47. Slow breathing and the science of the relaxation response

In this episode, we explore the science of slow breathing, a super simple and effective way to regulate your nervous system, including how your breath reflects your internal state, how it influences your brain and body, and how to use it to move from stress to calm.

👉 You’ll learn

• Why your breath changes when you’re stressed
• The link between breathing and the nervous system
• What the relaxation response is
• How slow breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system
• The role of the vagus nerve in calming the body
• How breathwork supports emotional regulation and clarity

👉 The science of slow breathing

When you slow your breathing - particularly by lengthening your exhale - several important physiological changes occur:

• Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and repair mode)
• Stimulation of the vagus nerve, supporting calm and safety
• Reduction in heart rate and muscle tension
• Improved emotional regulation via increased prefrontal cortex activity

This is known as the relaxation response - the antidote to stress.

👉 Free workshop: Pranayama: ancient breath practices, modern science
If you’d like to understand breathwork more deeply - not just how to do it, but why it works - join this free workshop

👉 Useful episodes
🫁 Nadi Shodhana: The what, why and how - listen here
🤪 How stressed are you? (and what to do about it) - listen here

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💤 Yoga for Sleep: A nervous system approach

🗓️ Thursday 21st May

⏰ 12:30

💛 You’ll leave with a clearer understanding of how sleep works, insight into the relationship between stress, the nervous system and rest and practical tools to help your body and mind settle before bed. 

🙏 Free to join - save your seat here to join live, or receive the recording

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👋 work with me

💛 1:1 therapeutic yoga

Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here

🌻 therapeutic workshops and retreats

Small, supportive sessions focused on anxiety, deep rest or back health, blending yoga, breathwork and evidence-based education. Come join us here 

🦋 vinyasa flow 200 hour yoga teacher training

A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, here

Transcript

Hi, and welcome or welcome back. Today we're talking about something that you probably do about 20,000 times Every single day, we are [00:01:00] talking about your breath, and more specifically, slow breathing, including the impact that slow breathing has on your body and mind. And how you can use it in your everyday life.

So at the risk of sounding like a bit of a negative Nelly, let's start with the problem, which is that so many of us are walking around in a low level stress state, maybe not, you know, full-blown panic, but slightly wired, a bit overwhelmed, you know, struggling to switch off. But because this is the state for so many of us, for much of the time, it might be that we don't even notice it anymore, but Yogi, as I'm sure you know, your breath reflect your state.

And so one of the easiest ways to genuinely [00:02:00] understand how you are doing is through your breath. Because when you're stressed, your breath rate will increase. It becomes quicker, and the breath is more shallow. It's more chest based. But when you are calm, your breath slows down and the breath itself goes deeper down into the lower lungs, and the rhythm of the breath becomes more steady.

So. Your breath is constantly reflecting what's happening in your own nervous system. But here's the key, and this is something that I think is both completely insidious and also, paradoxically full of potential, which is that this relationship goes both ways.

It is not just that your nervous system state affects your breath. But that your breath [00:03:00] also affects your nervous system state, which means that by changing your breath, you can begin to change how you feel. How amazing is that? It it still gives me goosebumps, actually, even after all these years. The power of this, so I'm, I'm going to say it again.

Your breath can change how you feel.

 The science of slow breathing. So what's actually happening when you slow your breath down? Well, when you breathe slowly, especially when you lengthen your exhale breath, a few really important things happen. One, you activate your parasympathetic nervous system. You might know this is your rest and digest state or your rest and repair.

but essentially it's the opposite of the fight or flight [00:04:00] response. The fight or flight response is our survival state. It's activated in times of stress and it prioritizes everything that you need for survival. Which in that moment is really good, but the reality is that we are not walking around with threats to our survival all the time.

So activating the parasympathetic nervous system, the rest and digest response is absolutely vital for encouraging blood flow to flow all the way through the body, not just to the muscles. It's vital for our immune system. We talked about that a couple of episodes ago. It's absolutely vital for helping you sleep and for helping you rest.

Two, you stimulate the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is a key nerve, a key communication pathway between your brain and your body, and back again, and slow breathing. Particularly with that longer exhale, it [00:05:00] stimulates this nerve and this sends a signal to the whole nervous system that you are safe and that you can relax.

and three, you bring your prefrontal cortex back online. The prefrontal cortex is the home of rational thinking, and in that fight or flight survival state, it goes offline. E evolutionarily. This was a really good idea because if you were face-to-face with a tiger, you wouldn't want your rational brain delaying things By saying, Hmm, maybe this tiger. Maybe he's already had breakfast, or maybe he doesn't fancy the taste of human today. You want to react, and that is exactly what happens. That fear-based reaction happens instantly from the fear detection center, which is called the amygdala, however. As mentioned before, we are not really in that survival state all the time, and actually acting from the amygdala can [00:06:00] cause us more stress, can't it?

It can cause more stress for our future self. So having the prefrontal cortex online is really, really important for rational thinking. So essentially with slow breathing, you are more able to think clearly. You are more able to regulate your emotions and you are more able to make decisions that fit with your values of who you are as a person.

 There's a really important thing to mention here. It doesn't mean that you will feel instantly, perfectly calm every single time that you initiate slow breathing. And it doesn't mean that something is wrong with you if you are struggling to find a sense of calm, right?

Especially if you are used to being busy or stressed. That kind of slowing down. [00:07:00] It can feel unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and sometimes unsafe, and that's really okay. It doesn't mean it's not working. Be kind to yourself. When practicing slow breathing, if you experience absolutely any discomfort, then breathe in a way that is more suitable for you and trust that with calm, practice, that over time your nervous system will start to listen and respond.

So if you are listening to this and thinking, well, this makes sense on paper, but I'm not really sure what to do. Or if you're thinking, you know, that you've tried breathing practices before, but you really, you just don't know if you're doing them right or you want more information about what's genuinely going on in the body and in the brain with slow breathing, then come and join my free online workshop.

Ani Amer. Ancient practice, modern science, [00:08:00] because I'm going to tell you what's happening in your body and brain when you change your breath. I'll talk you through how different breathing techniques affect your nervous system, and then how to use pranayama breathing techniques in a way that is safe and effective.

You can save your seat in the show notes. So Yogi to summarize, your breath is always with you, and it is one of the most powerful tools that you have to guide your nervous system back to balance. Thanks so much for listening. I can't wait to see you at the free workshop. Don't forget to book your space and as always, happy practising.