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One hour of slow breathing changed my life

theguardian.com

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Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#131

Post by thecoppinger »

givan wrote: post #51

All Europe has gone mad about breathing exercises. For four or five years I have made money by treating people who had ruined their breathing by such methods! Many books are written about it, everyone tries to teach others. They say: "The more you breathe, the greater the inflow of oxygen," etc., and, as a result, they come to me. I am very grateful to the authors of such books, founders of schools, and so on. If, fo…

This, on the surface, seems to be a load of rubbish spread by a mystic who had a motivation to make things seem complex and difficult so that they can reel you in and teach you 'the right way', while parting with your money and/or attempting to recruit you into their cult.

TL:DR; I'm skeptical, and don't think adding a quote in this manner with no other context/insight is of any value to the overall discussion of this thread.

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#133

Post by spaetzleesser »

impendia wrote: post #32

I started reading his book Breath , and he made the starting claim that, in essence, you could choose to be either energetic or restful by picking one nostril to breathe out of for awhile. (Naturally we breath out of one nostril at a time, and the body goes back and forth, but "it's a balance that can also be gamed"). I found this claim a bit... suspicious, and Googled, and didn't find much scientific evidence for th…

With a lot of these things I would highly recommend to just try it. If it works for you, good. If not, don't do it. It doesn't cost anything and you won't harm yourself.

I started yoga before it became mainstream and with a lot of the practices I tried them for myself. For example I noticed that some pranayama practices work for me and others don't. Back then pretty much every "serious" scientist or doctor would have told you that all this is nonsense. Same for meditation.

Try it. there is not much to lose. It doesn't cost anything and won't harm you. Worst case it doesn't work.

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#134

Post by lozf »

JshWright wrote: post #19
chewz wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mindfull breathing is not meditation it is just one and the most common of the techniques of meditation.

That's like saying Golden Retrievers aren't dogs, they're just one of the more common breeds of dog.

It's more like saying "javascript isn't a website, it's just o common tool for making websites".

Meditation doesn't depend on mindful breathing, even though it's often used. It's possible to meditate without mindfulness on the breath, and it's possible to breathe mindfully without meditating.

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#135

Post by stanislavb »

dmje wrote: post #57

No one seems to have mentioned Wim Hoff here ( https://www.wimhofmethod.com/ ). He’s got some claims that verge on the suspicious but the actual method itself is worth doing purely if you’re an interested sort. Before, I can do about 40 seconds held on an out breath, after, about 2:40. That’s kinda interesting. I’d also recommend trying it if you’re a meditator. Do a WH session first, then sit. It’s really great for…

I'd second that Wim Hof's breath-work works for me, too.

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#136

Post by osdiab »

impendia wrote: post #32

I started reading his book Breath , and he made the starting claim that, in essence, you could choose to be either energetic or restful by picking one nostril to breathe out of for awhile. (Naturally we breath out of one nostril at a time, and the body goes back and forth, but "it's a balance that can also be gamed"). I found this claim a bit... suspicious, and Googled, and didn't find much scientific evidence for th…

I’ve found that doing it has helped me sleep when I’m restless at night - I think it’s more about giving you something concrete to focus on in order to make you more conscious of your body’s sensations, not necessarily something special about breathing through specific nostrils.

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#138

Post by betenoire »

PascLeRasc wrote: post #76
betenoire wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm prone to anxiety, and find myself hyperventilating often. Is this what you mean by "harmful breathing patterns"? I've tried the "box breathing" with little luck, but have adapted a version where the exhale is 2-3x longer than the inhale. (inhale for 2 seconds, hold it a couple seconds, exhale slowly for 4-6 second, hold again). I've also found better luck at inhaling into my belly, instead of letting my rib cage…

Try Headspace guided meditations if you haven't already. Many of them focus specifically on controlled breathing using your stomach.

thank you for the recommendation, looking at it now

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#139

Post by nmfisher »

bob1029 wrote: post #122
jniedrauer wrote: post #34

I wonder every time I see things like this whether more conventional exercise will also do the same thing. I'm a recreational runner, and as I become more fit, I notice that my body is capable of entering deeper and deeper states of relaxation. When I go to sleep at night, my breathing and heart rate slow to rates that I never could have sustained before getting in shape. Being conscious and in control of my breath i…

Exercise will certainly accomplish similar objectives. After a few months of intense circuit training, I started to realize that I could get away with breathing a lot less frequently. Once my resting heart rate dropped below 50BPM, it was like having a mental switch I could throw on demand to enter into a state of calm. Just a few seconds of focus and I could deal with a monster of a stressful situation with ease. I…

One of my pet theories is that regular exercise strengthens your core muscles and allows you to recruit those core muscles more effectively.

This is what allows the diaphragm to expand more and thus facilitates deeper breathing. More oxygen per breath, and fewer heartbeats required to circulate it through the bloodstream.

Could be total rubbish, but I'd be interested to see a study either way.

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#140

Post by andai »

krn wrote: post #26

The Science of Breath (1903)[1] by William Walker Atkinson[2] is a fundamental read on the subject. [1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/1603864180 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Walker_Atkinson

Worth noting that WWA's works are now public domain and can be found for free online, eg. (same book) http://yogebooks.com/english/atkinson/1903sciencebreath.pdf
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