Does this “breathing” thing really work?

               
​ Just breathe.

                Sounds simple enough, no? If you are having a problem, trying taking a deep breath, and viola, the problem is gone. Right? Sounds a little silly. In the face of serious problems, the idea of ‘just breathing’ can seem ridiculous, leaving some people to question whether or not counselors know what they are talking about. I have heard it again and again, “I’ve tried that, it didn’t work,” or, “Deep breathing doesn’t work for me.” So let’s consider the question today: Does this “breathing” thing really work? And, as usual, let’s take a look at the neuroscience underlying the question.
                ​Your nervous system is what your body uses to send messages back and forth between the different parts of your body. Some parts are entirely within your control. When you wave your hand, you consciously choose to do so: you have a thought that you want to move your hand, the thought sends a message to your arm and hand muscles, and, magically, your hand starts waving. Other parts are not within your control, the parts involved in automatic responses, like how you jump at a loud noise, or how you digest food without thinking. For simplicity, let us think of this automatic system as having two competing sides: “Fight or Flight” and “Rest and Digest.”   
                When you have a problem – like a tiger chasing you, taking an important test, or speaking in front of a crowd - Fight or Flight kicks into gear, mobilizing everything you have to survive. Your heart rate goes up, your breathing gets faster, you muscles are primed and ready to go. Some parts of your brain, like the part that remembers all the state capitals, or your body, like your bladder, might shut down when Fight of Flight is activated. But once the tiger is gone, or the test complete, or the speech over, Rest and Digest kicks in, and restores your body back to a nice balance (Hopefully). These competing two sides have a difficult time operating at the same time, so activating one will deactivate the other. Kind of like a teeter totter!

                But sometimes this teeter totter stays weighted down in Fight or Flight due to chronic stress, busy lifestyles, and poor diet and exercise, putting Rest and Digest up in the air and on hold. The body begins to wear out from being constantly alert, disrupting sleep and digestion, and weakening the immune system. In these cases, we have to stop and intentionally shift our nervous system into Rest and Digest, so that Rest and Digest can lower your heart rate and blood pressure, strengthen your immune system, and create a sense of calm.
                Breathing is an interesting phenomenon. It is one of the few processes of our body that works automatically (you do not have to remind yourself to breath), and it is under our conscious control (you can hold your breath when you want). This unique attribute of Breathing gives you a gateway to your body’s automatic processes. By taking control of an automatic process, you influence the other automatic processes, shifting the weight on the teeter totter from Fight or Flight side to Rest and Digest side.  The fancy name for this is a Sympathetic-Parasympathetic Shift, but knowing the fancy name is not necessary. All you need to know is that taking conscious control of your breathing shifts your body from Fight or Flight to Rest and Digest.
                ​The more you practice this, the better you get at it, so practice daily. Taking a single calm breath for the first time during a stressful time will not likely help, which is why many people express doubt that breathing is actually effective. Very few people figure out how to ride a bike the first time they get on one. You need to practice, and you may need training wheels to figure out the basics. Likewise with breathing, practice regularly, and use supports until you have it figured out (e.g. counselors, self-help books, meditation podcasts).

So good luck out there. It’s a stressful world sometimes.

And remember to breathe.

References
Field, T.A., Jones, L.K., & Russell-Chapin, L.A. (2017). Neurocounseling: Brain-based clinical approaches.
                Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.