Shallow Breathing

Shallow breathing: we breathe by habit-changing.

As it applies to our bodies, I think there are a lot of things that we don’t think about enough. I’m talking about all the “smaller” components, physically and mentally, that is crucial to our overall health and longevity. I have continually expanded the scope of my physical routine by learning things about the body when confronted with a physical challenge or limitation. This is usually the result of one of two things.

1. Lack of knowledge or ignorance. I didn’t realize that something I was doing, or not doing, was harming me because the tangible effects of that action, or inaction, were not yet apparent. Essentially I didn’t know I was making a mistake because the consequences were yet to manifest themselves or they were not yet severe enough to give me pause. Eventually, I would see the ways that a specific problem was undermining my ability to do the things that I loved. When this happened, I would seek appropriate treatment and do everything in my power to make sure that problem never happened again. Through repeating this cycle many times, I have developed a more holistic approach to my health. Many mistakes provided many opportunities to learn about how my body works and the things I need to do to keep it functioning in a way that allows me to keep doing the things I enjoy.
2. I want to do a new activity that requires a new aspect of fitness

For example,

When I was younger, I was reaching new heights as a runner. My 5K time was down to 17:30 and my 10K was inching closer to 39:00 every week. I was running up to 70km a week by the fall of 2020, with a mixture of speed work, long runs, and tempo sessions. Unfortunately, two years of hard training without a single day of stretching, mobility, or strength training in any capacity would catch up with me. In one month I developed IT band syndrome so severe that even walking down the stairs was painful at one point. Shortly after I got Achilles tendonitis on my left side. Between the two injuries, I knew I had to change things or I wouldn’t be able to run the way I like to. In hindsight, I was so naïve about how the body works at that time. Unfortunately, I had to be physically unable to do something I loved to understand that I needed to take care of the “details”. I now do a daily mobility routine and haven’t had an injury related to my hips or calves since.

When I started bouldering and training in Muay Thai kickboxing, it became apparent very quickly that I needed to add a new layer to my physicality. Specifically the flexibility of my hips. By the time I started these activities I was now very flexible in my hamstrings (could put my hands flat on the floor with straight legs) and my calves. I realized that to throw a flashy kick or get my foot to hold, I needed to open up my hips. So I did. Now I can do full splits both ways, and my daily stretching routine places a big emphasis on the groin. This newfound flexibility has allowed me to progress and get more out of the respective activities.

I have learned how to take care of my body over time. Almost always, the impetus was an injury that got in the way of my physical pursuits or a new challenge that demanded something new from me. Today, I am much more proactive when it comes to doing my own research, and preventing things before they happen. Make no mistake, it took time and learning the hard way to reach this mindset. Simply put… the thought of anything slowing me down just pisses me off.

Unfortunately, I think most things in life can be like that; important things never cross our minds until they turn into a problem or a limitation. For me, this tended to be physical things because I have always been active but not always kind to my body.

Then I had a new problem

I realized about six months ago that I didn’t know how to breathe properly. After a particularly stressful period of university and work, I was starting to struggle with my breath in areas where I hadn’t before. In spite of my dedicated fitness regime, I was feeling winded during physical activity and while studying. I took a week to observe my behavior and realized I was shallow breathing! Even worse, the tension in my body was leading me to hold my breath while trying to read. Why I only became aware of the problem then, I am not sure. However, I promptly set out on a mission to fix my breathing. Chances are that unless you have given it much thought, you too are a dyed-in-the-wool chest breather. This means that you are using your rib muscles to bring air into your chest area rather than utilizing your diaphragm to fill your entire lungs with air. The tell-tale sign of a chest-breathing is the raising of your shoulders with the simultaneous contraction of your abdomen. There is a visible difference between this and proper diaphragmatic breathing where the belly expands outward to make room for the diaphragm.

So why is this a problem?

