A Balm for the Soul: Practicing Simple Breath Awareness

by Nina

The Boundary is Fuzzy by Marie Lossky

Well, well, well, we’ve been blogging here for over four years and now I’ve find that while we have often referred to simple breath awareness as a way to trigger the Relaxation Response (see The Relaxation Response and Yoga) and to practice meditation (see Yoga Meditation Techniques), we’ve never actually described how to practice it. So I thought today I would remedy that rather serious omission. After all, this is the practice that helps me get back to sleep when I’m awake in the middle of the night and makes my Savasana and Legs Up the Wall poses profound relaxation practices.

I’ll start by comparing simple breath awareness to pranayama (breath control). Simple breath awareness is a practice of observing your breath without changing it. With pranayama, you intentionally change your breathing patterns, by making your inhalations and/or exhalations longer, holding your breath, or by breathing in a special fashion (such as humming, alternating nostrils, and so on), which has a potentially stronger affect on your nervous system (see Pranayama: A Powerful Key to Your Nervous System). With simple breath awareness, you just watch your natural breathing patterns, which is both very effective and completely safe. 

Breath awareness can be used in two different ways. The first is as a stress management technique. Ten to 20 minutes of simple breath awareness will trigger the Relaxation Response, quieting both your nervous system and your mind. And even a few minutes of practice can help center you or head off a spike in your stress levels. The second is as a meditation technique.

Whether you are practicing for stress management or as a form of meditation, the way you practice will depend on your location and position. If you’re going to practice as meditation, see Yoga Meditation Techniques for options for location, position, and timings. See the end of this post for information on choosing a focus, as this applies to both forms. This post provides information about location and positions for stress management. At the end of the post, I’ll provide information on choosing a focus for both forms of practicing.

Choosing Your Location

You don’t need a special location to practice breath awareness. As long as there is a quiet spot for you to sit—whether on the floor, out in nature, or on a chair—you can practice. You can also practice breath awareness while you are doing your favorite restorative pose or even while you are in bed as a way to soothe yourself to sleep (or back to sleep if you are awake in the middle of the night).

And when you’re traveling or are stuck somewhere busy and noisy, such at your office or on a train or airplane (yes, I’ve done that), you can practice there, too. It’s more challenging to practice when there are distractions or you are in a public place, but it is still an effective way to calm yourself in the middle of a hectic day.

Choosing Your Position

The position you choose will depend on your location. You have the most options in a house, where you can practice in a yoga sitting pose, sitting on a chair, in a restorative pose, or lying in or on your bed. Obviously, if you are at work or some other public place, you may have to limit yourself to sitting on a chair.

Sitting. Our recommended positions for seated breath awareness are Seated Crossed Legs and Hero pose (although a few people are comfortable enough in Half Lotus or even Full Lotus to practice breath awareness in those poses). 

In his post Learning to Sit on the Floor, Baxter described how you can use props to get comfortable in these poses. 

For people who can’t get comfortable on the floor or if the current setting doesn’t allow it, sitting on a chair is always an option. But rather than leaning against the back of the chair and slumping, sit on the front edge of the chair with your feet flat on the floor (if you are short, you might need to put a prop under them or if your legs are long you might need to put some padding on the chair seat) and your spine in its natural curves and your head in line with your spine. Obviously someone with physical disabilities who is in a wheelchair can practice breath awareness in whatever position they are able to take, in whatever chair they happen to be.

Restorative yoga poses. You can practice breath awareness in any restorative yoga pose that you find comfortable, as well as in gentle supported inverted poses (see All About Supported Inversions), such as Legs Up the Wall pose. We especially recommend Reclined Cobbler’s pose and Supported Savasana, if those poses are comfortable for you. I, myself, have found the combination of Legs Up the Wall with breath awareness to be extremely powerful.

If you’re someone who tends to be anxious and lying on your back makes you feel vulnerable or if you can't lie on your back for any reason, Supported Child’s pose or a Side-Lying Savasana are good alternatives. Both will allow you to bring awareness to your breath in your back body, which can be more relaxing for anxious people. 

In bed. You can practice breath awareness under the covers in your bed, in your customary sleeping position. This is a good way to improve your sleep because you will fall asleep in more relaxed state or to get back to sleep if you wake in the middle of the night (see Yoga You Can Do In Bed). Depending on what’s most comfortable for you, practice either on your back with your head supported by a pillow or lying on your side, with a pillow between your legs.

Standing. If you just want to center yourself—or help head off a spike in stress—you can practice breath awareness any time and any where in Mountain pose (Tadasana). This position is best for a short session of breath awareness, as standing still for 10 to 20 minutes is very challenging. But it’s excellent for a quick fix!

Choosing Your Focus

So what does it mean to bring your awareness to your breath? There are actually many options as you explore either the quality of your breath or the way your breath moves in your body. Try out the various techniques listed below to find one that engages your attention and also that doesn’t make you feel anxious about your breathing. As you observe your breath, consciously refrain from changing it. You may notice, however, as time goes on, that your breathing patterns may change on their own because you are relaxing more and more.

Feeling your body respond to your breath. For beginners, probably the easiest way to observe the breath is to watch the dramatic way your body moves as your lungs expand and shrink. As you inhale and exhale, you can watch your belly rise and fall, your chest expand and shrink back, or your ribs move out to the sides and back again. In positions where you are lying on your side or are prone (like Child’s pose), an interesting option is to feel your back expand and fall back with your breath, and this may be more soothing for those who tend to be anxious.

Sound. If it is quiet enough, you can focus on listening to the internal sounds you hear as you breath in and out. 

