Thread: Belly Breathing Primer

First, let's talk about the "Why's".

The technique of belly breathing is one of the most important tools in the strenth training toolbox of lifestyle modifications for performance success.

In short, it's a simple method for re-regulation of breathing. Its a nerve training technique. It corrects a habit, learned during adolescence and early adulthood, a product of slow adaptation to chronic daily stress.

Habitually, animals freeze during periods of acute stress. They hold they breaths, to reduce predator detection. This is deeply ingrained, a response that sits in the most primative portion of our brains. And its tied to the hypothalamus, the processing center for stress fight or flight response.

The hardwiring goes down to the solar plexus...and its the holding of breath, the changes in oxgyen level and in blood pressure (the first falling and the second rising, as heart rate rises) that also sends a signal back to the brain..push more cortisol..danger is being sensed.

Normally, an animal, once the overt signs of stress pass, regains regular breathing. But for animals and man, the response can go both ways..when stress itself provokes this unconscious breath holding, and the solar plexus pressure and motion sensors that sit on the diaphram, send back the signal to maintain that chemical stress response in the hypothalamus.

Welcome to the world of altered norepinephrine (NE) response. From it, a chemical cascade of problems arise over time, manifesting in the 30s and 40s, as the early stages of stress-related disease.

Now stress response is also cumulative in its triggering. That NE flush begins to become trigger happy (sensitized) and that means more ACTH..and thats just not good for the brain, the thyroid, the adrenals, and the liver...and a whole bunch of adrenergic receptors that are ennervated througth the brain and spine, to various organs.

Like pancreas and the gastrointestinal tract. Lotsa fall out.

So, in order to reduce the *baseline* condition of NE response, you have to reset the triggers.

One of those is oxygen supply - and you can affect that by cardio. The other is breathing technique to reduce heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension and cortisol release rate.

And that is affected by both cardio and by regular practice of this belly breathing technique.

Do it, and you'll find sleep pattern becoming more regular, sleep is deeper, nerves are less on edge, the mind is clearer, memory retention improves, mood is elevated, and with those positive changes in neurochemistry, and from this biochemical correction comes an improvement in insulin response. From improved insulin sensitvity unfolds an improvement in liver lipid profiles, immune function, and improvement in growth hormone, recovery and repair and energy optimization.

And this is the key to homeostatis and metabolic control.

Such a little tweek in daily activity....to elicit so profound an effect.

And now, the "Wherefor's:

Read this website for a simple explanation of the belly breathing exercise.