When we shallow breathe, we are only providing ourselves with a limited amount of oxygen which in turn puts our bodies in a state of stress. Stress leads to the activation of our sympathetic nervous system. When the sympathetic nervous system takes over, our body releases large amounts of epinephrine into the bloodstream.  This, in turn, raises our heart rate, blood pressure, and cardiac output (the volume of blood the heart pumps), increases blood flow to our skeletal muscles and decreases it to our digestive system. These effects combine for what we refer to as that “fight or flight response”. Essentially, our body is preparing us to deal with an imminent threat or danger.

The problem arises when our lifestyle has us in a state of chronic stress, therefore leaving the body in constant anticipation of a physical danger that isn’t coming. Bad sleep, long hours, and anxiety can all lead to the long-term release of stress-induced substances such as epinephrine and cortisol. In turn, this leaves us with:

• An increased risk of type 2 diabetes due to consistently elevated blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia)
• Increased risk of Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Higher chance of Cardiac Disease

Now imagine, as in my case, you have been inducing your body’s stress response for years without knowing it. Breath is fundamental to everything we do, even more so if you enjoy a more physically challenging lifestyle. Your breathing needs to be working for you, not harm you.

Benefits Of Proper (Diaphragmatic) Breathing

• Allows us to use our lungs to their full capacity
• Demands less effort than chest breathing
• Reduces our blood pressure
• Lowered heart rate
• Relaxes us
• Stronger voice

For me, the biggest changes I experience when breathing properly are lower anxiety and far more control over my heart rate. Whether I was running, kickboxing, or climbing; I was able to recover my heart rate far quicker than ever before. I could go from close to my max BPM and settle it down through controlled diaphragmatic breathing.

So How Do We Start Breathing Properly?

Like all bad habits, we have reinforced them over time. As such, it is going to take time to distance ourselves from them. There will need to be a period where you are acutely conscious of your breathing before you settle into diaphragmatic breathing naturally. Below are two diaphragmatic breathing routines from the Cleveland Clinic. Start with the lying down exercise and this method makes it easier to feel the technique. Once confident, move on to the seated routine. Make sure to stay consistent, especially in the beginning. That means dedicating time each day, ideally twice, to focus solely on your breathing.

Lying Down Practice

1. Lie on your back on a flat surface or in bed, with your knees bent and your head supported. You can use a pillow under your knees to support your legs.
2. Place one hand on your upper chest and the other just below your rib cage. This will allow you to feel your diaphragm move as you breathe.
3. Breathe in slowly through your nose so that your stomach moves out, causing your hand to rise. The hand on your chest should remain as still as possible.
4. Tighten your stomach muscles, so that your stomach moves in, causing your hand to lower as you exhale through pursed lips). The hand on your upper chest should remain as still as possible.

Seated Practice

1. Sit comfortably, with your knees bent and your shoulders, head, and neck relaxed.
2. Place one hand on your upper chest and the other just below your rib cage. This will allow you to feel your diaphragm move as you breathe.
3. Breathe in slowly through your nose so that your stomach moves out against your hand. The hand on your chest should remain as still as possible.
4. Tighten your stomach muscles, so that your stomach moves back in, as you exhale through pursed lips. The hand on your upper chest must remain as still as possible.

The breath may not have been something you’ve given much thought to simply because it’s something we do every day and we do it automatically.  It’s a seemingly small action yet this small action is the most important thing you do all day.  Without breath, you can’t survive and without breathing properly you are not supporting your healthy functioning overall. Because breathing is so simple we take it for granted and yet the effects of proper breath are fundamental to everything we do. It’s the breath that supports our body, it’s the breath that supports our voice, and it’s our breath that determines how we can stay calm.  Breathing isn’t difficult and breathing properly is our birthright, yet many of us have lost the art of breathing properly over years of cultural conditioning.  Learning how to free your breath is the single most important tool you can have if you want to accelerate your life.  Find out how with Ignite Inc.