the experience of fear. The pace most beneficial to me has been a 5 sec inhale followed by a 6 sec exhale. The original model taught in Breathe is 5.5 sec in 5.5 sec out. I made a slight modification because air seems to enter my lungs faster than it leaves. For pediatrics, I found 4 sec in and 4 sec out works well too. In any case, the 5.5 sec method in Breathe is a good timing benchmark to stay close to.
Now when it comes to fully exhaling, posture and diaphragm motion come into play. However, another trick for ensuring a full exhale is counting numbers. The lungs expel air when one talks, so counting until one is entirely out of breath introduces them to how it feels to fully exhale all the air in the lungs. I track whether I’ve expelled all the air from my lungs by breathing from my belly, and for me to breathe through my belly, I need to pay attention to my posture.
A few years ago, mewing became a popular internet trend. It seems the hype has died down, but at that time I was inspired to re-read the chapter in Breathe where the author, James Nestor, interviewed John Mew (inventor of mewing) and his son. This opened my eyes to my new perspective on posture. To adjust my posture, I begin standing up and making an -ing sound. This sound presses my tongue to the roof of my mouth and puts the tip of my tongue a cm or so behind my upper teeth. Then as I press up with my tongue, a few body motions occur simultaneously: my knees slightly bend, my lower back arches, my sternum and chest press out, and my shoulders drop (not hunch). From this upright position, breathing will be felt and seen in the upper belly just below the sternum. However, even in poor posture positions, breathing can still be channeled through the diaphragm and seen and felt just below the sternum. It’s most comfortable when standing upright with good posture or lying flat on your back, but deep belly breathing is always better than shallow chest breaths.
Good posture and belly breathing are not easy. My one, quite old, aunt complains the pain in her spine is too much for it. There is a stretching of the spine when one stands upright and breathes through their stomach. This deep, slow breathing requires a balance of muscle groups in the back, abdominal region, chest, legs, neck and shoulders. Perhaps even more muscle groups are involved. These are just the ones I feel while practicing. I find if I drink heavily or eat too much, my abdominal area bloats and the practice of holding posture and slow, deep breathing becomes even more difficult. When I first started this about a year ago, I couldn’t do it all day. Even now, it’s still difficult to hold great posture standing all day. Overtime though the skill has improved dramatically and I’m rapidly closing on a full-day of posture health.
Putting this all together, I can see no reason why one shouldn’t be motivated to incorporate a habit which reduces heartrate (very visible when sec 5.5 breathing full exhale breathing), improves entire body musculature, eases fear response, and improves sexual health (soon to be discussed).
And before I conclude this section, I want to address the fear in the title. I feel the heading and the writing are a bit misaligned. I gave this section its title, because I’ve found it extremely beneficial to focus on posture and breathing when in fear inducing situations. Further, it’s helpful during the emotions that derive from fear like hate, anger, and greed. It’s a combination of grounding the body through increased musculature awareness and slowing the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) down. It’s pushing the whole body into posture with the tongue and finding the strength to do so with slow, deep, powerful belly breathes.
Breathing for Exercise and Sex
Much of what has already been written applies to this section. Breathing down through the nose, while engaging the diaphragm (upper belly) in good posture is a secret sauce to stamina and relaxation into the body. This is likely because it improves the balance of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the blood and slowing pulse. I can guarantee improvements in the exercise ability of both genders who, for greater than a month, choose to practice the breathing and posture exercises mentioned, and well… sex is definitely exercise.
If you skipped to this section, sorry darling, you must go on back and read the first two sections for a more in-depth answer.
Fun Little Nose-Breathing Exercise: Mouth Taping
If you want the benefits of nose breathing 24/7, then mouth taping is for you my friend. It’s simply taking a small strip of medical cloth tape and taping the mouth closed while asleep. A little strip right anchored on my upper lip and positioned in the center of my mouth is what I go for. No need for a hermetic seal either. It should just be there to prevent the mouth gaping open. A half centimeter gap is no stress. All the benefits of nose breathing 24/7. It’s magic. Plus, someone at the gym told me once that Lebron James tapes his mouth shut at night. I’m not saying this hearsay is true, but…
In Conclusion
I know nothing. I’m only jesting. I know some things of course. I use this dramatic turn of phrase to emphasize that I am still yet a novice in the world of breathing wisdom. I’m writing here for a friend that told me they didn’t know anything about the field. I only know some things, and one day, it might turn out that those some things are wrong. So, take this piece of writing as it is: a recommendation for some activities that have changed my life for the better. I hope you try them out for like a month and see how it goes for you.
Marcus King 