5 Evidence-Informed Reasons to Put Your Lungs to Work
By Kristine Kaoverii Weber | November 23, 2024
Last week I wrote about how the vibrations created by Bee breath help to release Nitric Oxide into the nasal cavity and support improved immune function and reduce inflammation, among other benefits.
Humming, like most breathing practices, seems to be more effective via nasal breathing (believe it or not, you can hum while exhaling through your mouth, although to me it feels really weird).
Everyone knows that you’re supposed to breathe through your nose, but it’s not always possible of course – I’ve worked with several people who have had reasons – usually difficult to treat medical ones – for not being able to nose breathe 100 percent of the time. But some studies suggest that most breathing techniques, when done slowly and with mindful awareness (and even some fast techniques), seem to kick in the relaxation response anyway (so take heart mouth breathers).
When it comes to discussing the benefits of prāṇāyāma practice, I think it’s important to make the distinction between state change and trait change (a la Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson’s book Altered Traits). Practicing slow breathing with a Tiktok video of a graphic that expands for 4 seconds and contracts for 4 seconds may be helpful in the moment to shift out of a state of anxiety. But, if you want to change your trait of anxiety, regular practice (most likely without your phone) a couple of times a day, over time, is necessary – even better if you sandwich that practice between yoga postures and some meditation. The postures help you prepare for the specific breathing technique and the meditation helps you integrate the subtle effects of the breathing practice.
This past month I’ve been preparing a new course on prāṇāyāma (details coming soon!), and so I’ve been knee deep in research - and there's a ton of it! But here, I’ll boil it down into 5 evidence-informed reasons to regularly practice prāṇāyāma.
- Pranayama Practice May Support Cognition and Memory
When you are breathing slowly and mindfully through your nose, the rhythm of the breath creates electrical activity in the brain that significantly affects the amygdala and hippocampus. These are subcortical limbic structures involved in emotions and emotional processing that seem to function better with slow, modulated breathing. Optimal function of these structures can support cognition, memory, and executive function.
- Pranayama Practice May Improve Sleep
Several studies have suggested that prāṇāyāma can improve sleep – in all sorts of populations with all sorts of conditions. But one study showed that positive effects are less pronounced in menopausal women (The menopausal amongst us will not be surprised. You were doing that practice right - just needed a horse tranquilizer too 😁).
- Breathing Through Your Nose May Prevent Pathogen Inhalation
I wrote about this in my blog last week. In addition to increasing endogenous Nitric Oxide, nose breathing also cleans, moistens, and warms the breath. Also, because nose breathing increases resistance on both the inhale and the exhale, it can have positive effects on the nervous system and gas exchange.
- Gut Health
Several studies have suggested a positive correlation between breathing practices and improved gut health including improving GERD, dyspepsia, gut microbiota dysfunction, and even anxiety-induced burping. Studies have also suggested that breathing practices can reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines, inhibit the HPA axis, and reduce cortisol.
- Digital Age Overwhelm
Constant connectivity, information overload, social comparison, and the pressure to be on social media or checking email 24/7 have increased anxiety around the world. Research suggests strong correlations between breathing practices and anxiety reduction. Of course in the digital age, a lot of folks are turning to devices to help them with breathing practices – I’m sure in the future we’ll see research evaluating how well that works out for them.😉
Please keep an eye out for my new course, Subtle Yoga Breathwork Certification - Part 1 - which will be released soon!
Citations
Das, M., Thajuddin, N., Patra, S., & Pundir, M. (2024). Mind-body techniques on stress-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis in asthmatics: A narrative review. Brain Behavior and Immunity Integrative, 5, 100040. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbii.2023.100040
Maleki, A., Ravanbakhsh, M., Saadat, M., Bargard, M. S., & Latifi, S. M. (2022). Effect of breathing exercises on respiratory indices and anxiety level in individuals with generalized anxiety disorder: a randomized double-blind clinical trial. Journal of physical therapy science, 34(4), 247–251.
Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino M., Garbella E., Menicucci D., Neri B., Gemignani, A. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: a systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353
CHAIR YOGA FOR YOUR BRAIN & NERVOUS SYSTEM
SUBTLE® YOGA FOR ENHANCING TRAUMA RECOVERY
Five Ways Yogic Meditation Benefits Your Brain – eBook
QUESTIONS?
We would love to hear from you!
Please wait while comments are loading...
Love this, thank you Kristine! I’m keeping an eye out for the Subtle Yoga Breathwork certification course! 🌸
Thanks Alyssa! xoxo
I am excited about the breathwork certification coming soon….I suffer from some breathing difficulties – don’t want to label it – restrictive breathing – “asthma” and I relish learning more about helping myself and others along the way….!!
Thank you Karin, I hope that it will be helpful for you and your students. xo
Excellent article – breathing is essential to living but we need to understand the power of the breath and the vast healing benefits of practising different ways of breathing, look forward to the course.
Thanks so much Nialah!
Subtle Yoga Breathwork certification course. Wow Kristine, you have so many things awesome teachings. Thank you for sharing them with us.
Thank you Suzanne! xoxo
Thank you for your e letters, I been doing the bee breath since your email about it, I knew about it but was not practicing it, since your email I started practicing morning and evening and my tinnitus went away! Very grateful for reminding me the benifits of this breathing technique!
That is so wonderful to hear Marie-Helene! Thank you for sharing! (and I’m thinking it’s probably really wonderful to hear – without tinnitus!)
I love all your blogs, Kristine and the evidence based theories to back them up.
One doesn’t have to think about breathing because it’s a brain stem activity but to do pranayama is to consciously control breathing. To be able to do it with guidance from an experienced yoga teacher is a gift, and sad to say not all yoga teachers incorporate pranayama into a yoga class. It’s much more than “take a breath”.
Thanks, Kristine for your wisdom.
Thank you so much Anaar! xoxo
I love the way you write. You make tricky items clear and understandable. I am very excited about your new breath course. I love to include your teachings into my classes. I already include some breathwork but I know I will feel even more confident after further study on this subject. Thank you for all that you do for us yoga teachers.
Thank you so much Debbie – yes I think it will give you a lot of confidence actually, it’s really good stuff!
Thank you for sharing your research. Last month I started HeartMath, which is an App to correlates one’s breath and heart rate to achieve coherence. The process of being with my breath and nothing else is rejuvenating, enlivening, and inspires love from my heart to be active. Turning within is enhancing my experience each day.
Keep reading, understanding, and sharing.
Thanks so much Joe!
Will this course be available later in a recorded format? With the holidays money & time are tight.
yes it’s a pre-recorded course. We will be having a sale on it next weekend.
Looking forward to the course! We practiced a lot of humming bee breath in class last night, as a stand alone practice and also in asana. Lots of frazzled people in the class as the pre-Xmas wheels spin. The change in energy in the room by the end was incredible. Everyone felt it! Thanks for the sciency piece that helps me to explain the benefits to more evidence-focussed people 😉
oh that’s so great Sarah! You are obviously doing some great teaching so congrats on that. The course should be out on our Thursday – your Friday so please keep an eye out for an email from me and thank you!