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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

#191

Post by gonehome »

onemoresoop wrote: post #186
gonehome wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we agree - trying things you think might work is a good place to start, then you can attempt to confirm that empirically. Predictions have to start somewhere. What bothers me about the comment I replied to was the hostility to trying to understanding the underlying mechanism. "As long as it does something beneficial who cares after all what the bias is?" is not a good position. That kind of thing leads to peo…

I am usually a skeptical person and am aware that there is a lot of pseudoscience floating around. But, I think that is not necessarily a bad thing. People try things and what works is later scrutinized and better understood in a scientific way if you will. What doesn’t work will get itself out of the way eventually. You are free to practice whatever you think is understood(and also be aware that current understandin…

Thanks - I think that's fair, but it doesn't necessarily get out of the way without casualties.

I'm bothered when something that is still uncertain is put forward as true, I think people are generally over confident where they should be less certain. Even this can be harmful in ways people don't expect [0].

It becomes really harmful though when stuff known to be false is pushed as true (conspiracy theories like not getting cancer treatment). This leads people to not pursue treatment they desperately need. In their case they won't have the opportunity to become more skeptical afterwards.

There's also the risk of political influence pushing certain things as true that aren't and real knowledge can be lost (though I think that's less likely to happen today).

In this specific breathing case, it's benefit being real or not is probably not that big of a deal - but the underlying value of wanting to understand why something is really true or not I think is important.

[0]: https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/#the-potential-harm-don...

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#192

Post by abhchand »

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…

This practice exists in traditional eastern Yoga - breathing out of one nostril and in with the other. A similar explanation is given about it having a calming and energetic effect.

I know that doesn't provide the evidence you were looking for, but hopefully it provides some context on where this might have originated from.

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#193

Post by deeblering4 »

cwkoss wrote: post #154
voidhorse wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s an entire practice around this stemming from yogic philosophy called nadi shoodana —alternate nostril breathing—the theory essentially says doing this can regulate different male and female energies in the body, which are both responsible for different things, including energy levels (hyper vs relaxed). I can’t personally attest to any of the deeper claims of the theory, but I have used the alternate nostril…

If anyone else was confused (I was and had to google), the practice of alternate nostril breathing entails physically obstructing alternating nostrils with a finger as you take breaths.

At first, but once you reach nostril nirvana you unlock the ability to breathe with your third nostril

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#194

Post by r0rshrk »

tzot wrote: post #104

> Hindus considered breath and spirit the same thing It's funny, because I just realised that πνεύμα(pneuma)/spirit in Greek has the same root as πνεύμων(pneumon)/lung: the verb πνέω(pnéo), which means I breathe. This is not Mr Portokalos talking from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, people: πνέω is traced to the older Indo-European stem pnew- , and the whole point of my comment is that there is a lot of heritage in languag…

Atmen in German (breath) and Atman in Sanskrit (breath, spirit) have the same origin.

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#195

Post by vmurthy »

I've recently started listening to the audio book "Biofeedback and Mindfulness in Everyday Life" [0] by Inna Khazan, a clinical pscyhologist[1]. For the more skeptical minded who want the data/ more exploration, she references a bunch of studies attesting to the efficacy of breathing techniques and how it impacts health etc. I won't say the book has changed my life mainly because I am still listening to it and there's a l ong way to practise these but so far the results are encouraging ( More peace of mind , great sleep (experience) plus data on my Apple Watch app and energy levels)

[0] https://www.audible.in/pd/Biofeedback-and-Mindfulness-in-Eve...

[1] https://innakhazan.com/wp/13-about-me/

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#196

Post by brigandish »

gonehome wrote: post #176
brigandish wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a big difference between wearing crystals because you believe it improves your life, and doing a physical exercise that changes your mental state. If one can't confirm changes in their own mental state, especially profound changes, I'd suggest that's a far bigger and more pressing problem than anything you've listed.

I'm sure people believe they confirm 'profound changes in their own mental state' from energy crystals too. We can delude ourselves into believing anything. That's why we need to test things empirically in order to find out the truth.

> I'm sure people believe they confirm 'profound changes in their own mental state' from energy crystals too.

Not sure about you, but if someone tells me "I've been exercising lately and mentally I feel much better" I don't say "but does homeopathy really work" and wink at them.

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#197

Post by djtriptych »

graeme wrote: post #121
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…

Are you referring to the hyperventilation technique? I ended up at one of his workshops randomly and tried that. It’s actually an old technique to increase the ability to hold the breath. The hyperventilation clears carbon dioxide from the system (hypocapnia). That’s what the buzz is. Never ever ever ever ever do this underwater or you have a serious risk of death: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freediving_blackout#Sh…

yeah all these techniques are ancient in origin. Revived for every new generation.

Pranayama is at least a thousand years old and encompasses all of this. And many of the foundational texts refer to even older practices.

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#198

Post by IncRnd »

e40 wrote: post #79
dcuthbertson wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Naturally we breath out of one nostril at a time I don't understand how anyone can make that statement with a straight face. Unless one nostril is blocked, we use both simultaneously. There's no balance to be gamed.

That is totally not correct. I thought I was an anomaly until I heard a podcast by the Breathe author. I've noticed it for years, but I always attributed it to allergies (I attribute everything anomalous to them, because they are such a huge influence in my life). What is totally confusing is what causes the flip from one nostril to another. I have no idea what the mechanism is.

It will switch naturally during the day several times, as long as you get enough rest, excercise, don't smoke, etc.

It's actually very easy to switch it. You can lean to towards the side (think yoga triangle pose) that has the open nostril.

You can place pressure in the corresponding armpit for the same effect.

Medidation, concentration, certain ways of breathing will all also affect the flow.

I'm sure you can determnine the various other physical ways, based on these, to swap nostrils.

Re: One hour of slow breathing changed my life

#200

Post by ekianjo »

spaetzleesser wrote: post #133
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…

> Try it. there is not much to lose.

And since you can't really measure things well with n=1 you end up with confirmation bias at the end of the day.

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