DR MICHAEL MOSLEY: Why slow, deep breathing is like giving yourself a little sedative!

Breathing is the most normal thing in the world – we breathe in and out about 16 times a minute and don’t think about it.

But how you breathe can have profound effects on your body and brain: research suggests that slowing your breathing rate and focusing on slow, deep inhalations and exhalations can lower your heart rate and blood pressure.

And according to a recent study from Stanford University’s Department of Neurobiology in the US, sighing—that is, taking a deep breath and then exhaling longer—is a good way to relieve stress and stimulate positive feelings.

So the unlucky lovers of romance novels who often sigh when they fall in love may be on to something.

Slower breathing can also help you fall asleep (a big plus for me), and five minutes of slow, deep breathing three times a day has been shown to reduce the effects of chronic pain.

Fans of yoga will already know a lot about the importance of focusing on your breathing and spending a few minutes a day practicing slow, deep breathing to support your health.

Now science is catching up. But why is slow breathing so beneficial? I recently interviewed Ian Robertson, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin, who described slow, deep breathing as “an incredibly effective way of giving yourself a mini sedative.”

He added that part of the reason is that “we tend to hold our breath or breathe faster when we’re very busy or stressed, which can make us panic even more; Just by slowing down your breathing, you can calm things down and you might be surprised at how quickly you feel better.

I learned controlled breathing while doing one of my favorite episodes of my podcast series, Just One Thing.

And it was life-changing; When I’m stressed and sleeping badly, a few minutes of slow, deep breathing can change my mood and bring a quiet joy to my day.

One of the ways slowing your breathing helps is because it affects special sensors in your brain that detect the levels of carbon dioxide in your blood—these sensors respond quickly by releasing or inhibiting a chemical messenger called norepinephrine. feeling stressed and anxious.

Slowing your breathing not only lowers norepinephrine levels, but also activates the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system, which regulates how your body works during periods of rest, slowing your heart and lowering your blood pressure. And it has an additional calming effect.

Professor Robertson calls slow breathing “the most precise medicine you can give yourself,” with the bonus of having no side effects: “It’s like a mini reset button for your brain.”

Yoga fans already know a lot about the importance of paying attention to your breathing and practicing slow, deep breathing for a few minutes a day to support your health

There are many ways to do this, including box breathing, where you inhale deeply for a count of four, hold for a count of two, and then exhale for a count of four; Also known as 4:2:4, it is taught to military and rescue workers to relieve stress.

I find it very effective, especially when I have racing thoughts and struggle to fall back asleep in the middle of the night.

But is this really the best breathing technique when it comes to reducing stress and anxiety? This is what researchers at Stanford University wanted to find out.

For their study, published earlier this month in the journal Cell, they recruited 108 volunteers and divided them into four groups.

One group spent five minutes a day cyclically sighing, inhaling slowly before taking shorter breaths to fully inflate their lungs, then exhaling as long as possible.

The second group did box breathing: inhale, hold breath, exhale and hold the exhale breath. The third group hyperventilated cyclically – which sounds pretty awful. You take a deep breath and then 30 very short exhalations before exhaling completely. And try not to faint.

The fourth group was asked to practice mindfulness meditation for five minutes a day, a proven technique for reducing anxiety; The idea is that you sit still and focus on your breathing, but don’t consciously try to control it. (There are many apps that can help you with this, or you might want to sign up for a mindfulness class.)

After eight weeks, all study participants reported a significant reduction in their anxiety, but those who did the cyclic sighing benefited the most in terms of less stress and more positive feelings.

Researchers think that any type of controlled breathing can be better than meditation, at least if you only do it for a few minutes a day, because it allows you to focus on changing your breathing, which is a great way to clear your mind. to derive from things. . lost your mind

They think that cyclic breathing is particularly effective because you take a long breath in followed by an even longer breath out. It appears to be particularly effective in causing changes in your parasympathetic autonomic nervous system, slowing your heart rate and making you feel calmer.

I tried it and it works. Only downside? If you do this when other people are around, you will sound like you are annoyed or maybe just in love.