An
old Chinese adage goes, “If you know the art of deep breathing, you
have the strength, wisdom, and courage of ten tigers.” When a kung fu
master takes a meditative moment before delivering the kiss of the
dragon, these powers are summoned, and woe be the opponent! But is this
practice of deep breathing also responsible for the seemingly long lives
of these great masters?
Breathing
is something we do naturally and without thought. But ask people with
asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or lung cancer.
There’s no taking the lungs for granted, and a great deal of thought
goes into the process.
Does
it matter, how you breathe? Breathe in, breathe out, isn’t that enough?
It turns out, you may want to make some adjustments in how you do it,
and you can have a little fun at the same time.
Researchers
conducted an interesting study. Over the course of one month, they
compared the practice of mindful meditation with three different types
of daily, 5-minute breathwork exercises. One group of study participants
were instructed to breath using longer inhalations and shorter
exhalations. Another group performed box breathing or tactical
breathing, which is equal duration of inhalations, breath retentions,
and exhalations. A third group probably had a laugh or two as they
undertook something called cyclic sighing, which emphasizes prolonged
exhalations.
One
can’t be sure, from reading the study, if indeed any of the study
participants in the third group had a chuckle or two while doing their
5-minutes of sighing. Since it was conducted remotely during the
pandemic, researchers wouldn’t know either. But imagining the potential
humour only accentuates the study’s results.
Maybe
5 minutes of breathing with prolonged exhalations can be done in
relative silence. But after all, it’s called cyclic sighing. So add the
vocalization, and especially when two or more people do it together, the
humour becomes more palpable.
All
three groups achieved greater benefit from daily 5-minutes of
breathwork than from the practice of mindful meditation. These benefits
were measured in terms of rate of respiration, resting heart rate, and
heart rate variability. But the cyclic sighing group had the highest
benefit.
Here’s
another fun fact about the study. Researchers found that study
participants doing cycle sighing benefited more from the exercise the
more days they did it compared with mindfulness meditation, an effect
not observed in the other groups.
When might you want to try cyclic sighing? The study suggests everyday. But here’s another consideration. In moments of stress and anger, taking time out to breathe deeply has been shown to have positive benefits.
The
physiological effect of deeper, slower breathing is a calming of the
nervous system. In turn, calmer nerves mean lower blood pressure and
heart rate, reduced production of stress hormones, and less build up of
lactic acid in muscles.
Add
in a bit of laughter and what happens? It may, initially, speed up your
heart rate. But the relaxation that follows brings that rate right
down. It increases endorphins in the brain that improve mood. It
stimulates circulation and aids muscle relaxation. Laughter can ease
pain both by distraction and by stimulating the body to fight pain with
its own natural painkillers.
Why
not try it now, as you finish reading this article? Set a timer for 5
minutes and commence taking deep breaths in, followed by longer sighs of
exhale. Anyone around will ask what on Earth you are doing. You can
have a good laugh in explaining and inviting them to join in.
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W. Gifford-Jones, MD is the pen name of Dr. Ken Walker, graduate of Harvard Medical School. Diana Gifford-Jones is his daughter, a graduate of Harvard Kennedy School. Their latest book, “No Nonsense Health” is available at: Docgiff.com
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