Take Five (A Five Minute Destress)
The word “stress” has a lot of meanings. When we think about stress, we think about work deadlines or a broken down car when we’re late to pick up our kids, or (for you climbers out there) the stress of trying to send your project before the season shuts down with a cold breeze and a dumping of snow. But what is stress really and how do we deal with the every increasing weight of it that we feel as life hammers on and a pandemic crawls its way into another winter season?
Stress is a physiological response that the body is pre-wired to have. It allows us to rise to a demand. The responses causes a cascade of reactions that release hormones and activate the autonomic nervous system. Some reactions you might recognize include dilated pupils, increased heat rate, a rush of blood and energy to our muscular system. It gets us ready for a fight or a deadline or the big send. But what do we do when the demand (or demands) exceed the energy we have to meet those demands? This kind of chronic stress can wreak havoc in the body leading to pain, sleep disturbances, weight gain, low energy, irritability, and reduce immune responses, just to name a couple. Two way to help reduce the effects of stress and help reset the nervous system is through acupuncture or breathing exercises.
Acupuncture has well documented effects on the autonomic nervous system. Evidence has shown that acupuncture can activate regions in the brain that are associated with diseases caused by an imbalance in the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system (two branches of the autonomic nervous system). In addition, evidence suggests in modulates adaptive biochemicals to reduce the autonomic response.
Breathing is another very accessible way to have an effect on the nervous system. Over 100 independent studies including those from Harvard and Yale have shown that Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) Breathe Meditation, a type of cyclical rhythmic breathing pattern, helps to reduce depression, anxiety, symptoms of PTSD and stress—benefits that have gained wide-spread attention through the media with write-ups in publications like Prevention and Psychology Today. Some of these benefits come from changes such as an increase in lymphocyte (immune cells), reduction is serum cortisol (stress hormone), and a reduction is blood pressure and heart rate after a few weeks of using this breath work. The reason the breath has such an impact is that breathing can be a conscious act, but breath also falls under autonomic control. Thus it is something you can consciously use to influence the autonomic nervous system (which is a system that runs subconsciously). You can use this technique during particularly stressful times, or use it as a regular practice with five to ten minutes a day a few times a week to start feeling the benefits. Of course the benefits increase with length of time, so a more consistent practice with have a greater effect.
Here’s how you use the SKY Breathing Technique:
Place the pointer and middle finger of your right hand between your eyes, with your thumb hovering over your right nostril while the ring and pinkie finger hovering over the left nostril.
Use your ring finger and pinkie to plug the left nostril while you inhale through the right nostril.
Then switch and plug the right nostril with your thumb as you exhale through your left nostril.
Makes smooth deep breaths expanding your rib cage.
Repeat this cyclic breathing for five to ten minutes.
Resources:
Acupuncture’s effect on the nervous system