Feeling your breath. The best way to “feel” your actual breath is to bring awareness to the nostrils, sensing the air flowing in and out of them. You can also notice the quality of the breath moving in and out of your lungs. Is it smooth or rough? Relaxed or forced? Is your exhalation or inhalation longer? Or are they the same? 

As you watch your breath, be sure to maintain a non-judgmental attitude about your ability to concentrate. If you want to trigger the Relaxation Response, continue practicing for 10 to 20 minutes. If you just want to center yourself, a shorter period of time will be effective, even for just one minute. If you practicing as a form of meditation, see Yoga Meditation Techniques.

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Proof of the Effectiveness of Reducing Chronic Stress!

by Nina

Joy Sassoon, Age 60, by Tanja Constantine

“the data suggests that mind body interventions should perhaps be instituted as a form of preventative care similar to vaccinations or driver education. Such interventions are likely to be useful in population management and supported self-care, have negligible risk and cost and may help reduce the demand curve in healthcare.” —James E. Stahl, et al

According to a new study “Relaxation Response and Resiliency Training and Its Effect on Healthcare Resource Utilization” by James E. Stahl, et al, published in the journal PLOS one, practicing Relaxation Response techniques, such as meditation and yoga, could reduce the need for health care services by 43 per cent. To me, this was really exciting news (and not just because I’m not very fond of going to the doctor or the emergency room). I feel it’s solid scientific proof that using yoga’s stress management techniques will be very likely to improve your health. The authors of this study decided to do a thorough study of the effects of mind-body interventions on health care services because stress-related illnesses are “drivers” of healthcare use. Here is how they put it:

“In primary care, stress-related illnesses are known drivers of healthcare resource utilization in the US. Health care expenditures attributable to stress-related disorders, such as, depression and anxiety, were over 80 billion dollars/year in 2012. These have been the third highest cause of healthcare expenditures after heart disease and cancer in the US; each of which carries their own substantial stress burden. Over 90% of people suffering from stress or stress-related problems seek help through primary care and tend to be frequent healthcare utilizers. These visits can comprise as much as 70 percent of physicians' case- loads. In addition, more than 80% of patients presenting to general practice evidence lack of resiliency and psychological stress. Common physical manifestations of stress, e.g., headaches, back pain, insomnia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, irritable bowel, chest discomfort, are among the most frequent reasons people seek care.”

To conduct this study, the researchers tracked all 4452 patients who received training at the Relaxation Response Resiliency Program at the MGH Benson-Henry Institute from 1/12/ 2006 to 7/1/2014 for a median of 4.2 years. They then compared the usage of health care resources by this group against that of the control group of 13149. Total utilization of health care resources for patients with Relaxation Response training decreased by 43% compared with the control group. Here’s the breakdown:

• Clinical encounters decreased by 41.9%
• Imaging by 50.3% 
• Lab encounters by 43.5%
• Procedures by 21.4%

In addition, the intervention group’s Emergency Department visits decreased from 3.6 to 1.7 per year (although Hospital and Urgent care visits converged with the controls).

Pretty impressive, isn’t it? Using mind-body techniques to manage chronic stress keeps you healthier in a whole range of ways. And the training that these people received at the MGH Benson-Henry Institute was in using meditation and similar techniques to trigger the Relaxation Response, all of which are similar to, if not exactly the same as, the techniques that yoga provides. (See The Relaxation Response and Yoga for information about the Relaxation Response and how to trigger it with yoga.) 

So my ongoing campaign for reducing or stress levels using yoga (see 6 Ways to Bust Stress with Yoga) is supported by this very thorough study. In fact, the researchers were so encouraged by the study results they proposed that mind-body interventions should be instituted across the board as a “form of preventative care, similar to vaccinations or driver education.” With that, all I can say, is that if you’re practicing yoga solely as “exercise” and not exploring the stress management tools because “relaxing” feels like wasting time, you’re missing out on some valuable health promotion activities (not to mention that peace of mind stuff).

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Friday Q&A: Baxter, Are Backbends and Flow Sequences Stimulating or Relaxing?

Judi Friedman, Age 52, photographed by Robert Sturman

Q: Nina asked me what I thought about the recent conversation that she and Ram had via email (see Are Backbends Stimulating or Relaxing?) and I couldn’t help but chime in! So here is what I, Baxter, have to say about the effect of more intense poses and practices on the response of the Autonomic Nervous System and therefore on vagal tone:

A: Nina, I agree with your anecdotal observations as well as your theoretical ponderings (and on a few things, with Ram, too). And my reasons are multiple: 

1. Some students are going to be more challenged by advanced back bends and aerobic flow classes due to a) musculoskeletal issues that make backbends harder for their bodies to do, and b)aerobic fitness levels that are not equal to the intensity of the flow class they are taking. These situations are going to trigger the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) branch of the Autonomic Nervous System. 
2. All the other reasons Ram mentions could contribute to increased stress response in a person, thus triggering the Fight or Flight response of the SNS too. And, of course, I agree with his initial statement of the underlying goals of yoga. 
3. As you postulate, abnormal breathing patterns, such as restricted breath in backbends or the tendency to inhale and hold the breath momentarily when doing difficult or unfamiliar poses could also stimulate the SNS. 
4. I also agree that not all yoga practices are designed to quiet and calm the mind exclusively. As you rightly note, in the Hatha Yoga tradition, there is the idea of “firing the vessel,” as with pottery, to strengthen it and make it resilient under the challenges of the deeper levels of mental practices of yoga as one moves towards states like samadhi. So, at times, we want to stimulate the SNS, too, but not right before bedtime!

