Written & contributed by Valerie Moselle

Modern lives move fast. And, too many of us suffer from physical and emotional pain, a sense of loneliness or isolation, and alienation from an overall sense of wellbeing. Yet each of us has at our disposal a simple tool that can bring some relief from our modern struggles-- one that can be accessed anywhere and anytime, that doesn’t require special clothing or gear, and that is free. 

Let me re-introduce you to the power of breath. 

Breath comes instinctively, but many of us take its power for granted, or we use it incorrectly. You can use your breath as a tool to improve health and wellness ---but what many don’t realize is that breathwork is also a powerful resource for self-regulation, and can be actively used to reduce stress & anxiety, heal from past trauma, or cope with an ongoing crisis. We naturally use our breathing for more than just oxygen, such as when we laugh, sob, sigh, form words, and sing.  Slow down. Take a deep breath. This is common advice because we intuitively know that the way we breathe can support us when we become emotional or feel overwhelmed.

But that is not all.

Breath can also enhance our ability to connect with others, as well as serve as a gateway to a sense of pleasant absorption, known as the flow state, that overcomes us when we become lost in activities that we enjoy. It can be the spark of our creativity. 

Modern humans are children of the industrial revolution.  We are born of a culture and time that has taught us to look outside of ourselves for answers, and that has trained us to rely on technology to transcend the capacity of our physical bodies, often at a fairly high expense. 

I’ll give you an example:

You’d probably agree that it is physically healthier to walk to work every day, compared to driving your car.  However, technology affords us the ability to live farther from work than if we did not have access to transportation.  Therefore, instead of spending that time walking to work, we spend it sitting in your car. We hold the stress of timing and navigating your commute in our bodies.  It stays with us. And over time, that stress can build and build. Meanwhile, since we are driving, the body is sedentary and breathing is shallow, so there is no way of metabolizing this stress. And, oftentimes the sedentary commute leads to a sedentary job, ie: sitting at a desk, behind a screen.

This is not how we were made!

Humans were designed to move and breathe through the very physical activities that, up until recently, were required of us for survival. We were meant to use the full capacity of our lungs, to allow our heart beat to increase and decrease throughout the day, to move our muscles and joints. We were designed to be in relationship with nature, with the community, and with a sense of self-worth. 

The body was designed to participate physically and fully with the world around us. 

This would have generally included regular and dramatic changes to your breathing rate, style, and volume, whether exerting yourself or expressing yourself, throughout the busy-ness of a day. However, with the amazing advances of technology, there has been a shift. 

If our work and play do not provide us with the amount of physical stress our bodies need to stay healthy, we must artificially replicate it.  Because breath is intertwined with our emotions and our ability to self-express, it might follow that our sedentary lifestyles deprive us of access to certain respiratory ranges, that we might also need to artificially replicate. It’s entirely possible that expressive breathing patterns are necessary to our physiological homeostasis, psychological regulation, and overall well being.

So, let’s sharpen our tools. 

Here is what you need to know:

1. The path of wellbeing is not on your screen. 

As opposed to simple breathing practices for stress relief and relaxation, which subdue the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) (responsible for ‘fight, flight or freeze’), and activate the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) (associated with ‘rest, play, and love,’) many of our go-to relaxation activities don’t actually contribute to our wellbeing. Whether you pull out your screen between meetings, during meals, or before bed, every time you ‘tune in’ to those virtual worlds, however captivating, you are stepping away from the neurology of wellbeing. 

Most screen-based entertainment appeals to you by activating the neurotransmitter dopamine in your brain. Netflix series’, video games, and even Tinder are all modalities that provide your brain temporary jolts of pleasure in the form of  dopamine hits. As the temporary rush from this naturally occurring relative of the chemical compound found in opioids fades, you are left with an unpleasant hangover in the form of desire for more of that dopamine-producing activity. This is the very definition of addiction. This is the opposite of wellbeing.

Although a fun distraction, screen time does not equal wellbeing. Sorry folks!

2. Your nervous system shapes how you see the world

Medical and self-help experts suggest that our biology has not adequately evolved to meet the changes brought on to our environment by the technological advances of the last centuries. The thought is that stimulation in the form of an excess of sensory information promotes a chronic state of SNS activation. We naturally spend more time in the fight, flight, or freeze state and have trouble toggling back into the rest, play, and love state. The body needs the latter. It is in PNS activation that our bodies restore and repair themselves.

Chronic stress is a risk factor for most of the diseases that kill us.

What is not often discussed however is that because the SNS is associated with negative emotions such as fear and mistrust, how we process incoming information is influenced by which nervous system is active when the information is received. This is why something that we normally see as a minor inconvenience can bring us to tears on the wrong day. This has profound implications.

Those who experience elevated SNS activation are likely to see and engage with the world through the lens of the SNS, and more regularly experience emotions such as fear and mistrust. 

Long full breaths are associated with PNS activation, and promote positive emotions such as delight and trust, and potentially, the world views that go with them.

3. Good news, you have some agency over your internal chemistry!

The world around us is always changing. Everything we know is in a state of flux. You can’t always predict what will happen next, or control the circumstances in which you find yourself. But you can develop agency over your internal relationship to what is going on all around you. You have the power not just to tolerate, but to modify your internal experience by using the only mechanism of the autonomic nervous system of which you also have conscious control. Your breathing.

Not only is breathwork associated with PNS activation, contemplative practices that cultivate self-awareness, such as meditation, support the release of oxytocin. Known as the ‘bliss hormone’, oxytocin is associated with social behaviors that promote bonding. Oxytocin-producing activities include childbirth, singing together in groups, acts of service, stroking a pet, welcome touch, and meditation or prayer. Breathwork, as a common tenet of most mindfulness techniques promotes the release of oxytocin. 

In addition to that, breathwork has been shown to decrease levels of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, and other markers of chronic stress. 

Our fast-paced world requires new paradigms for coping with the demand of modern living. I’m not suggesting you drop your Netflix subscription, and delete your favorite game from your phone. But in addition to these methods of unwinding, consider gathering a handful of short, simple breathing exercises you can add to your day during those seemingly insignificant moments where you might otherwise soothe yourself with your IG feed. Rather than picking up your screen to tune out, consider taking 3 minutes here or there to tune in to your breathing. You will probably find you feel better immediately.

You might even find you are sleeping better at night.

Give it a try

Take a Breathing Break 

Set the timer on your phone for 3 minutes. Sit up a little taller in your chair and rest your hands in your lap. Take a moment to notice how you feel right now. Relax your hands.  Relax your shoulders. Release your jaw, and completely relax your face. For the next 3 minutes, simply count your breaths. Make your breaths comfortably long, and smooth. When your timer alerts you that three minutes have passed, silence the alarm and pause once again to notice how you feel.

Make a mental note of any changes, and then move on with your day.

~Valerie Moselle is the author of Breathwork: A 3-week Breathing Program to Gain Clarity, Calm, and Better Health. She lives in Santa Cruz where she teaches breathwork and yoga informed somatic meditation, and serves as the owner and director of Luma Yoga. Learn more and join her next class at lumayoga.com.