Breathe

The Road To Recovery And Healing

A number of years ago I was doing resistance training. The key thing that the instructor emphasized was to breathe consistently throughout the activity. My physiotherapist taught me proper breathing when doing my muscle-relaxing stretches.

1. Breathe in when going into a stretch.
2. Breathe out when gently doing the stretch. 
3. Relax, and let muscles relax.
4. Breathe out when releasing the stretch.
5. Breathe in when changing stretches. 

Works for me!

“Don’t Hold Your Breath”

Whether straining to push or pull a weight, doing stretches or experiencing the shock response to an immediate threat, we tend to hold our breath.

The problem is, doing this even for a short time, we increases our blood pressure, blood sugar, and carbon dioxide load. That can have all kinds of unwelcome physical consequences that outlast the event itself.

I am not talking here about divers or people living in high altitudes. Of course, as a natural response to keep anything out of the lungs that is not air, we will hold our breath in water or when exposed to smoke. For the majority of people, in the majority of situations, we want a happy balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide in our blood.

We don’t want to make a habit of holding our breath (apnea) or shallow breathing. Either way, we get less oxygen in our system and carbon dioxide accumulates in our tissues. This is particularly critical in the heart and brain. Too little oxygen can result in fainting, confusion, even brain injury. 

Hyperventilating

The opposite event, hyperventilation (too much breathing) is not a common response for most people; it is an automatic response caused by anxiety or panic. It can result in an overload of oxygen and not enough carbon dioxide. Clearly, the healthy zone is somewhere in the middle.

Practicing Breathing Awareness

I am a writer and organizer. I spend many hours in my head, working out problems, completing data input, planning, and organizing text. 

Because it is mental work, very little attention needs to go to the mechanics of physical activity. As long as the legs, arms, lungs, and digestion get the basic blood flow the heart does not have to work very hard. 

As a consequence I breath shallowly just filling the top part of my lungs with air. Every so often I catch myself breathing shallowly. When I do, I take a moment to sit up, stretch my neck and shoulders, stick my chest out and take several deep breaths using my belly as a bellows (pushing the belly button to the spine expels air from deep in the lungs; pushing the belly button out draws air deep into the lungs). 

If I feel like I can take more of a break, I stand up, walk around, drink some water, and talk with someone if possible.

Self-Care and Grieving

It is so important to be aware of our physical well-being in grief. How are we breathing?

Breathing doesn’t just provide our bodies with that essential balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide. It also impacts our emotions and overall welfare, and vice versa.

Emotions activated in grief are stress responses; stress promotes apnea and shallow breathing. If we take to our bed, or escape into books, or TV, if we get angry, or cry, the body will naturally go into shallow or uneven breathing.

You’ve heard that old truism “if you want to help those around you, put on your own oxygen mask first”. Whether we have other people to look after during our own grief or not, we need to look after our physical well-being. If we do that, we are also helping our emotional state to recover.

Self-care 101: drink your water, eat at least one well-rounded meal a day, sip on a smoothie, get your rest, talk with a friend, go for a walk, and breathe.

Share this with someone you know it will help.

I invite you to comment on what you read here, ask questions and engage in discussion in the Comments section. Please also feel free to join a discussion group with me or meet one-on-one. Send me an email cathy@letstalktogether.ca.