Nina wrote back: "I’d like to add that I wasn’t saying that backbends and/or flow don’t reduce stress by releasing held muscle tension! I was just saying that I did not believe that they actually triggered the Relaxation Response, which is something very specific. There is a difference between being in a pose and triggering the Relaxation Response in that pose (for example, Viparita Karani) and doing a lot of exercise and then feeling less stressed AFTER the exercise session."

To which I’m adding: Nina, this is a good point. In the moment of practicing, practices like deep, challenging backbends and strong flow practices will likely trigger the Sympathetic branch of the nervous system. If this is a strong enough stimulation, it could be challenging to calm the system during the course of practice. Vickie Russell Bell has a good sequencing way of balancing things out in her evening classes where she provides adequate time to cool the nervous system down. This will ideally allow the practitioner to shift the nervous system to the Parasympathetic side of things, so the entire system can have a greater chance to quiet and calm both body and mind. A big challenge today is that many yoga classes don’t provide adequate cool-down time, often only leaving 4-5 minutes at the end of class for Savasana. This is not likely going to induce the Relaxation Response, which Herbert Benson, MD, noted comes on between 7-10 minutes. 

And this is certainly not a black or white issue. There are some fit and flexible students who will remain relatively neurologically calm doing the proposed back bend and flow practices, and will likely wonder what all the fuss of over!

—Baxter

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Are Backbends Stimulating or Relaxing?

by Nina

Margann Green, Age 77

Did anyone besides me notice that in his post Yoga Practices to Optimize Vagal Tone, Ram said included both backbends and flow sequences as asanas that trigger the Relaxation Response? 

Before I published that article, I queried him about that. Because both from my own person experience and from what I’ve learned from various teachers, I’ve always believed that backbends and flow sequences, especially done rapidly, were actually highly stimulating, even causing insomnia in people who practice them in evening classes (see Yoga and Your Emotions). And I always considered those two types of asana as something to avoid when I was feeling highly anxious, and when I’m not, I always finish a sequence that includes those poses with some nice long calming poses and practices to balance myself. 

But Ram, it turned out, had a very different perspective on this issue, and that led us to have a very interesting little email discussion about this topic. In the end, I decided that it would be a good idea to share the exchange with you. This will not only allow you to see a bit of what our blog is like “behind the scenes,” but you may also wish to join in the discussion by adding your own comments.  

Nina: I’m confused by the following statement. "All of the above sequences have a quieting effect on the nervous system, encouraging a shift from Fight or Flight mode to Rest and Digest mode- hallmark of an optimally functioning vagus nerve.” This doesn’t really apply to all the poses and sequences you mentioned, right? Can I say EXCEPT flow sequences, standing poses, and active backbends?

Ram: Reg your query, all the sequences I mentioned (flow, active backbends and inversions), optimizes the vagal tone, switch on the parasympathetic nervous system and move the individual to a Rest and Digest mode. Let me know if I need to change it again to make it more clear.  

Nina: Well, I really wonder about that. It seems like some challenging poses, such as backbends, etc. and maybe flow sequences, are actually stressful and so can trigger Fight or Flight. That’s why people often can’t sleep at night after a backbend or flow class just before bed. At least that is my understanding of how the asana practice isn’t always relaxing.  

Ram: Very interesting opinion, Nina. I guess we can argue about this without reaching a satisfying explanation. 

Yoga (asanas + all the other angas) is a means to achieve enlightenment (knowing one’s true nature, awareness, intuition, clarity etc). Physical and mental stress can cloud the mind and so over the years Yoga was adopted to relieve physical and mental stress. If yoga truly relieves stress, then why should anyone experience stress after doing a yoga pose be it a backbend or sun salutation? I have never ever felt stressed out after doing yoga (even after attempting several challenging poses like in Ashtanga or Bikram); exhaustion yes, but not mental stress. 

In my opinion, the mental stress is not from the yoga poses but it is primarily due to the individual’s own demeanor before going to the mat. I can think of several possible reasons:

1. The individual continues to harbor disharmonious impressions while doing Yoga
2. The individual was not able to let go of the emotional turbulence even while doing the asanas
3. The individual got mentally challenged by the neighbors who were more agile
4. The individual did not like the particular teacher and was mentally upset
5. The individual did not appreciate the corrections from the teacher
6. The individual did not appreciate the neighbors who were sweating or breathing heavily. 

 All the above and others that I cannot think of right now can stress out an individual. So it is not asanas per se but the individual’s outlook and attitude.

I am not sure you will agree, but this has been my experience when teaching in the class. I do not want to put the blame on Yoga, at least not yet.  

Nina: Well, I will leave your post as is. But this is an interesting discussion that we should continue to have. 

I am not alone in my thoughts that some yoga asanas are stimulating rather than relaxing (perhaps “stress” is the wrong word, though I think others would agree with me in that they stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, just as some pranayma practices do). This is especially true for active backbends. (Recently at a class with Vickie Russell Bell, she said she always finishes the backbend section of her nighttime classes with a least a half an hour of relaxation, so people won’t go home and have trouble sleeping.) 

When I first started studying yoga, I had no idea why certain poses like Viparita Karani were so relaxing. But I experienced them as such. Later I learned from Roger Cole about baroreceptors and inversions. Likewise, I (and many others) have experienced backbends as highly stimulating. Many people talk about how they cause insomnia. We don’t have an explanation for this, but isn’t it possible than something physiological is going on that is causing this? For example, flexing the neck quiets the nervous system because of the baroreceptors. What does extending the neck, which we do in most backbends, cause? Or, Rodney Yee's theory was that exposing your vulnerable organs (the opposite of what animals on all fours do) triggers a bit of fear response. Maybe one day there will be a study on this. But for now, I’m sticking with my anecdotal experience and that of several of my teachers.

