Air-o-science: The science behind Breathing techniques

Have you ever heard people say, “Just breathe and relax”?  Turns out that there is science behind that common advice, hence it’s imperative to understand the hype around breathing techniques. 

When we are stressed, it might sound extremely frustrating to divert our attention to our breath rather than worry about the mess we are in. However, research has shown how pausing to focus on our breathing pattern can benefit in multiple ways.

From ancestors to us: Sadiyon ka gyan (Ancient wisdom)

While terms like- Breathwork, Mindfulness, Breathing techniques, and Controlled breathing might be fairly new, these practices have been going on in our cultures and different traditions in a variety of ways, be it through yoga or religious practices.  

Breathwork is an ancient practice that has been known as a foundational aspect in many cultural and spiritual practices. This phenomenon is mentioned in Vedic texts as Prana, and the Chinese refer to it as Chi. Japanese and Africans call it Ki and Umoyo, respectively. Breathwork is not just known among cultural/ religious leaders but is also quite popular among celebrities and influencers, like when Gisele Bundchen taught Pranayama, and when Andrew Huberman, a well-known neuroscientist, made the audience do the Physiological Sigh on the Jimmy Fallon show. Thus, this ancient wisdom is a legacy, not a novelty, that has been very wisely interwoven and embedded in our cultures.

Flow of Breath

Breathing is mostly an unconscious bodily function that supplies our organs with the required fuel to keep running. We breathe to live by serving our nervous system. In this sense, it is an automatic function that is controlled by early brain structures critical for survival.  While it is an automatic function, it's also the only function that can be under our control. However, at times, this rhythmic flow of breath might get affected by Stress, in the form of shortness of breath. Before moving on, let's understand what stress really is. 

Lazarus and Folkman define stress as a relation between an individual and their environment, when the former perceives the environmental demands to be exceeding their ability to cope with them. Common markers of stress include- Headaches, faster heart rate, sweating and so on. This stress response is also known as the fight-or-flight response, when the body prepares itself to deal with a perceived threatening situation. 

Survival switches of our Brain

• When our eyes note or see any potential danger, it signals the Amygdala, an essential part of our brain that processes emotional information. Let's call this part - The Panic button. 

• Now, once the Panic button gets a signal from the senses regarding a potential danger, it sends a message to the Hypothalamus. 

• Hypothalamus can be imagined as the Commanding Officer of our system, since it communicates throughout our body entirely. 

• This system also consists of two lovely buddies, which are our Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems. 

• The sympathetic system is like an accelerator that signals different parts of our system to prepare for a war-like situation. This results in pupil dilation, to see more clearly, blood travels to our muscles, helping us in any kind of movement that we may require, our breathing pattern changes so as to take in more Oxygen and so on. Basically, this accelerator helps us to either flee or fight the danger. 

• On the contrary Parasympathetic system is more like our brakes that brings the body back to equilibrium and calmness. 

Countering stress response through Breathwork

Consciously breathing can help us to be more present and be able to bring all our attention to our breathing pattern. This can be especially important when we feel overwhelmed by too many things happening around us. Here are a few quick breathing techniques:

1)Physiological sigh- Start by sitting in a quiet space. Then slowly breathe in, and try to fill up as much as possible. Then take one more quick and short inhale. Now, slowly exhale as much as you can. This extended exhale is quite vital since it empties out a large amount of carbon dioxide, thereby calming us down by activating our brake system’s rest response (Parasympathetic Nervous System).

2) Mindfulness Breathing- This technique involves sustained attention to our breathing. This technique tries to follow the natural rhythm of breathing without any alteration. 

3) Diaphragmatic Breathing- In this form of Breathing, we bring our focus to how our body moves when we breathe in and out. We start by placing one hand on our chest and the other on our stomach. As we breathe in, we become aware of our belly expanding, and when we exhale, it contracts. This helps in enhancing our lung capacity, ensuring more oxygen is received, and thus we may feel relaxed.

References:

Definition of Stress, Stress Management.  https://www.managingstress.com/

Lindberg, Z. (2023) Decolonising Healthcare: Breathwork as  a Traditional and Complementary Medicine. 

Muller, R. (2022). The potential to heal through breathwork, Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-about-trauma/202207/the-potential-heal-through-breathwork.

Nash, J. (2025). 7 best breathwork techniques & exercises to use, PositivePsychology.com. Available at: https://positivepsychology.com/breathwork-techniques/

‘Understanding the stress response’ (2024) Harvard Health Publishing, 3 April. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response.

Disclaimer: This blog post is meant for awareness/entertainment purposes only. It is not medical advice, and one must refrain from self-diagnosing. It is in no way a substitute for therapy with a mental health professional and it is not meant to be clinical. To consult with a psychotherapist on our team, you can contact us on fettle.counselling@gmail.com.