Breathwork consists of many breathing exercises, such as deep breathing, holding the breath, breathing faster, and forceful exhalations. These are just a few examples of the many breathing exercises you can practice.
According to the National Library of Medicine, the Central Nervous System is one of the two parts of the Nervous System, which includes brain function and spinal cord function. The brain helps with cognitive functions like memory, learning, processing, sensation, and emotion while the spinal cord helps in sending motor commands from the peripheral body to the brain and vice versa. The spinal cord also plays a crucial role in coordinating the reflexes that are involuntary reactions to protect the body from any harm.
Every time you intentionally manipulate the breath, like in deep breathing, the diaphragm expands and contracts, stimulating the vagus nerve. This results in the regulation of the relaxation response, heart rate, and other bodily functions, like digestion. With the help of a breathwork coach, you can learn a variety of breathing techniques and how each one of them affects the CNS or brain. This will allow you to practice as per your specific needs and notice how positively they impact your overall well-being.
Let’s understand how breathing and the nervous system are related to each other:
Vagus Nerve Stimulation: When you practice deep breathing like belly breathing, where there is more movement of the belly than the chest, you relax the body as the vagus nerve, the longest nerve in the nervous system, gets stimulated. This further helps in lowering blood pressure and reducing any tension in the mind and body. Another way to stimulate the vagus nerve is through paced breathing.
Paced breathing means you carefully control how long and deep you breathe in and out. By doing this, you can match your breathing rhythm with your body’s calm-down system, called the vagal tone, making it work better. One way to do paced breathing is to breathe at a steady rate, like taking 5 or 6 breaths every minute or doing the extended exhalation exercise where your exhalations are longer and deeper than the inhalations. This can help your body relax more.
Brain Respiratory Control Centres
The regulation of breathing patterns that helps in oxygenating the body while eliminating the carbon dioxide, comes from the important part of the brain – respiratory control centres. These are located in the brainstem with two primary regions – the medulla oblongata and the pons. In medulla oblongata, a regular breathing pattern is created with the help of intercostal and diaphragm muscles. The pons on the other hand decide on how fast and deep breathing can be practiced by working with the medulla.
Chemoreceptors help sense the levels of pH, oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood and when the levels drop or rise, these receptors tell the respiratory control centres in the brain to change breathing to be able to restore the right levels of gases and pH in the body.
The respiratory control centres in the brain work non-stop to make sure breathing matches the body’s needs and the environment. If these centres don’t work properly due to dysfunction or damage, it can cause breathing problems like hypoventilation (breathing too little) or hyperventilation (breathing too much). These issues can seriously your health and well-being.
Stress Hormones
Cortisol or the stress hormones get released due to the complex interaction between the brain and the endocrine system. When the brain perceives a stressor, it activates the hypothalamus, located at the base of the brain. Because of this activation, the pituitary gland releases adrenocorticotropic hormone in the bloodstream. In response to this, the adrenal glands located on top of the kidneys release stress hormones or cortisol into the bloodstream. This results in making you feel stressed.
Chronic stress leads to increased cortisol levels, which is associated with various adverse health outcomes, including increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, immune dysfunction, and mental health disorders.
When you engage in a breathwork like alternate nostril breathing, you can lower the stress hormones in the body as deep breathing helps in lowering the cortisol levels in addition to balancing the natural nasal cycle.
Amygdala – the Emotional Seat in the Brain
The amygdala in the brain is responsible for the modulation and processing of emotional responses. Breathwork helps you become more mindful of the present moment which regulates the amygdala activity. Because of this, with regular practice, you can be more aware of the emotional states and become emotionally resilient. Whether it’s worrying about the future or ruminating about the past, with mindfulness breathwork and meditation, you can break this cycle and be more mindful, which further helps in modulating the emotional responses to challenging situations in life.
Scientists are continuously uncovering the relationship between CNS and breathwork and integrating the practices into daily routines as well as healthcare. This holds a promise in promoting mental and emotional health and fostering a better sense of well-being and vitality.
By Niraj Naik
Niraj Naik is an ex-pharmacist turned holistic health expert and founder of the International School of Breathwork SOMA Breath. After working for several years as a community pharmacist, Niraj saw firsthand just how ineffective and even damaging pharmaceutical drugs can be. When he found himself a patient of stress-related depression and ulcerative colitis, he embarked on a journey of profound self-healing and education. Known internationally as the Renegade Pharmacist, Niraj is dedicated to educating others on topics of holistic health, breathwork, and meditation. As a leading figure in this field, he teaches breathwork and guides individuals who wish to become a breathwork facilitator. Through his work, Niraj helps people transform their lives and advance their careers in holistic health.