To me this is not “blaming” yoga; it is just another aspect of the asana practice. I think of the asanas as being developed to “fortify” the body for meditation, pranayma, and other spiritual practices, not to relieve stress. And backbends are an important part of a balanced asana practice to create a strong, healthy body. 

I agree with you, however, that the attitude with one approaches a yoga poses, perhaps one that you fear or dislike, could also contribute to its effects.

Ram did not respond to that message, so I guess he was still not convinced or was just busy with work, as he does have a full-time job after all! Then, yesterday, I was practicing Dhanurasana, and I noticed my heart racing after. It’s hard to breathe in this pose for me, as it is in many backbends. My breath speeds up for sure. Maybe my inhalations are longer. So I was wondering if the stuff Baxter taught me about pranayama and the nervous system (how longer inhalations are stimulating—see Pranayama: A Powerful Key to Your Nervous System) might apply to backbends as well and, likewise, flow, if it is rapid and challenging (like Ashtanga, which I have tried). That’s my latest theory of why backbends, flow sequences and other physically challenging poses do not trigger the Relaxation Response.

But as I told Ram, we can agree to disagree as there is no scientific study of this as far as we both know.

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6 Ways to Bust Stress with Yoga

by Nina 

Sandy Carmellini, Age 53

“The antidote to stress is relaxation. To relax is to rest deeply. This rest is different from sleep. Deep states of sleep include periods of dreaming which increase muscular tension, as well as other physiological signs of tension. Relaxation is a state in which there is no movement, no effort, and the brain is quiet." —Judith Lasater 

The six yogic tools on our list today all provide you, in different ways, with the ability to switch your nervous system from Stress response (Fight or Flight mode) to Relaxation mode (Rest and Digest mode). Turning off the Stress response reduces your overall stress levels and allows you to experience the benefits of conscious relaxation. (See Life-Changer: Understanding Your Autonomic Nervous System for more information about your nervous system and The Relaxation Response and Yoga for information about the Relaxation response.) 

These stress management tools are not all interchangeable, however. Although you can use any of these practices for stress management and you can choose whichever techniques you prefer to trigger the Relaxation Response, these practices each have different roles to play in a balanced yoga practice. 

6 Ways to Bust Stress with Yoga

1. Meditation. This practice triggers the Relaxation Response through your focus on an object of meditation. Options include both seated and reclined meditation, with a mental focus of the breath or other physical sensations, mantra or sound, and visual imagery. See Starting a Meditation Practice and How to Meditate. 

The role of meditation in a balanced yoga practice is particularly important (see Is Meditation an Essential Part of Practicing Yoga? and Samyama: The Trinity of Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi). Although you can use meditation for stress reduction, its role in classical yoga is to quiet the mind to allow union with the divine or “liberation.” Meditation is also, as Timothy McCall says, a “fabulous tool to study your mind and slowly gain more control over it.”

2. Breath Practices. Simple breath awareness triggers the Relaxation Response by providing a mental focus. Pranayama practices that slow the breath or lengthen the exhalation are calming to the nervous system (see Pranayama: A Powerful Key to Your Nervous System). Breath practices can be performed either seated or reclined.

Like meditation, pranayama is also an important component of classical yoga, and precedes meditation as one of eight steps on the path to samadhi (union with the divine). It is considered an instrument to “steady the mind” and a gateway to dharana (the first phase of meditation). See The Fourth Branch of Yoga: Pranayama. 

3. Restorative Yoga. These modern yoga poses provides deep physical relaxation by supporting and relaxing your body, and can trigger the Relaxation Response if you practice them with a mental focus. Classic examples are Reclined Cobbler’s pose and Supported Child’s pose. See Restorative Yoga: An Introduction for more information. 

4. Supported Inversions. These modern yoga poses use gravity to trigger the Relaxation Response through the mechanisms that control your blood pressure. You don’t need a mental focus (although you can use one); as long as you are warm, quiet, and comfortable in the pose, all you have to do is let pose work its magic. Classic examples are Legs Up the Wall pose and Supported Bridge pose. See All About Supported Inverted Poses.

Caution: Inverted poses may be unsafe for those with certain medical conditions, such as high blood pressure that is not controlled with medication, eye problems, such as glaucoma or detached retina, recent oral surgery, or neck problems (for the inversions that put pressure on their necks). See Friday Q&A: Cautions for Inversions.

5. Savasana. In both plain and supported forms, this pose provides deep physical relaxation for your body and can trigger the relaxation response if you practice it with a mental focus. See Savasana (Corpse Pose) and Savasana Variations.

Savasana is an ancient yoga pose. Based on what I’ve read about the original practice, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Savasana is a reclining form of meditation. For some traditional yogis, it was a meditation on death, hence the literal translation of the name Savasana is “Corpse pose,” and it was sometimes even practiced alongside actual corpses. To practice Savasana properly, however, you must actually do the work of meditating while you are in the pose (and make sure you don’t fall asleep). If you don’t actually meditate while in Savasana, then, well, you are simply relaxing. But that's okay, too, if that is what you are after.

6. Focused Relaxation. These guided relaxation practices, which include basic body scans and visualization practices, as well as formal practices like yoga nidra, allow you to achieve both physical relaxation and reduce stress levels by guiding you through a deep physical relaxation experience and providing mental imagery that harnesses you to the present.

Focused relaxation practices are specifically designed as relaxation techniques, and as such do not replace meditation or pranayama in a balanced yoga practice. This is true of any form of Savasana in which an external voice is providing instructions and/or imagery for you.

