Kill Stress to Death With Your Breath, Part 2

Photo by Victor on Unsplash

This article originally appeared on Medium.com 12/7/2020

Regarding the idea of cultivating a daily breathing practice, I promise you, a daily breathing practice will change your life. I don’t say that lightly. If you make a daily habit to practice deep breathing in the morning before you start your day, you will eventually be surprised by how dramatically it shapes your day.

In the first part of Kill Stress to Death, we discussed the destructiveness of stress and how we can use the breath to regulate our physiology to turn our stress response off. In this part, we will look at how the physiological structures actually turn off the stress response so we can use the breath to relax and improve our well being.

We will be expanding on the process listed in part 1:

The Stress Response in Action

1. The limbic system, mostly the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus, work in concert to process perceived fear and threat signals.

2. The limbic system processes these signals and sends that information to the hypothalamus.

3. The hypothalamus activates your HPA Axis and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) to mobilize the body to respond to threats — e.g. increased heart rate, elevate blood pressure, release of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol, etc.

4. Prolonged activation, dysfunction, and dysregulation in the stress response can lead to a host of illnesses and diseases — chronic stress.

5. Turning the stress response off can be done by using deep belly breathing to activate the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and stimulate the vagus nerve.

6. Activating the PNS and vagus nerve through the breath regulates heart rate variability (HRV).

7. HRV has been associated with lower stress and disease. It also shows a negative association with cardiovascular disease and can predict hypertension.

The Stress Response

In the limbic system, fear signals are interpreted and then passed through the hypothalamus to activate the SNS and the HPA Axis. The limbic system is tightly connected to the prefrontal cortex which plays a large role in executive function, problem-solving, and high-level cognitive functions.

When the limbic system turns on your stress response, it has quick access to shut down the prefrontal cortex easily and higher-level brain function. This is why it’s hard to concentrate and focus during times of stress.

When responding to a threat, you don’t have time to think about it and process what’s happening. You need to respond, quickly. Maybe you have heard of the ‘amygdala hijack’? Research shows that when your stress response activates that it impairs the “cognitive function of the pre-frontal cortex.”

Among the hypothalamus, and the many other parts of the limbic system, are the hippocampus and amygdala. The amygdala and hippocampus both participate in the formation of memories.

The amygdala attaches emotional associations to our memories while the hippocampus consolidates memories into long-term storage (among other things). The amygdala and hippocampus both communicate to the hypothalamus any perceived threats. The hypothalamus then communicates to the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the HPA Axis to activate the stress response when needed.

The ANS regulates both the stress response and the relaxation response. The relaxation response and the stress response are regulated by complementary systems:

• The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) — fight, flight, freeze — stress response

• The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) — rest and digest — relaxation response

Chronic stress comes about as a result of a dysregulated stress response over time. This leads to various types of physical, and mental, sickness and illness. But, the stress response can be regulated through changing our vagal tone which activates the PNS. You can directly influence and regulate your vagal tone through breathing.

Breathing can be used to alter your autonomic responses and regulate your stress response.

Photo by John Jackson on Unsplash

Amygdala & Hippocampus

Fear signals trigger the stress response. The amygdala is heavily implicated in the process of fear conditioning. It can also be activated by fear stimuli even if we are not conscious of a threat. A dysregulated amygdala is, generally, at work during anxiety disorders. It is also helpful to note that research has shown mindfulness-based training can help aid in reducing amygdala activity.

The hippocampus, heavily involved in learning and memory, is one of the most vulnerable parts of the brain to stress. Having a smaller hippocampus has been associated with Major Depressive Disorder. It is one of the key areas affected by Alzheimer’s and dementia and it is thought that the “size of the hippocampus may indicate early dementia.”

A prolonged dysregulated stress response will literally damage our hippocampus and lead to a loss of emotional and behavioral function. At least, this is how the body is functionally arranged. But, the hippocampus also benefits from neuroplasticity. We can help facilitate the process of rebuilding and growing the hippocampus through exercise and meditation.

Studies have shown:

• Exercise training increases the size of the hippocampus and improves memory

• Mindfulness Meditation Is Related to Long-Lasting Changes in Hippocampal Functional Topology during Resting State

• Larger hippocampal dimensions in meditation practitioners

While we are not quite at the point to show how deep breathing affects hippocampus size, I will say, I think it’s a safe assumption that deep breathing helps increase its size. One study entitled, How Breath Control Can Change Your Life…, says it was found, that slow breathing techniques can enhance autonomic and psychological flexibility.

If breathing does not directly benefit hippocampus size then it, at the very least, does so indirectly through changing the mechanisms that can — e.g. through vagus nerve stimulation.

• Coupling of respiration and attention via the locus coeruleus: Effects of meditation and pranayama

• Nasal Respiration Entrains Human Limbic Oscillations and Modulates Cognitive Function

Autonomic Nervous System & HPA Axis

The ANS contains within it the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).

The HPA Axis and SNS work together to prepare your body for stress by priming your internal organs, such as elevating heart rate and dumping stress hormones into your body. The stress response is something we need to help mobilize our body to take action. But, it’s not supposed to stay turned on 24/7.

During our stress response, we are also less likely to breathe deeply or slowly. Our body will also tense up, in preparation to take action, and restrict our breathing to some degree.

Some research has “associated elevated cortisol level in bloodstream to be one of the major causes of MDD* as a result of HPA hyperactivation” (*MDD — Major Depressive Disorder). In general, the HPA Axis is implicated in many mood disorders. And, as mentioned earlier, cortisol damages the hippocampus, one of the parts of the brain responsible for memory. It’s not a coincidence that people suffering from depression have difficulty with memory. In the research provided, irregular HPA activity was also linked to psychotic symptoms.

