This is from my weekly email newsletter but I republish it here for sharing and referencing. If you're not already a subscriber you can join below:
Happy Tuesday!
I just finished my book notes on Breath by James Nestor. I absolutely loved this book and since reading it a little more than a year ago have incorporated a lot of these ideas into my own life. You can check out the book notes for a detailed summary here.
On to the newsletter, but first, here's a stimulating factoid!
Did you know that the tissue lining your nose and nasal cavities is the same tissue that covers the clitoris, penis, and nipples?
It turns out that within seconds, your nasal cavities can engorge with blood and become stiff and enlarged. If you stop and think about this for a second, we've all experienced that feeling of being really stuffed up, in our noses I mean.
This usually happens when we have a respiratory infection or when we're under a lot of stress. That feeling of your nose being clogged is usually not being caused by excess mucous but actually because of inflammation in the lining of those tissues.
All of this is to say that your nasal passages and your upper respiratory system are extremely sensitive and the product of millions of years of evolution. Specifically, your nose is a finely tuned filtration system to help you safely and efficiently absorb oxygen from a hostile respiratory environment full of dust, dirt, chemicals, and farts ... among other things.
Your nose is not simply just an extra appendage to make your face your look nice (or not so nice depending on how you feel about it). It's a vital organ in a critical and complex biological system that impacts both your energy systems, which rely on oxygen to generate ATP via oxidative phosphorylation, but also your autonomic nervous system.
Most of us remember from our high school biology classes (depending on how long ago that was) that breathing is important because it brings in oxygen needed to convert food to biological fuel. But what most classes didn't discuss is the role that breathing plays in controlling your nervous system.
You have conscious control over much of your nervous system. If you want to go for a walk, for example, your brain signals motor neurons to aid in moving your feet and legs etc. But there's also a large part of your nervous system which works automatically, the aptly named autonomic nervous system.
The autonomic nervous system is responsible for controlling bodily functions like breathing, the heartbeat, digestion, sexual arousal etc. In fact, our autonomic nervous system is responsible for the vast majority of biological functions in our body.
Your autonomic nervous system is composed of the sympathetic and parasympathetic sub-systems. The sympathetic system, sometimes referred to as the "feed and breed" system, is responsible for helping you relax. When triggered, your blood vessels expand, your blood pressure goes down, your organs receive more blood and can function more effectively.
On the other hand, the parasympathetic, the "fight or flight" response, is triggered when under stress and generally causes a constriction of blood flow to the organs, an increase in heart rate, and the release of adrenaline.
Both these systems are critical and serve different purposes however a lot of us tend to be stuck in a chronically elevated sympathetic state. Your nervous system can't tell the difference between being chased by a bear and a stressful encounter at work. Physiologically they both produce the same effect.
So what do you do if you're stuck in a sympathetic state when there are no bears around? It would be nice to be able to switch back into chill mode yea?
While the autonomic nervous system is mostly automatic there is one part which you DO control.
It turns out the your breath is the only known way to directly influence your autonomic nervous system. Similarly, breathing through your nose is the most powerful technique for stimulating a parasympathetic (calming) response.
You have a larger concentration of parasympathetic nerves at the base of your lungs than at the top. This is why when you take deep breaths it has an immediate calming effect. Conversely, when you are scared, stressed or nervous, you tend to breathe rapid, shallow breaths which trigger a sympathetic response.
What's the best way to breathe deeply?
Through your nose! Give it a try now. Take a deep breath through your mouth and notice where you feel it most. Then take a deep breath through your nose and notice where you feel it most. Most people feel a more pronounced sensation in the belly and deep lungs when breathing through the nose.
Using the power of your breath to calm your nervous system is simple and something we all have direct experience with. If you've made it this far then do yourself a favor and take a few deep breathes through the nose, make the exhale longer than the inhale for a more pronounced relaxing effect.
This is just the tip of the iceberg but definitely check out Nester's book if you're curious to learn more!
Breathe well,
Nick