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Pranayama: A Powerful Key to Your Nervous System

by Nina

Cliffs of Varengeville, Gust of Wind by Claude Monet

One of the methods we recommend that you can use to switch your nervous system from Stress mode (Fight or Flight) to Relaxation mode is by practicing breath awareness (see  The Relaxation Response and Yoga). Simple breath awareness provides a focus for your mind that allows you to trigger the Relaxation Response in the same way that meditating on a visual image, a mantra, or any other physical sensation does.

But what about pranayama, the formal practice of breath control? Although practicing pranayama takes quite a bit of focus and is a good way to take your mind off regrets about the past, worries about the future, or negative reactions to the present, it turns out that the reason pranayama works is quite different than simple breath awareness.

Understanding how pranayama works will help you appreciate why it is so powerful. And it will also help you chose the most appropriate practices for your particular condition. This is because—and many people don’t realize this—not all pranayama practices are relaxing. Some are quite stimulating in fact, and others should be considered more “balancing” than quieting. Let’s look at why that is.

Your autonomic nervous system is the part of your nervous system that controls the functions of your body, such as digestion, heartbeat, blood pressure, and breathing, that are “involuntary,” meaning the functions that you don’t have to think about (see Anatomy Lesson post). The autonomic nervous system is also the part of your nervous system that sends you into Stress mode (Fight or Flight) and that triggers the Relaxation Response (Rest and Digest). And while you cannot tell your nervous system directly to slow your heart beat, digest your food more quickly (that would be nice, wouldn’t it?), or to start relaxing right this minute, you can control your breath.

Think about it: even though you breathe without thinking about it, you can intentionally hold your breath, speed up your breath, slow down your breath, breathe through one nostril instead of the other, and so on. And this ability to alter your breathing is what gives you the key to your nervous system, providing you with some control over its “involuntary” functions.

This happens because of the relationship between your heart and lungs and the nerves between them. For each round of breath you take, during your inhalation, the nerves stimulate your heart to beat a little faster and then, during the exhalation that follows, your nerves stimulate your heart to slow down a bit. The overall effect is very little change in your heart rate from minute to minute. But when you make one part of your breath cycle, either the inhale or the exhale, longer than the other, and you do this for several minutes, the accumulated effect is that you will either slow your heart rate down (with a longer exhalation) or speed it up (with a longer inhalation) from where you started.

Stimulating Practices. When you make your inhalations longer than your exhalations, for example, by using a two-second inhalation and a one-second exhalation (2:1 ratio), and you maintain that for several minutes, your heart rate will speed up a bit. This increased heart rate sends a feedback message to your brain that your circumstances require activity, stimulating the Sympathetic portion of your Autonomic Nervous System to prepare you physically and mentally to take action with the Fight or Flight or Stress response.

So pranayama practices that lengthen your inhalation are practices you might want to do if you need energizing or are feeling depressed or lethargic. You would want to avoid them if you are feeling hyper, stressed out, anxious, or are suffering from insomnia. 

Calming Practices. When you make your exhalations longer than your inhalations, for example, by using a one-second inhalation and a two-second exhalation (1:2 ratio), humming on your exhalation with a Bhramari breath, or using your tongue tongue to slow your exhalation with a Sitali breath (see Managing Hot Flashes) and you maintain that for several minutes, your rate slows down a bit. This decreased heart rate sends a feedback a message to your brain that your circumstances are more peaceful and calm now, which stimulates the Parasympathetic portion of your Autonomic Nervous to allow you to rest, recover, and heal with the Rest and Digest or Relaxation Response.

So pranayama practices that lengthen your exhalation are practices you might want to do if you need hyper, stressed out, anxious or suffering from insomnia (they are excellent for doing in bed in the middle of the night). Since typically most of us aren’t really “under-stressed,” about the only time I can think you’d want to avoid these practices are if you are falling asleep and don’t want to.

Balancing Practices. When you make your inhalations and your exhalations the same length, for example, by using a two-second inhalation with a two-second exhalation or by practicing Alternate Nostril Breathing, you are only very subtly affecting your nervous system, maybe only slightly stimulating or calming it (depending on your current state). So these practices are good for times when you feel like you need “balancing” more than calming or stimulating or for when you wish to do a formal breath practice that will harness your mind in the present moment without having a strong effect on your nervous system.

Caution: For completeness, I’m listing forms of pranayama in this post that in the Iyengar tradition are not recommended for beginners. This is because they can indeed have a very powerful effect on your nervous system. Generally, 1:2, 2:1, and Brahmari breath are considered safe practices (although you should never let yourself get short of breath), but I do recommend that if you are interested in experimenting with pranayama that you study with a trained teacher.

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The Cellular Benefits of Meditation and Relaxation

by Ram

The Heart of a Tulip by Melina Meza

Articles on our blog by Baxter (Thoughts on Dyana), Timothy (Starting a Meditation Practice) Brad (Stress Mind, Stressed Cells), Nina (Meditation and Compassion) and yours truly (Achieving Stillness in Turbulent Situations; Memory Loss: Meditation to the Rescue), among others, have all provided lucid explanations of how to meditate and of the benefits of meditation on body and mind, along with empirical evidence of these benefits. Undoubtedly, meditation has been shown to: reduce fear, worry, anxiety, anger, and rage, reduce chronic pain, increase cognitive function, lower blood pressure, alleviate post-traumatic stress syndrome and slow down cellular aging. 

Meditation is one of several ways to trigger the Relaxation Response. Other ways that yoga provides include: breath awareness, supported inverted poses, restorative yoga poses, Savasana (with a focus for the mind), and guided relaxation, such as yoga nidra. See The Relaxation Response and Yoga and Conscious Relaxation vs. Sleep for more information on the Relaxation Response and how to trigger it.

