I am so excited to embark upon this new endeavor. To learn, research, practice and share all that I can about our breath. It seems, at first, that there would be no more to know other than the act of breathing, which we do almost unconsciously. In and out, we inhale air to nourish our bodies with oxygen and we breathe out the carbon dioxide our bodies produce. If we are breathing, we are alive.
What else is there for us to know? Well, as a short list develops, the practice of pranayama jumps to mind, breathing exercises like 4 square breathing, breathing for relaxation, circular breathing, deep breathing and shallow breathes. Singing, talking, coughing, snoring, illness, bad breath and our last breath. The more I think about it, the list seems endless, with mediation, exercise, tantric breathing, blowing bubbles, holding our breath while swimming and so on. Could we not improve our environments in order to improve our breath with positive and negative ions, plants, and attention to VOC's, or the addition or removal of stimulating smells and scents? Please comment below to add to this list, if there is a topic about breath you would like me to explore in more depth.
Already, by reading about breath, you have, no doubt, brought your attention to your own breathing. If it was shallow or quick, you might have taken a deep breathe, maybe even shifted in your chair to open up your lungs more completely. You may feel more relaxed as you release any tension with your breathing.
The first exercise that I would like to start with, is a simple technique that I was taught many years ago by one of my first yoga teachers. It brings attention to your breath and awareness to the energy levels in your body very quickly, like a little check-in with yourself.
Start by placing one finger over a nostril. Take a breath in through one side of your nose, while closing or sealing off the other side. Then alternate and breath in and out only through the other nostril. You will notice that one side is easier to breathe through than the other. Or that one side is more dominate than the other.
Image: Shutterstock
Our sinuses alternate dominance approximately once every one to two and half hours, this is referred to as our "nasal cycle". Now I was taught that when your left nostril is dominate, your body is more attuned to resting, may that be sleeping, quite contemplation or other calmer activities. But when your right nostril is dominate, then your ready for high energy activities. You can influence this dominance by lying on one side of your body with the nostril you want to clear or dominate on top of your body. This can be helpful when you are trying to go to bed and your right nostril is dominate, keeping you awake. By lying on the right side of your body, your left nostril will slowly clear and become dominate, cueing your body that it is time for rest.
"So basically in the course of the day you alternate between more active and more restful states, which is confirmed by a widely accepted BRAC hypothesis (basic rest-activity cycle)."
I had never thought to deeply about the physiological explanation of this cycle, but as it turns out, it is a fascinating phenomenon within us that can be further combined with other breathing techniques to stimulate certain outcomes.
"Most organs in the body (including cerebral hemispheres) are innervated by fibers from both SNS (fight-or-flight) and PNS (rest-and-digest). There are a bunch of those nerves in the nose, too. We have one set of the nerves that covers the right side of the body and the right nostril, and another one that covers the left side and the left nostril. What scientists are finding now is that those fibers have opposing effects. This means that at any given moment you have sympathetic dominance on one side of the body (and breathe mostly through that nostril) and parasympathetic dominance on the other. Then some time later they switch. This is called “lateralized ultradian rhythms of the ANS”. So basically the nasal cycle is an indicator of the switch that happens between the SNS and PNS from one side to another."
Yogis are a huge source of wisdom when studying and practicing breathing. They have mastered breathing techniques and practiced poses to open up the lungs. They can control body temperature, energy, balance and state of mind through the breath. Over the following days and months and maybe years, I hope to delve deeply into many of these breathing exercises. If you choose to join me on this journey, I foresee that we will learn many simple techniques that can be used to better our lives, in so many ways!
Stay tuned or subscribe, in the next blog, I will find out more about honeymoon rhinitis!
In the mean time, keep exercising your breath!
Kerri
What else is there for us to know? Well, as a short list develops, the practice of pranayama jumps to mind, breathing exercises like 4 square breathing, breathing for relaxation, circular breathing, deep breathing and shallow breathes. Singing, talking, coughing, snoring, illness, bad breath and our last breath. The more I think about it, the list seems endless, with mediation, exercise, tantric breathing, blowing bubbles, holding our breath while swimming and so on. Could we not improve our environments in order to improve our breath with positive and negative ions, plants, and attention to VOC's, or the addition or removal of stimulating smells and scents? Please comment below to add to this list, if there is a topic about breath you would like me to explore in more depth.
Already, by reading about breath, you have, no doubt, brought your attention to your own breathing. If it was shallow or quick, you might have taken a deep breathe, maybe even shifted in your chair to open up your lungs more completely. You may feel more relaxed as you release any tension with your breathing.
The first exercise that I would like to start with, is a simple technique that I was taught many years ago by one of my first yoga teachers. It brings attention to your breath and awareness to the energy levels in your body very quickly, like a little check-in with yourself.
Start by placing one finger over a nostril. Take a breath in through one side of your nose, while closing or sealing off the other side. Then alternate and breath in and out only through the other nostril. You will notice that one side is easier to breathe through than the other. Or that one side is more dominate than the other.
Image: Shutterstock
Our sinuses alternate dominance approximately once every one to two and half hours, this is referred to as our "nasal cycle". Now I was taught that when your left nostril is dominate, your body is more attuned to resting, may that be sleeping, quite contemplation or other calmer activities. But when your right nostril is dominate, then your ready for high energy activities. You can influence this dominance by lying on one side of your body with the nostril you want to clear or dominate on top of your body. This can be helpful when you are trying to go to bed and your right nostril is dominate, keeping you awake. By lying on the right side of your body, your left nostril will slowly clear and become dominate, cueing your body that it is time for rest.
"So basically in the course of the day you alternate between more active and more restful states, which is confirmed by a widely accepted BRAC hypothesis (basic rest-activity cycle)."
I had never thought to deeply about the physiological explanation of this cycle, but as it turns out, it is a fascinating phenomenon within us that can be further combined with other breathing techniques to stimulate certain outcomes.
"Most organs in the body (including cerebral hemispheres) are innervated by fibers from both SNS (fight-or-flight) and PNS (rest-and-digest). There are a bunch of those nerves in the nose, too. We have one set of the nerves that covers the right side of the body and the right nostril, and another one that covers the left side and the left nostril. What scientists are finding now is that those fibers have opposing effects. This means that at any given moment you have sympathetic dominance on one side of the body (and breathe mostly through that nostril) and parasympathetic dominance on the other. Then some time later they switch. This is called “lateralized ultradian rhythms of the ANS”. So basically the nasal cycle is an indicator of the switch that happens between the SNS and PNS from one side to another."
Yogis are a huge source of wisdom when studying and practicing breathing. They have mastered breathing techniques and practiced poses to open up the lungs. They can control body temperature, energy, balance and state of mind through the breath. Over the following days and months and maybe years, I hope to delve deeply into many of these breathing exercises. If you choose to join me on this journey, I foresee that we will learn many simple techniques that can be used to better our lives, in so many ways!
Stay tuned or subscribe, in the next blog, I will find out more about honeymoon rhinitis!
In the mean time, keep exercising your breath!
Kerri
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