Skip to main content Skip to bottom nav
Considering therapy? Talk to a licensed therapist, wherever you are. Get started
  1. Forum
  2. Community Projects & Events
  3. Psychology Today: Breathe Your Way to Better Brain Health

Psychology Today: Breathe Your Way to Better Brain Health

User Profile: comfortableNight4463
comfortableNight4463 July 18th, 2022

_1658160718.image.png

"Can slow breathing and focused attention change your life? In short—yes! Studies clearly show that intentional breathing strategies can reduce anxiety and depression, manage blood pressure, improve sleep, and change the immune system.

The Pathways in Your Brain

A common metaphor used in pain neuroscience is to view pain as a result of activated neuropathways in the brain.

When we are depressed, anxious, and overwhelmed by stress, our entire brain is in an active state of distress. If we stay in this distressed state for any length of time, the connections between our thoughts, emotions, physiology, behavior, memories, and self-concepts all start to become linked.

These unhelpful connections take root, becoming the default mode of how the brain operates. It is from here that our thoughts, emotions, physiology, and behavior generate as we go about our day and influence all our experiences.

Rewiring Your Brain One Breath at a Time

For our brains to heal from chronic stress, the well-worn neuropathways that don't serve us need to be abandoned. New, healthy pathways need to be created instead. This is where breathing exercises come in—they help to redraw the map.

Combine slow, paced breathing with focused attention and you start to see a change in brainwave patterns that puts the brain into a neutral, calm state. Said another way, we suspend distressing brain pathways from operating when we engage in focused breathing practice.

Over time, the practice of slow breathing with focused attention does not just put the brain into a calm state—it also begins to disrupt the other default pathways that do not align with neutrality. These are the pathways associated with anxiety, depression, and other states of distress.

How to Improve Your Brain Health

The more you practice slow breathing, the more disruptive pathways are taken off-line. In time, unhelpful connections weaken and then cease to exist.


One simple practice is as follows: Breathe in slowly through your nose for a count of four, and then out through your mouth for a count of six. Exhale with pursed lips to release the air slowly and evenly. Focus all your attention on the gentle movement of your stomach as you breathe.

Avoid practicing when you are distressed or in a pain flare-up so that your breathing exercise does not become linked with your state of distress. And never practice breathing with the intent to control unwanted anxiety—that can easily make things worse, not better.

Begin in a quiet place for five minutes, twice a day, and gradually increase the time you spend practicing each week until you are practicing for 10 minutes twice a day.

Read the full article here!

Reflection:

Do you do breathing exercises? How have they helped?

*Whenever I'm anxious or feel like I'm about to panic, I start doing deep breathing. I use the 4-7-8 method and it helps tremendously!*

#Breathing #Brain #Health #Anxiety #Depression #MentalHealth






1
Feel better with online therapy Professional, confidential and affordable. Start today
User Profile: SirenOfSerenity
SirenOfSerenity August 1st, 2022

Thank you for sharing this with the community @comfortableNight4463!

Do you do breathing exercises? How have they helped?

- I do breathing exercises when I wake up in the morning before I even touch my phone or speak with anyone. It helps me feel complete and at peace on the inside before navigating through the world on the outside

*Support Forum Disclaimer
My communities
Community guidelines
Report an issue
Talk to an expert therapist
In life, there will be stress and challenges that make it seem difficult to...
Talk to Ashley Now