Now, in a new collaborative study Relaxation response induces temporal transcriptome changes in energy metabolism, insulin secretion and inflammatory pathways., a group of researchers reports that meditation and other forms of relaxation trigger very important genetic, molecular, and physiological changes in the human body. Specifically, the study shows that meditation enhanced the expression of genes associated with energy metabolism, mitochondrial function, insulin secretion, and telomere maintenance (all of which are beneficial to the individual), and reduced the expression of genes associated with inflammation and stress-related pathways. (For information on inflammation see Chronic Inflammation and Yoga.)

Unlike previous studies, the latest study measured physiological changes in greater detail using techniques like neuro-imaging and genomics technology. Furthermore, the study featured both a prospective and cross-sectional component. The prospective aspect of the study featured 26 healthy subjects who were novices in the meditation and relaxation aspects (the researchers used the term N1 to denote this group). The novice group underwent weekly sessions of Relaxation Response-eliciting training for eight weeks (RR-N2) that included diaphragmatic breathing, body scan, mantra repetition, and mindfulness meditation. Additionally, a 20-minute audio CD with similar guided instructions was given to all the participants to listen to at home once a day. Thus, the trained novices (N2) served as their own untrained controls (N1). The cross-sectional arm of the study featured 26 healthy subjects who had several years of meditation and relaxation practice (M). This group was compared with the novices either before or after their training. Blood samples were collected from all the individuals at various study intervals for measurement of various parameters and for measuring gene expression changes. 

The conclusions from the study were: 

1. Both trained novices (N2) and long-term practitioners (M) showed significant temporal gene expression changes (changes that are time dependent) compared to novices (N1). Comparison between groups showed that long-term practitioners exhibit more pronounced transcriptional changes compared to short-term practitioners. Most of these genes are significantly linked to immune response and cell degeneration.
2. While some genes were modified only in long-term practitioners, there was another class of genes that were modified in both the trained short-term individuals and long-term practitioners, with a greater intensity in the latter group. 
3. Rapid changes in certain beneficial genes that provide health benefits and alleviate the stress response were induced in long-term and short-term-trained practitioners. 
4. Gene sets that were down regulated (suppressed) in both long-term and short-term-trained practitioners, though most notably in the long-term individuals, were those that were involved in inflammatory response, cellular stress, and cell death pathways. This may explain the clinical and health benefits of meditation-relaxation through dampening inflammation and stress reduction.
5. Long-term Relaxation Response practice was also associated with genomic stability and telomere length, that is, these participants had longer telomeres, an indicator of longer cell life and, by extension, longer overall lifespan (see Aging, Telomeres and Yoga).
6. The data from long-term practitioners and short-term trained practitioners suggest that meditation-relaxation practice promotes health benefits by affecting several cellular pathways simultaneously that ultimately modulate the immune and stress responses that counter stress-induced gene changes.

Chronic stress together with inflammation exacerbates everything from hypertension and infertility to depression and even accelerates the aging process. These conditions account for 60 to 90 percent of doctor’s visits in the U.S., and the World Health Organization estimates stress costs U.S. companies at least $300 billion a year. The health benefits from meditation-relaxation techniques are so strong that researchers are swearing by it and more doctors are recommending the practice to their patients to combat a myriad of modern ailments. Additionally, these lifestyle practices are easy to follow with hardly any noticeable side effects and are much better than most pharmaceutical-based treatment plans. 

I know if I have to choose between anti-stress/anti-inflammatory drugs or meditation-relaxation practices to curb stress and inflammation, I would choose the latter. How about you? 

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Life-Changer: Understanding Your Autonomic Nervous System

by Nina

An Examination at the Faculty of Medicine, Paris by Toulouse-Lautrec

We’re going to have an anatomy lesson today! I know, I know, you thought after you graduated, you wouldn’t need to be learning any more dry, technical stuff. But I swear to you this information is so useful that it could literally change your life (see 2 Steps to Take Charge of Your Stress or Anxiety). I know that because it has changed mine.

So, take a deep breath and take a look at the autonomic nervous system. Your autonomic nervous system is the part of your nervous system that regulates involuntary body functions, such as heartbeat, blood flow, breathing, and digestion. It’s called “autonomic” (hahaha, I just learned this) because the system works autonomously (automatically) without your conscious effort. (You don’t need to tell your heart to beat the same way you need to tell your front knee to bend to 90 degrees in Warrior 2 pose. Voluntary movements, such as knee bending, are controlled by your somatic nervous system.)

Although the functions of the autonomic nervous system are generally outside of voluntary control, they are not outside of your awareness, and they may be influenced by your state of mind. For example, although you can’t tell your heart to beat faster or more slowly, you can feel it beating. And when you’re calm, you’ll notice that your heart beats more slowly and when you’re afraid or angry, you’ll notice it beating more rapidly. 

The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts that function in tandem with each other: the Sympathetic Nervous System and the Parasympathetic Nervous system. After the autonomic nervous system receives information about your body and the external environment, it responds by stimulating body processes, usually through the sympathetic division, or inhibiting them, usually through the parasympathetic division. (Some sources also include the gut nervous system, or the Enteric Nervous System, as a third, separate part of the ANS. But I’m not going to take a stand on that anatomical debate.)

