Deep breaths are… Bad?
Stressed? Take a deep breath.
Anxious? Deep breath.
Nervous? Tired? Overworked? Running? Going to yoga?
Take a deep breath.
It seems like such sound, inarguably good advice.
Well- turns out it’s not such a good idea after all.
We breathe every day/all day. on average that’s…
16 breaths a minute
960 per hour
23,000 a day
8,400,000 a year
Anything we do this often we should make sure we do it reasonably well.
DO I BREATHE WELL?
I’m here with some good news and probably with some bad. Let’s start with the bad news:
You’re probably not breathing well.
The good news: There is room for improvement. And more people than you can count have lost significant amounts of weight just by streamlining their breathing. By making some simple adjustments you can lose weight, energize your body, improve your immune system, sex life, maybe even change your life.
So let’s do a test. The BOLT (Body Oxygen Level) Test. Here’s how:
Breath normally
exhale all the air from your lungs. Let this be effortless, not forceful.
Time yourself, stopping the timer when you feel the first physical impulse to breathe (chest pressure, swallowing, urge to breathe in).
Your score is the number of seconds it took from the exhale to the first IMPULSE to breath. This is NOT a breath holding competition.
BOLT= the flat line in the middle.
Write down your score. I’ve listed what your particular BOLT score means below. If you score well then GREAT! One less thing you have to worry about. If you have a low score, GREAT, just think about how much better life will become once you learn to breath well.
<20- you are over-breathing. Your body is overly sensitive to CO2. As you improve you will notice symptoms of sleeplessness, tiredness, snoring, wheezing, & blocked nasal passages disappear.
20-40- You breathe well but can improve.
40+- Elite
HOW TO CHANGE YOUR SCORE AND BREATH BETTER
Some ideas on improving your BOLT. Hint- Breathe through your nose and ONLY your nose!
Breathing better is simple once you make a few simple adjustments. Iv’e listed three changes you can make to optimize your respiration. They are going to feel counterintuitive, but try them and see how quickly your BOLT score changes. Internalize them and watch how quickly your body and energy change:
Breathe in/out through your nose. Only your nose.
Breathe into your lungs, not your neck and chest. This is what’s called a ‘Belly Breath’. It earns this moniker for your belly moves during breath and the rest of your torso does not.
Avoid taking deep breaths. If you’re sighing you’re over- breathing.
MY INITIAL SCORES WERE TERRIBLE
Time for a deep breath? Ummm…
Good read. Could change your health. Drastically.
I recently finished ‘The Oxygen Advantage’ by Patrick McKeown and found, to my horror, that I was over breathing. My initial BOLT score was around 18. I noticed I was sighing and yawning all the time, and I scored terribly on a second breathing test that involved exhaling and counting how many steps you can take before you absolutely need another breath. I barely made it to 30. According to McKeown’s book he has taught school children to reach 80.
Why is my breathing out of whack? I run a fair amount. I exercise. I’m not overweight or a smoker.
I do take deep breaths. Like DEEP deep breaths.
In yoga.
Every day.
As I teach and as I practice. I thought deep breaths are good for you. I’d cue my class to take them.
WHY THIS SUDDEN INTEREST IN BREATHING?
I was experiencing some crummy sleep, lackluster energy, and my body was stubbornly hanging onto about 10 lbs too many.
DID YOU KNOW?
The bodies main method for removing body fat is through your breath.
From an article by Jame’s Mcintosh:
“In order for 10 kg of human fat to be oxidized, the researchers calculated that 29 kg of oxygen must be inhaled. Oxidation then produces a total of 28 kg of CO2 and 11 kg of H20.”
— HTTPS://WWW.MEDICALNEWSTODAY.COM/ARTICLES/287046.PHP
So I focused on my breathing. The results have been promising.
I have been working on my breathing (and diet) since being humbled last spring. My BOLT score (taken :10 seconds ago) is 34 seconds. I have lost bw 10 and 14 lbs (varying on recent measurements) and I have made it 72 steps without passing out (though I average bw 50-60. Damn those kids!).
I have stopped taking deep breaths in yoga, instead focusing on breathing consistently in through the nose/out through the nose.
Interestingly the most challenging day of the week for me is Wednesday where I teach two separate yoga classes. That’s over 2 hours of non stop speaking, cueing and movement. It is the time I feel most out of breath, and the time I feel most zapped of energy.
I have even been able to run for 10 miles without breathing in through my mouth. There are many benefits to nasal breathing including increased oxygen absorption, calmer emotional state (mouth breathing is tied to fight or flight), better athletic performance, sexual performance, and speedier recovery from physical exertion.
You had me at sexual performance.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Well, I already where breathe right to bed sometimes.
Next up is the 10 week Wim Hof breathing technique course.
Like I said before when we are doing something this often we should do it well. I’m glad I took an interest in breathing. When done correctly it can make a huge difference in so many facets of your health.