Research shows that,

“an overactive sympathetic nervous system has become an identified characteristic of several cardiovascular diseases… However, elevated SNA is not isolated to diseases of the cardiovascular system and has also been reported in a plethora of other conditions including: kidney disease, type II diabetes mellitus, obesity, metabolic syndrome, obstructive sleep apnea, pre-eclampsia, depression, and ulcerative colitis.”

To sum up, a dysregulated stress response fucks your body up. I’m pretty sure that I mentioned that in Part 1 but figured I would say it again.

Parasympathetic Nervous System & Vagus Nerve

The solution to the problem of an overactive SNS is to get your relaxation response turned on. Diaphragmatic, or belly, breathing helps activate the PNS and activate your relaxation response. The vagus nerve carries 75% of the parasympathetic nerve fibers.

Heart Rate Variability and Vagal Tone

A couple of notes about HRV that I feel are important:

• Vagal nerve activity changes with our breathing. “It is suppressed during inhalation and facilitated during exhalation and slow respiration cycles.”

• Higher HRV is associated with lower stress and disease with better health

• HRV shows a negative association with cardiovascular disease…and can directly predict hypertension.

• HRV has, “an inverse relationship with inflammation, inflammation in depression, depressive symptoms, perseverative cognition, bipolar disorder symptomology, general anxiety and disorders, and has recently even shown a negative correlation with schizophrenia.”

That all said, vagal tone and HRV are highly involved in reducing our stress levels and stress response to put our body into relaxation.

When practicing belly breathing, the diaphragm also activates your vagus nerve, which triggers your body’s relaxation response and lowers the body’s stress response. Research also shows that, diaphragmatic breathing could improve attention, affect, and cortisol levels.

Putting it All Together

If you have ever had a panic attack or experienced anxiety then you may remember experiencing more rapid and shallow breathing. The shallow breathing is due to your SNS activating to make energy available for threat response. This is also part of having anxiety and feeling like your nerves won’t settle. The body is primed to respond quickly if need be.

It’s important to note that a fear response will trigger your SNS which will cause shallow rapid breathing and rapid shallow breathing will also trigger your SNS. It’s a reciprocal cycle that feeds on itself until the fear stimuli are changed. Queue panic attack…

Basically, your stress response mobilizes your body to react to a threat by releasing hormones, neurotransmitters, and energy to act quickly. It also shuts down the parts of your brain for higher-level thinking and emotional regulation.

Consider for a moment that chronic stress is just a result of the stress response being activated consistently and persisting through time. The good news is that it’s simple to fix (maybe note easy but definitely simple).

The breath gives us a tool to directly regulate a dysregulated stress response through regulating our HRV and activating the PNS.

• Change your breathing, change your vagal nerve activity

• Change your vagal nerve activity, change your autonomic response

• Change your autonomic response, change your stress response

• Change your stress response, change your response to life

• Change your response to life, change your life

In addition to using your breath to change your autonomic response in the moment, you can also use it proactively if you anticipate any challenging, or difficult, situations.

By practicing breathing regulation prior to entering into a stressful situation, you can put your mind and body at ease in order to feel relaxed and centered as you enter a tense situation. Once your mind and body are settled, you can then regulate your breathing in the moment to maintain a state of relaxation.

Here’s the great thing, you can literally do it anywhere. The great thing about deep breathing is that once we ‘git gud’, it becomes easier to practice during our daily activity and routines.

Another Breathing Practice for You

In Part 1, I included breathing exercises to activate your lower abdomen and diaphragm as well as a mindful breathing activity. Here is another breathing exercise for you to practice.

If you did not read Part 1, please make sure to read the precautions and tips for the practice part at the very least before engaging in breathing practices.

The full-body breath

This breathing practice will be a little bit different than the 2 mentioned in part 1. This breathing practice is meant to activate both, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system which, as we will explore in my next article, is key to getting into a Flow state.

In a Flow state, both our parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems are activated allowing us to access the benefits of both — the relaxation from our PNS and the energetic release of our SNS. The calm in the eye of the storm if you will.

In Part 1, I mentioned viewing the breath as having 4 parts in the body — the lower abdomen, upper abdomen, the mid-chest, and the upper chest. The key with this breathing practice is to open the full capacity of the lungs. It’s also ideal to warm up your lungs with other breathing practices before jumping into this one..the same way one would warm up their body before jumping into strenuous exercise.

The practice:

• As you breathe, allow your breath to slowly begin filling the area at your lower abdomen, then slowly fill your upper abdomen, into your mid-chest, and then into your upper lungs.

• As it reaches your mid-chest, allow your breath to expand your ribs outward.

• Then let it finish in your upper lungs and allow your shoulders to rise a little to make room for the expansion.

• Slowly exhale, keep your inhale and exhale at the same length, at least 5 seconds in and 5 seconds out, slow it down and find a pace that works well for you (I personally would recommend at least 10 seconds in and 10 seconds out or slower to achieve full lung activation).

• As you exhale, let your abdomen empty first and rise into your lungs

• Do this for a couple / few minutes or longer…whatever feels right for you and your body.

… a friend (and pranayama badass) once told me, “it should feel like a vase filling up.”

Remember…

Trust the process, be patient, give it time. Start small, build over time.

Breath is life, life is breath. Build your breathing practice over time and watch your life, and well-being, steadily improve.