Breathing is something that we do about 14 times per minute without even thinking about it. It is something that our brain is programmed to do on its own without conscious thought. But what if we are conscious about our breathing? Can it improve our health and well-being?
Research shows that focusing our mind on deep-breathing (DB) exercises can influence our brain, cardiovascular system (the heart), respiratory system (the lungs), and Gastrointestinal system (the digestive system) (1). These are all connected to a single part of our nervous system called the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) (1).
In certain systematic reviews, there are signs that DB can be helpful in increasing six-minute walking distances and improving the respiratory rate in COPD patients (1). When DB is related to stress, it was shown that it has favourable effects on stress reduction by improving the respiratory rate and showing a decrease in salivary cortisol levels (1). It is also a great technique to help with anxiety. Studies show that there was a decrease in anxiety scores, an increase in peripheral temperature (increased blood circulation), decrease in resting heart rate and respiratory rate when compared to the control group (1). There is also a relationship between anxiety and other emotions influencing the function of muscles (2).
Now, would DB techniques help a relatively healthy individual? The overall answer is YES! Individuals suffering from motion sickness were studied to see if DB could help (1). It was found that DB caused the subjects to experience a decreased respiration rate, and increased heart rate variability (which is a good thing), and self-reported motion sickness was much lower (1). When pairing DB techniques with upper body exercise, it shows that DB is effective in improving the maximum amount of air you can force out of your lungs on a full inhale, which means that you can get more air in and out of your lungs! (1). DB also has positive effects on endurance athletes as it can increase their normal respiratory volume by 10.96% and decrease the number of breaths per minute by 11.47% (1).
What if we are suffering from Low Back Pain (LBP)? When DB was paired with core stability exercises, it significantly improved the outcome of patients suffering from LBP (2). One possible reason for this was that there was enhanced activation of the Transverse Abdominus muscle leading to improved stability, which leads to protecting the lumbar spine and reducing the stress on the vertebrae and discs of the lumbar spine (2). The diaphragm has an attachment point to the low back which may be why DB and retraining its pattern of breathing could aid in decreasing LBP significantly (2).
Time to dive into some interesting physiology. Breathing has a close relationship to the ANS because the phrenic nerve, which controls the diaphragm (our breathing muscle), is connected to the vagus nerve, which is part of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) of the ANS (1). DB activates the PNS, causing a suppression in the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and a decrease in the respiratory rate (1). The heart is also controlled by the ANS, so if there is any dysfunction with the ANS, it can be regulated by DB through its control of the PNS and SNS (1)!
As further studies are needed to increase our understanding of breathing and how it affects the body, the things we do know about it can be brought into clinical practice!
1. Hamasaki, Hidetaka. "Effects of diaphragmatic breathing on health: a narrative review." Medicines 7.10 (2020): 65.
2. Shah, Shruti, Sridhar Shirodkar, and Medha Deo. "Effectiveness of core stability and diaphragmatic breathing vs. core stability alone on pain and function in mechanical non-specific low back pain patients: A randomised control trial." Int J Health Sci Res 10.2 (2020): 232-241
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