I will admit that I did not even contemplate doing my deep breathing last night. When I get home from work on a Friday afternoon, all I want to do is kick off my shoes and curl up on the couch with my dog--no responsibilities, not even for my own health! I went to bed late after watching a movie and sleep seemed more important than a little pre-sleep relaxation.
However, this morning, I was great! I did my deep breathing AND I went to yoga class, where I did some more! Hooray for me!
From womentowomen.com:
In a 2005 review and analysis of several studies, Richard Brown, MD, and Patricia Gerbarg, MD, reported that yogic deep-breathing techniques were extremely effective in handling depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders. These techniques can serve as an excellent adjunct to conventional medical treatment — or in some cases as a suitable substitute — in treating myriad psychological disorders, as well as eating disorders and obesity.
Shallow breathing (or chest breathing) causes a constriction of the chest and lung tissue over time, decreasing oxygen flow and delivery to your tissues. Deep, rhythmic breathing expands the diaphragm muscle, the cone-shaped muscle under your lungs, expanding the lung’s air pockets, invoking the relaxation response, and massaging the lymphatic system.
Deep breathing is the fastest way to trigger your parasympathetic nervous system, through what some practitioners call the relaxation response. Further review and analysis of research by Drs. Brown and Gerbarg resulted in the development of a new neuropsychological theory for how yogic breathing may affect the stress response system and calm the mind and body. Their recent article in Current Psychiatry shows how trained deep breathing can relieve trauma symptoms.
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