About Your Sympathetic Nervous System

Your Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) prepares your body for stressful or emergency situations. That’s why it is commonly called the Fight or Flight response. To prepare your body to deal with a challenging situation or an emergency, your SNS releases hormones—adrenaline and noradrenaline—to increase your heart rate, blood pressure, blood flow to the muscles, and widens (dilates) your airways to make breathing easier. It also causes your body to release stored energy and increases muscle strength is increased. After all, you might need to fight or run! Something that is mentioned less often, but that I’ve really noticed myself and which is really pertinent to yoga, is that your SNS causes your mind to race to increase your ability to assess your current situation and make important decisions. 

Importantly, while your SNS is stimulating certain processes, it is also slowing body processes that are not needed in emergencies, such as digestion and urination. Healing, including restoration and building of tissues, is also slowed down. So you can see why you don’t want to be in a state of stress 24/7! 

In addition, because your body is working extra hard during stressful periods, it can just wear you out faster, which is why heart disease is associated with stress. And having a racing mind all the time, well, that causes emotional problems, such as anxiety and depression, as well as insomnia because you can’t let go and just fall asleep. All this why chronic stress is so harmful to your physical as well as emotional health (see Chronic Stress: An Introduction and Stress, Your Health, and Yoga for more info about chronic stress.) 

We can’t and should not eliminate stress entirely from our lives. Sometimes in the modern world we do need to get out of danger, including mundane situations such as getting out of the way of an oncoming car, or more in more rare circumstances, such as protecting a family member from a threat. But our stress response also prepares us for some really good things in life, including running a race, traveling to a foreign country, having a creative brainstorm, falling in love with someone (that can be so scary, right?) or even —ahem—having an orgasm. 

But problems arise when we’re living in a state of chronic stress due to demands of ongoing challenges, such as our job, commuting, or family problems. In this case, understanding what the symptoms of stress are can help you identify your current state. Because when you realize you’re stressed out, you can and should try to reduce your stress levels. And the thing that most people don’t realize is that you can intentionally change your nervous system from being in the stress mode triggered by your SNS to a different state.

About Your Parasympathetic Nervous System

Your Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) controls your controls body process during ordinary situations, enabling you to recover from stressful periods. That’s why it is sometimes called the Rest and Digest response. The PNS reduces the levels of stress hormones in your body, slowing your heart rate, decreasing blood pressure, and so on. After all, these organs don’t need to work as hard now that the stressful situation has passed. And, now that you’re out of danger, your racing mind will also slow down and you’ll experience feelings of relaxation (the PNS is also sometimes called the Relaxation Response). 

Importantly, the PNS stimulates your digestive tract to process food and eliminate wastes, and using the energy from the processed food is to restore and build tissues. After all, you need to build yourself back up after being depleted by a period of stress. So you can see how vital it is to spend some time in this mode, in which you are resting, recovering, and acquiring energy. 

It’s important to understand that Rest and Digest state is quite different than sleep (see Conscious Relaxation vs. Sleep). That’s why sleeping—if you can sleep—doesn’t fix stress-related problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, headaches, digestive problems, and so on. And, as you may have noticed, sleep also doesn’t quiet your mind, either, as many stressed people spend their days feeling anxious or wake in the middle of the night with a racing mind. That has a profound effect on your emotional well-being. So the bottom line is that if you want to do your best to protect both your physical and emotional health, you need to make an effort to less time in stress mode and more time in conscious relaxation mode. 

But, if your autonomic nervous system is “automatic,” how exactly can you change it?

Influencing Your Autonomic Nervous System with Yoga

Remember, I said earlier that although the functions of your autonomic nervous system are generally outside of voluntary control, they may be influenced by your state of mind. I also said that the autonomic nervous system responds to information that it receives from both your body and the external environment. And this is why yoga is such a powerful solution for managing stress. 

Quieting Your Mind. Yes, it turns out the original purpose of yoga described in the Yoga Sutras as “the stilling of the changing states of the mind” is one of the keys. By meditating—which typically involves concentrating on a non-stressful sight, sound, or physical sensation—you can quiet your mind. This in turn switches your nervous system from stress mode to relaxation mode. (See The Relaxation Response by Dr. Herbert Bensen for complete information on this.) 

Working with Your Breath. It also turns out that pranayama—or breath control—allows you access your nervous system. By slowing your breath, as it would be in a state of relaxation, you can actually switch your nervous system from stress mode to relaxation mode. Baxter described how this works in his post How Your Breath Affects Your Nervous System.

Working with Your Environment. Finally, you can use your asana practice to create physical environment that will encourage your nervous system switch from stress mode to relaxation mode. Practicing relaxing or quieting yoga poses, such as restorative poses and supported forward bends, in a warm room, will send messages to your nervous system that you’re safe and comfortable. Yoga nidra and other forms of guided relaxation that you practice in Savasana will have the same effect. Inverted poses are a special case because these yoga poses take advantage of the mechanisms in your body that control your blood pressure to “trick” your nervous system into switching into relaxation mode (see Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors). 

See The Relaxation Response and Yoga for more information about how you can use yoga to trigger the relaxation response. 

Well, it seems I’ve gone on much longer than I expected, but I felt I had some important things to explain. For those of you who didn’t already know this information about the nervous system, I hope you will find it as compelling as I do, and that it will empower you to deal more effectively with stressful situations and reduce your overall stress levels.

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Savasana (Corpse Pose), Rerun

by Nina

Of all the hundreds (or thousands?) of yoga poses, there is a single pose that has been called the best antidote to the stresses of western civilization. And anyone can do the pose, regardless of age, physical condition, or yoga experience, because all it requires is the ability to lie down and be still. This is Savasana (Corpse pose). And while Savasana is often taught as the last pose in yoga class, you can do it on its own, at any time you need. All that’s required is a firm surface to lie on and 10 to 20 minutes, and you’ve got a surprisingly effective anti-stress medicine that has absolutely no side effects and if you become addicted, well, that’s a good thing.

