With two students, one of whom arrived more than ten minutes late, the turnout for the ‘Breathe Nicely’ workshop on Thursday, November 9 could be described as poor. Maybe it’s because there was a session two days earlier, which turned out to be more popular with about ten students. It doesn’t seem to matter much to lifestyle doctor and VU alumnus Aäron Spapens, because he talks energetically about “perhaps the most important thing” we do in our lives: breathing.
Stress without an endpoint
In modern times, breathing goes wrong for most people, and that has everything to do with stress, Spapens explains. Or rather: mental stress without a physical component. Where in prehistoric times stress was always linked to something physical, such as running away from a lion or hunting a deer, nowadays the stress is mainly mental: texts or emails that flow in, performance at work, maintaining your social relationships, and so on. This creates stress without a clear end point – as is the case when fleeing danger – and we remain in a continuous state of tension. And that in turn causes incorrect breathing.
Join us at home
Time to experience for yourself what breathing does to our body. We do two exercises of one minute each, which you can imitate at home. Stand up straight and bounce up and down rhythmically on your toes. With each seesaw you breathe in or out according to this pattern: three times in, one time out. So seesaw (inhale), seesaw (breathe in), seesaw (breathe in), seesaw (exhale) and so on. Repeat this for one minute and then consciously feel what is happening in your body.
For the second exercise you sit down. Inhale and then exhale as slowly as possible, without forcing it. Repeat this for one minute and feel again what this does to your body. Do you feel calmer?
Fight or flight
“With the first breathing exercise you activate the so-called sympathetic nervous system, also known as fight or flight”, explains Spapens. “Your breathing rate increases, your heart rate increases and you may even get a little dizzy. Your body is preparing for battle. With the second exercise, the opposite happens: your breathing slows down, your heart rate drops and your muscles relax. This is because your parasympathetic nervous system is activated, better known as… rest and digest. This system is for recovery and rest.”
Due to a life full of stimuli and mental threats, our sympathetic nervous system is activated too often, the workshop shows. The solution? Exhale longer than inhale. “Try it: put your fingers on your carotid artery, breathe in and out and feel what happens to your heartbeat,” says Spapens. The two students feel full of concentration, until one says: “My heart rate slows down when I exhale.” Spapens confirms this beamingly, and explains that when you inhale, you activate the sympathetic nervous system and when you exhale, you activate the parasympathetic nervous system. By breathing out longer than inhaling, you relax your body and mind.
Neusademhaling
But how can you further improve your breathing? In any case, breathe through your nose, says Spapens. This has many benefits, such as activating your diaphragm and slower breathing. Because we often breathe too superficially and quickly. “An ideal breathing rate is between 5.5 and 6 times per minute.”
A good indicator of the condition of your breath is your CO2 tolerance. In short, the amount of CO2 in your blood determines how quickly you take another breath. A low CO2 tolerance causes rapid breathing. With a simple exercise, which the students perform dutifully, Spapens shows how you can measure and improve your tolerance for CO2 yourself.
The test is adem
Do you want to know your CO2 tolerance? Then do the next exercise. Sit down, grab a timer and breathe in and out at a normal pace. Do this about five to ten times, breathe out slowly without forcing it and start the timer. Hold your breath until you feel the need to breathe. You should regain your full breath and breathe normally within three to five breaths. Are you under 20-25 seconds? Then there is work to be done. Fortunately, according to Spapens, this exercise is easy to train and you will quickly see an improvement in your CO2 tolerance, provided you do it daily.
Pro tip: Can you reach 25 seconds with ease? Then try to do the exercise while walking or cycling slowly.
Breathe well
Everything shows that Spapens breathes his field. Also afterwards, when one of the two students asks a question about the last exercise. Spapens enthusiastically rattles on about CO2 tolerance, the sense and nonsense of breathing guru Dr. Buteyko and his brother’s company, Lekker Ademen.
2023-11-10 15:43:36
#breathe #healthier #nose
