[Datasheet] Slow, gentle/shallow nasal breathing for health and increased energy
06-06-2014, 05:44 PM
Its time for me to give back a bit. This tip has helped me quite a lot, with my energy levels and depression, and Ive used the search function, and no one else seemed to have mentioned it.
As I was searching the internet one day, I have discovered a breathing method called "Buteyko Breathing".
I was a mouth breather(well, mixed nose and mouth, but definitely breathed through my mouth) and I read from Mercola that its not the most healthy thing to do.
Apparently you are meant to breathe through your nose, as it has many benefits, such as warming, humidifying and filtering the air before it enters your lungs, produces nitric oxide(which lowers your blood pressure and increases your lungs oxygen-absorbing capacity), and as a side benefit helps you breathe less, probably.
So the first step to this is to switch from mouth breathing to nose breathing. I have tried to, and it takes some getting used to because it took me a week of effort to get rid of mouth breathing entirely. Now I can even do heavy exercise like weights or sprints without mouth breathing. It seems difficult if you havent tried before, but it really is easy once you have built up to it. What is difficult for me is nose breathing during sleep. Apparently you are meant to use surgical tape to tape your mouth(I used masking, not sure how healthy that is), to force yourself to breathe through your nose. Sleeping on your side will help you breathe less, and your left side specifically as your left lung is smaller.
The reason why breathing less is better is because the main reason you breathe as often as you do is to reduce carbon dioxide levels, not to increase oxygen levels. The oxygen levels in your blood are high enough that you only need to breathe approximately once a minute to get enough oxygen. So breathing more, contrary to popular belief does not make you more oxygenated. The Bohr effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr_effect, states that:
"hemoglobin's oxygen binding affinity is inversely related both to acidity and to the concentration of carbon dioxide. That is to say, a decrease in blood pH which leads to an increase in blood CO2 concentration will result in hemoglobin proteins releasing their loads of oxygen."
Simply put, more carbon dioxide means that your hemoglobin(part of your red blood cells) releases more oxygen. Since you need the oxygen to be released, you actually want a relatively high level of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide also relaxes your blood vessels and your body in general. This is what causes hyperventilation, btw. The old recommendation for that is to breathe into a paper bag (to retain your carbon dioxide levels).
There are many ways to reduce your breathing. First, try to reduce or eliminate mouth breathing altogether, especially at rest. Including sighing, coughing and yawning. Keep your mouth closed when breathing. Exercising while keeping your mouth closed also helps a lot, but when starting out you may want to do a lower intensity(its better to nose breathe at a low intensity than mouth breathe at a high one). Exercising in general is really good as it raises your carbon dioxide levels.
There are also random Buteyko exercises you can do. I only know of two, because I am a cheapskate and dont pay for the courses, just reading stuff/videos online. The first, intended to unblock your nose, is to pinch it shut, keeping your mouth closed, nod your head up and down repeatedly until your nose is clear. The second, is to do the above, but not nodding your head, but simply holding your breath. You dont want to hold it for too long, as when you release your nose, you should breathe normally through your nose. Not heavily or through your mouth.
This is also a good indicator of how healthy you are. Take a small breath(in and out) through your nose. if you cannot nose breathe, a really tiny one through your mouth. Then close your mouth and hold your nose until you feel a strong urge to breathe, counting/timing how long you have done so. Then take a normal breath in and stop timing. If you did a big/heavy one, you did it too long.
<10 seconds means you are really sick/unhealthy. Most of these people are asthmatics
10-20s means you are relatively unhealthy
20-30s means you are average
30-40s means you are above average
60s+ means you have optimal health
Basically, at 60s you breathe the optimal amount. At 30s, you breathe double the optimal amount, 20s three times. At 10s, you breathe six times the optimal amount.
This stuff definitely worked for me, and isnt scammy. Try it for yourself. When I mouth breathed I went from 10-15s, to 30-40s on good days, 25s on average days. The longer I could hold it the more energy I felt I had on that day, and the less depressed I was.
As I was searching the internet one day, I have discovered a breathing method called "Buteyko Breathing".
I was a mouth breather(well, mixed nose and mouth, but definitely breathed through my mouth) and I read from Mercola that its not the most healthy thing to do.
Apparently you are meant to breathe through your nose, as it has many benefits, such as warming, humidifying and filtering the air before it enters your lungs, produces nitric oxide(which lowers your blood pressure and increases your lungs oxygen-absorbing capacity), and as a side benefit helps you breathe less, probably.
So the first step to this is to switch from mouth breathing to nose breathing. I have tried to, and it takes some getting used to because it took me a week of effort to get rid of mouth breathing entirely. Now I can even do heavy exercise like weights or sprints without mouth breathing. It seems difficult if you havent tried before, but it really is easy once you have built up to it. What is difficult for me is nose breathing during sleep. Apparently you are meant to use surgical tape to tape your mouth(I used masking, not sure how healthy that is), to force yourself to breathe through your nose. Sleeping on your side will help you breathe less, and your left side specifically as your left lung is smaller.
The reason why breathing less is better is because the main reason you breathe as often as you do is to reduce carbon dioxide levels, not to increase oxygen levels. The oxygen levels in your blood are high enough that you only need to breathe approximately once a minute to get enough oxygen. So breathing more, contrary to popular belief does not make you more oxygenated. The Bohr effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr_effect, states that:
"hemoglobin's oxygen binding affinity is inversely related both to acidity and to the concentration of carbon dioxide. That is to say, a decrease in blood pH which leads to an increase in blood CO2 concentration will result in hemoglobin proteins releasing their loads of oxygen."
Simply put, more carbon dioxide means that your hemoglobin(part of your red blood cells) releases more oxygen. Since you need the oxygen to be released, you actually want a relatively high level of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide also relaxes your blood vessels and your body in general. This is what causes hyperventilation, btw. The old recommendation for that is to breathe into a paper bag (to retain your carbon dioxide levels).
There are many ways to reduce your breathing. First, try to reduce or eliminate mouth breathing altogether, especially at rest. Including sighing, coughing and yawning. Keep your mouth closed when breathing. Exercising while keeping your mouth closed also helps a lot, but when starting out you may want to do a lower intensity(its better to nose breathe at a low intensity than mouth breathe at a high one). Exercising in general is really good as it raises your carbon dioxide levels.
There are also random Buteyko exercises you can do. I only know of two, because I am a cheapskate and dont pay for the courses, just reading stuff/videos online. The first, intended to unblock your nose, is to pinch it shut, keeping your mouth closed, nod your head up and down repeatedly until your nose is clear. The second, is to do the above, but not nodding your head, but simply holding your breath. You dont want to hold it for too long, as when you release your nose, you should breathe normally through your nose. Not heavily or through your mouth.
This is also a good indicator of how healthy you are. Take a small breath(in and out) through your nose. if you cannot nose breathe, a really tiny one through your mouth. Then close your mouth and hold your nose until you feel a strong urge to breathe, counting/timing how long you have done so. Then take a normal breath in and stop timing. If you did a big/heavy one, you did it too long.
<10 seconds means you are really sick/unhealthy. Most of these people are asthmatics
10-20s means you are relatively unhealthy
20-30s means you are average
30-40s means you are above average
60s+ means you have optimal health
Basically, at 60s you breathe the optimal amount. At 30s, you breathe double the optimal amount, 20s three times. At 10s, you breathe six times the optimal amount.
This stuff definitely worked for me, and isnt scammy. Try it for yourself. When I mouth breathed I went from 10-15s, to 30-40s on good days, 25s on average days. The longer I could hold it the more energy I felt I had on that day, and the less depressed I was.