"Feeling tense? Take a few deep breaths." Chances are you've heard something like that, more than once. But is there actually any science behind deep breathing as a way to relax? And if there is, how can we put our breath to good use when we're facing anxious feelings? That's exactly what we want to dig into this time.
To answer that question, we first need to understand that a person is a psycho-physiological being. The term sounds a little complicated, but it isn't hard to grasp. Put simply, a psycho-physiological being means that a person is influenced at the same time by both the body — things like heart rate and body temperature — and the mind — things like emotions and thoughts. So when we look at how deep breathing affects a person, we need to consider it on two separate levels: the physiological and the psychological.
Let's start with the physiological. We have two sets of nerves: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The former is responsible for the fight-or-flight response when we face danger. When a person is tense, the sympathetic nervous system switches on — the heart beats faster, the body sweats — so that we can react quickly to the danger in front of us. This is especially true for life-threatening danger: if you suddenly came face to face with a lion, the sympathetic nervous system would help you run faster. The parasympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, switches on when we relax, slowing the heart rate and breathing and easing the body into a relaxed state.
These two nervous systems exist, in the first place, to help us survive. But sometimes they misjudge the situation. Take being nervous before an interview: the sympathetic nervous system behaves as though you were facing a lion, sending your heart racing and bracing you to fight or flee. But hold on! If you punched the interviewer you'd land in jail, and running away would certainly cost you the job. So this is a case of the sympathetic nervous system doing more harm than good.
The good news is that we can dial that system back down. When a person breathes deeply, they take around six breaths a minute — far slower than usual. So we can ease things down and switch on the parasympathetic nervous system (1), which in turn triggers a whole chain of relaxation responses.
That all sounds well-founded — but why is it that deep breathing sometimes does nothing for me? The reason may lie at the psychological level. A lot of people take deep breaths precisely in situations where being nervous would affect their performance, so they're desperate to make themselves relax. The moment they start breathing deeply, they're thinking, "No, no! I need to relax! If I don't I'm done for!" The upshot is that they can't make themselves relax in the moment, and because they can't control it, that sense of failure makes them even more tense — and the more tense they get, the harder they push themselves to relax. A vicious cycle is born. On the physiological level the breathing may be relaxing the body, but on the psychological level you're pressuring yourself to relax — so how could you ever truly relax?
So how can we breathe more effectively? You can try letting go of the goal of forcing yourself to relax, and simply pay attention to the sensation of breathing out and breathing in. Of course, that's easier said than done. When you notice yourself starting to force the relaxation again, you can tell yourself that this is perfectly normal, and gently guide yourself back to your breath. Then make the deep-breathing practice a little longer — around three to five minutes — so that the parasympathetic nervous system has more time to switch on, and the mind has more time to settle.
This approach isn't actually anything new — holding this attitude while breathing deeply is similar to the breathing practice in mindfulness meditation. And quite a few studies have suggested that mindfulness meditation can help us cope with anxious and stressful feelings (2). So next time you feel tense, why not give this method a try — you might just find something new in it!
References
(1)
Shu-Zhen Wang, Sha Li, Xiao-Yang Xu, Gui-Ping Lin, Li Shao, Yan Zhao, and Ting Huai Wang. Effect of slow abdominal breathing combined with biofeedback on blood pressure and heart rate variability in prehypertension. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. October 2010, 16(10): 1039-1045. doi: 10.1089/acm.2009.0577
(2)
Hofmann, S. G., Sawyer, A. T., Witt, A. A., & Oh, D. (2010). The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 78(2), 169.
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