He explains to me how our breathing is intrinsically linked to our nervous system. “The way we breathe directly affects our mind and body. If we breathe calmly, we will create a sense of calm and calm thoughts will follow. Often when we are stressed, we breathe erratically, with rapid or short breaths. In short, if we fix the breathing, the rest will come by itself.
Many people, he explains, are also stuck in stressful breathing patterns that he calls “breathing archetypes.” You may be a “chest breather” who breathes between your ribs, a “reverse breather” where your belly sucks in toward your spine when you breathe, or perhaps (as he tells me I am as I confuse questions on the phone) a “breath catcher”: someone who takes a deep breath before speaking.
You may also have dysfunctional breathing as a result of trauma. “We all have past experiences stored in our unconscious mind that restrict our breathing,” she says. This can happen after a horrible event, or equally through what he calls “everyday trauma,” for example, a child who is yelled at in class and then holds his breath in fear in lessons. He may have had a stressful week at work that took his breath away and it became a habit. “People get caught up in a stress response, which affects sleep, relationships and can make you sick.”
Inhale, Exhale suggests regularly checking your breathing and correcting bad habits. One of his lessons is to breathe more through your nose, which Sandeman says is a container literally built for breathing: “The nose filters bacteria and pollen from the air and helps create the perfect temperature for the lungs.”
It features several breathing exercises aimed at reducing anxiety, aiding sleep, improving digestion, and controlling pain: Sandeman says that the “calming breaths” exercise done for just five minutes a day has the power to increase the parasympathetic activity of the nervous system. nervous, which causes blood pressure. drop. He promises that you will feel calmer, your creativity will increase and you will make better decisions as your brain becomes receptive instead of reactive.
The most important wellness tools are often right under your nose.
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Breathe In, Breathe Out: Restore Your Health, Reboot Your Mind, and Find Happiness Through Breathing, by Stuart Sandeman, published by HarperCollins, it’s out now
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