Why does focusing on my breath change how I feel?
For most of us, our breath happens without any conscious thought. Our inhales are followed by our exhales, and the cycle repeats throughout our life. Often we subconsciously change the depth and rate of our breath during periods of stress, deep concentration, or heavy exertion. When we consciously connect to our breath and change the rate and depth of our inhalation and our exhalation, or even invite a pause to occur, we are able to access our autonomic nervous system. In a way, focusing on our breath and changing it is a backdoor way to reset our sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight/freeze) and better access our parasympathetic nervous system (rest/digest/relax).
Our parasympathetic nervous system wants to match the demands on the sympathetic system, but has a limit for how much it can “rev up”. When we are under stress for an extended period of time, our parasympathetic system cannot offer the same type of reset and our sympathetic nervous system remains in overdrive. This may show up as difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep, digestive issues, anxiety, depression, inflammation and other symptoms. Both the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems are monitored by the vagus nerve. This nerve connects the brainstem to the body, allowing the brain to receive information from the nervous system and from the heart, liver and gastrointestinal system. When we take, deep, belly breaths, using our respiratory diaphragm, neurons in our body tell the vagus nerve that our blood pressure is getting too high, and the vagus nerve sends a signal to lower our heart rate. This in turn, helps us feel more relaxed and at peace with the present.
When we add our thoughts, our mind, to the breath practice, we are able to deepen this calm state by reminding our brain and body that there is no-need for a fight/flight/freeze response, helping downregulate our sympathetic nervous system. Manipulating the breath through meditation or other exercises is a practice and takes time to allow the mind and body to arrive into a state of stillness. Even for experienced individuals, there are days where thoughts arrive and challenge the focus of the practice. For me, breathwork and other meditative practices, are a daily reminder of the changing inner landscape of my physical body, mind and soul.