Now you may be wondering, how can just lying down on your bedroom floor trigger the relaxation response? And how is this position that you take all the time in bed, on the grass under a blue sky, or on the warm sand of a beach qualify as a yoga pose?

Savasana triggers the relaxation response (see here) because you bring your attention to your body and your mind while you lie on the floor instead of just daydreaming or spacing out. And it qualifies as a yoga pose, because to practice Savasana properly, you:

• align your body
• remain still
• use a mental focus
• maintain your awareness as you come out of the pose

Here are details about these four aspects of Savasana:

Alignment. The first thing to do when you lie down in Savasana is to arrange your body—and that means every single part of you, including your arms, your legs, your torso and even your head—in a neutral position. This neutral position ensures you’re as comfortable as possible so you can relax completely without physical distractions (like having your legs go to sleep or getting a crick in your neck).

Lie down on your back on a firm surface, with your spine in its healthy, natural curves. If your head isn’t comfortable resting flat on the floor, place a folded blanket or firm pillow underneath it (but keep your shoulders touching the floor). Make sure you are dressed warmly; if necessary cover yourself with a blanket.

Place your legs eight to ten inches apart, turn your arms out so your palms face up and your hands are six to eight inches from the body, and position your head perfectly between your two shoulders, with your eyes about equal distance from the ceiling. None of us are completely symmetrical, but you can adjust your body so it’s as symmetrical as possible and the weight is even on both sides of your body. Now your alignment is close to what medical books call “anatomical neutral,” the position your body naturally assumes when no muscles are being activated. And when you are in this neutral position, you can begin to relax your body completely.

When your body is entirely supported by the floor, you no longer need to contract your muscles to hold yourself upright (or partly upright). You can simply let your body to completely drop with the force of gravity, so all your muscles can soften and melt, releasing their hold. 

For those of you who find you can’t lie comfortably in the classic position, don’t worry. You can use props to make yourself more comfortable (for example, if you are having back problems, you can rest your calves on the seat of a chair) and you can even lie in a different position (for example, if you are pregnant, you can lie on your side or if you’re anxious you can lie on your belly). I’ll describe these alternate versions in a future post (see Savasana (Corpse Pose) Variations).

Stillness. After positioning your body so you're aligned as symmetrically as possible, make a commitment to remain still. When your body becomes motionless, external stimulation is reduced to a minimum, allowing your nervous system to cool down and your mind to quiet. Normally when you rest on your bed or couch, you shift around unconsciously, fidgeting or wiggling around to find a more comfortable position. You probably even change from one position to another when you’re sleeping (if you’ve ever shared a bed with someone else, you know what we mean). In Savasana, keeping your body still allows you to relax completely because there is no need to contract of any muscles at all except those needed to breathe. In fact, we’re so used to contracting our muscles, even when resting, it may take some time for you to let go completely.

After you have stilled your body, you’ll continue to receive messages from your ears, nose, tongue, skin, and eyes. Even in a quiet room, there’s still a lot to hear, smell, taste, and feel, and you’ll continue to perceive the light (or lack of it) in the room even with your eyes closed. All these sensory impressions send stimulating messages to your brain. So after quieting your body, consciously relax your sense organs, letting your tongue rest on the floor of your mouth, allowing your eyes to soften back toward your skull and gazing with closed eyes under your cheekbones, and withdraw your awareness from the rest of your senses. With the withdrawal of your senses, your physical relaxation will increase.

Focus for the Mind. If your thoughts are busying while you're in Savasana—whether you're trying to decide if you should watch Law and Order to CSI: Miami tonight or considering something more momentous—you won't be able to relax completely or trigger the relaxation response. So after you've aligned and quieted your body, turn your awareness inward. Typically the focus for your mind in Savasana is your breath, the gradual relaxation of specific parts of your body (sometimes called a body scan), or a peaceful image (for example, you might imagine your mind is the surface of a lake whose ripples are slowly subsiding). Rather than simply letting your thoughts wander as they would if you were lying on the grass in your backyard, intentionally keep your mind focused on your object of choice. When you notice your attention wandering, gently return it to that object. For example, if your breath is your focus for your practice, continue to watch your breath for the entire practice, and each time you notice your mind wandering, gently bring it back to your breath again.

Maintaining a mental focus is how you stay alert in the pose, allowing you to reap the benefits of conscious relaxation, rather than simply falling asleep. It helps you stay aware in the pose by keeping your mind anchored in your body, rather than drifting off into fantasy. And it helps you stay present in the pose by keeping your thoughts in the moment, rather than dwelling in the past or racing into the future. 

When you abide in the present moment you naturally become more aware of your own thoughts. As an impartial witness to your own experience, observe each thought as it passes through your mind without becoming involved in any of the storylines. Alert and aware, serene and detached, watch your thoughts—what’s on TV, should I cook ratatouille or paella, did I remember to feed the goldfish—as they come and go, come and go. There will be time for all that later. Then, like a pond that has been stirred up with a stick, allow your mind to settle down gradually until the waters are serene and clear.

Coming Out. Stay in the pose for at least 10 minutes (it takes 7 or 8 minutes to trigger the relaxation response). When you are ready to come out, take a couple of deep soft breaths, then slowly bend your knees and place the soles of your feet on the ground. Next, slowly turn over onto your right side and rest there for a couple of breaths. Then slowly use your hands to push yourself up to a seated position, allowing your head to release downward until you are completely upright. Finally, when you are seated upright, slowly lift your head. (And, yes, do it all slowly.)

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