Cort
Phoenix Rising Founder
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I think the idea of the breath in ME/CFS is just so interesting. I swiped the below thread from ExperimentalCFSYahoogroup. It's by Blake Graham - a nutritionist/healer (I think he is) who often posts there.
My experience in ME/CFS is that whenever I hit a trigger (almost constantly at times!) I stop exhaling and hold my breath and then breathe in short spurts. This is apparently what happens when you're in a stressful situation. Think of it - something shoots out of the dark when you're walking - what do you do? you hold your breath and direct all your senses to the possible danger that's approaching. THis is a situation I think I am often (without realizing it) in.
This is not a healthy state of being. Blake offers his take on the Breathing situation in ME/CFS; as someone who's researched this disease alot he thinks its important and he's found some breathing methods that may help. Excerpts of his article are found below. (I'm going to have section on Breathing up on the website in the near future.)
http://www.nutritional-healing.com.au/content/articles-content.php?heading=CFS%20-%20Breathing
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My experience in ME/CFS is that whenever I hit a trigger (almost constantly at times!) I stop exhaling and hold my breath and then breathe in short spurts. This is apparently what happens when you're in a stressful situation. Think of it - something shoots out of the dark when you're walking - what do you do? you hold your breath and direct all your senses to the possible danger that's approaching. THis is a situation I think I am often (without realizing it) in.
This is not a healthy state of being. Blake offers his take on the Breathing situation in ME/CFS; as someone who's researched this disease alot he thinks its important and he's found some breathing methods that may help. Excerpts of his article are found below. (I'm going to have section on Breathing up on the website in the near future.)
http://www.nutritional-healing.com.au/content/articles-content.php?heading=CFS%20-%20Breathing
These issues collectively constitute a very important issue which contributes to, and perpetuates, CFS. The treatment discussed is designed to break the cycle of these three issues. I have heard about the supposed importance of breathing for many years and never took it very seriously. I read an article in Alternative and Complementary Therapies called ‘Clinical Roundup: How Do You Treat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Your Practice?’. In the article eight integrative/alternative medicine experts described how they treat CFS in their practice. 4/8 mentioned the importance of breathing. This caused me to look into the role of breathing in more detail. After studying this topic I have become completely convinced that this is a very important issue.
Mitochondrial function (a key issue for those with CFS) is highly dependent on oxygen levels for energy production. Shallenberger cites a case study in his book in which a person increased their metabolic energy production 20% after just half an hour of breathing instruction.
The link between stress and breathing rate goes both directions. Higher stress levels causes faster breathing and faster breathing causes higher stress levels. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the part of the nervous system which controls involuntary functions. It is composed of two sections, the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). The SNS activates our stress response (the 'fight or flight' response) and the PNS counteracts the stress response and is associated with relaxation and energy conservation. In CFS and many other chronic illnesses this autonomic balance is impaired with an erratic SNS response and under active PNS response.
What does this have to do with breathing? Well it turns out that our breathing rate is a key cue to the autonomic nervous system of need for SNS activation. Even if a person is feeling mentally calm if your breathing rate is overly fast, as most peoples is, this causes SNS activation. Slow breathing (also called 'paced respiration') tones and normalizes activity of both the SNS and PNS.
Read the fascinating article ‘The Science of Coherent Breathing’ by Stephen Elliott for an in depth discussion of the link between breathing and autonomic nervous system balance.
While a typical person might have 15-20 breath cycles per minute, an ideal number is 5-8 cycles per minute. For example five breath cycles per minute = one breath cycle per 12 seconds, or inhaling for six seconds and exhaling for 6 seconds. While we can’t quickly take up these new habits permanently what we can do is daily breath training.
A person can listen to an audio track which has a sound cue every six seconds. You simply inhale or exhale at each interval using the track like a metronome. Breathing at this rate is referred to as coherent or resonant breathing. What are the benefits of doing this? On an immediate basis this is deeply relaxing for most people. Cumulative over several weeks daily breath training has numerous benefits. It improves the function and balance of the autonomic nervous system which carries with it a host of benefits. Our natural breathing rhythm gradually shifts in the direction of that during the training so we don’t just benefit during the breathing exercises. Coherent breath training is one of the best ways to reduce levels of stress.
You can order a CD called Respire I or download the audio tracks as MP3s (free audio samples are available). I enjoy track 2 which has Tibetan bells as the breath cue. I recommend that people with CFS do this breath exercise for 25 minutes twice daily. Breath through your nose and you should be able to feel your abdominal region expand and contract. While performing the breathing exercise mentally scan your body and release any areas of tension, e.g. in your jaw, shoulders and chest. Throughout the day periodically observe your breathing rate and slow it down to around five breaths per minute.
Also use this breathing technique, combined with Ujjayi breathing described below, in times of acute stress. Taking breathing one step further. In the excellent book ‘How to Use Herbs, Nutrients, and Yoga in Mental Health Care’ written by three psychiatrists affiliated with universities in New York, the authors recommend Respire I from coherence.com.
They also recommend combining this with a breathing technique called Ujjayi breathing, a yogic breathing technique. They write: "Those who are able to learn Ujjayi breathing can be instructed to use the Respire I CD with Ujjayi for even greater effects."
"In clinical practice, the authors find that basic Ujjayi breathing is the single most rapidly effective breath intervention for anxiety symptoms in patients diagnosed with anxiety disorders… The patient who is taught Ujjayi breathing will usually experience a profound sense of physical and mental calmness within five to 10 minutes of doing this technique." Type in Ujjayi breath at www.youtube.com to watch videos on this breathing technique.
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