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#Post#: 16--------------------------------------------------
How Deep Breathing Techniques Can Boost Your Immune System
DIR By: LightMove
Date: October 13, 2021, 4:16 am
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Your immune system keeps colds away. It’s your body’s front
lines in the fight against illness. This protection system that
provides immunity against infections and parasites is one of the
most complex in the human body. A literal life-saving system of
chemicals and proteins that fight off invaders in the form of
viruses, harmful bacteria, and foreign bodies.
If you care about your health, you’ll want to nurture this
important protection system. Boosting your immune system and
keeping the fire stoked is a big step towards optimal health.
What is the immune system and what can we do to improve its
function?
Immune System Boosters
Eating well, exercising, and sleeping adequate amounts improve
the power of the immune system. But did you know that the
‘simple’ act of breathing properly is a terrific way of
strengthening the immune defences?
We’re all about proper breathing techniques and the benefits of
deep diaphragmatic breathing here at The Breath Effect. And we’d
like to show you, with science, how controlling your breath can
improve your health for free. No pills, potions, exercise
regimes, or diets required. You have everything you need
already. Now take a deep breath and follow along.
The Science of Breathing and Immune Function
Complementary medicine is growing in popularity. A future
without drugs will probably never materialise. But people are
waking up to the idea that tools to help prevent and cure
illnesses without drugs are at our disposal right now. We can’t
‘cure’ all illnesses without medical intervention, of course,
but we can influence one of the problems of the modern
lifestyle: the disconnect with our bodies and environment.
Your mental state influences your physical health. There is
irrefutable evidence to show that positive thinking can make you
healthier. When one examines how the body works, it’s easy to
see. The functions of the brain are more chemical reactions.
Synapses fire when we make thoughts. And our immune and
lymphatic systems are chemical based. We are essentially a
collection of chemicals, from our brains to our bones.
The air we breathe converts into chemicals that we need to fuel
our cells. The way we breathe matters and even impacts our
bloody chemistry.
But how do our breathing habits influence our immunity?
Inflammation
A study from 2005 discussed the potential for Sudarshan Kriya
and Pranayam breathing processes, forms of rhythmic breathing,
in immune system improvements and stress reduction.
What’s interesting is that cancer patients were the subject of
the study and the results showed that performing regular
breathing exercises could help boost immune cells that can
combat cancer progressions.
The study looked at what’s called natural killer (NK) cells (a
type of cell critical to the body’s immune system) and found
that controlled rhythmic breathing increased NK cells over a 3
to 6-month period. It’s not a quick fix, but it’s a positive
step in the right direction.
Breathing and the Auto Immune Response
Controlled breathing has a positive effect on the body by:
Lowering cortisol levels
Lowering blood pressure
Improving autonomic (the automatic system in our body that works
behind the scene) response to physical and mental stress
Improving arterial blood flow
Taken together, these elements add up to a powerful
disease-fighting box of tools. Mindful breathing can help fight
the progression of autoimmune diseases by bringing our body back
into the calm part of our nervous system, the parasympathetic
nervous system.
Cortisol is often called the body’s stress hormone. It performs
many functions, too many to go into here, but know that high
cortisol levels are a bad thing. High cortisol is associated
with auto-immune diseases, poor sleep, hormone imbalance and so
much more. A good enough reason to keep this stress hormone in
check.
The point is that stress is another trigger for autoimmune
disease activation. In times of stress, our body releases more
inflammatory chemicals around the body such as histamine. This
starts a chemical cascade in our protection system and the body
and brain have to try and work out what defence system is
required to stop an attack on the body.
Keeping stress under control is important for your long-term
health. Activating what’s called the Parasympathetic(relaxation)
response of our nervous system and turning off the Sympathetic
(stress- think fight or flight) response is key here. The
parasympathetic system kicks in when we are not stressed. It’s
the system that works to control digestion, rest and can help
slow down breathing, and heart rate.
Slow, deep breathing technique increases PSNS activity.
One of the best ways to turn down the stress response in the
body and activate the parasympathetic response is to use slow,
relaxed, diaphragmatic breathing. The physiological responses to
deep, controlled, mindful breathing are so profound that if we
could bottle them and sell them as drugs, they’d be worth a
fortune. Fortunately for you, it’s not that complicated. And
it’s free. Just breathe!
Posture and Immune Health
Look around at your colleagues, family, or even people wandering
down the street (usually with cellphone in hand). See anything
unusual? Notice the forward head lean, crouched shoulders, and
poor gait of humans that evolved to run, jump, and climb. And
importantly, to stand up with good posture. Our bad habits add
up over time.
Modern technology, work environments, and stresses that our
ancestors did not have to deal with have ruined our posture.
These postures impact our bodies ability to access our major
breathing muscle, the diaphragm. When we slump our body takes
the path of least resistance and use our secondary (backup)
breathing muscles, which over time get exhausted creating tight,
sore muscles with trigger points around the whole body. Look at
how we hurt our bodies every day:
Sitting in a car shortening one of our fight and flight muscles,
the hip flexor
Driving to work with hunched shoulders
Spending the entire day in the unnatural position of sitting
(rather than squatting or standing)
Dealing with workplace and personal stresses that make us tense
up, crouch, and forces restricted breathing
Using mobile phones that cause text neck posture
Watching TV while slouched in a chair
The list goes on. Most of us don’t spend our days chasing wild
animals and climbing trees. The body that we’ve evolved is
trapped in a world of modern conveniences.
Where does breathing come into this?
Think about when you’re seated at a desk or in front of the TV.
Notice that your lungs compress as your upper back is pushed
forward. Your neck might be craning forward too.
You can not breathe optimally when you don’t sit optimally.
How does this influence stress and our immune system?
The answer is in our evolutionary path. Humans are animals with
big brains, and we show the same characteristics as dogs, cats,
and apes when afraid or threatened. We change our breathing to
be faster and use our back up breathing muscles(upper trapezius,
sternocleidomastiod, pectorals and scalanes). Our body increases
its breathing capacity by increasing its volume and rate to get
more oxygen into help supply our cells to get us out of danger.
We hunch our shoulders, tense our muscles and inhale to mobilise
our body. This is a signal to the body that a threat is near.
Our body and brain respond by sending out the so-called “fight
or flight” response. Stress hormones flood our bodies and the
sympathetic nervous system activates.
If you put yourself in this state of high stress on a regular
basis, you’d likely end up with a long-term condition or
disease. But that’s exactly the state we put ourselves in when
we exhibit bad posture and bad breathing habits. Hunching and
compressing our diaphragm is a signals to our body to keep
activation our stress response. A signal we don’t want to send
if we care about our long term health.
The solution: activate your diaphragm and breathe. Strengthen
your immune system by fixing your posture and breathing as
nature intended.
The Most Famous Breather and Immune System Manipulator
Wim Hof is a man that is intrinsically linked with the words
breathing, immune system, and meditation. In the past few years,
he’s has become famous for being able to withstand sub-zero
temperatures without protection from the elements. He climbed Mt
Everest in shorts. The ‘Iceman’ claims to have the answer to a
healthy life and he’s proven how he can change his body in ways
previously considered to be out of our control.
How does he do it? Hof employs one technique: he boosts his
immune system to such a level that his body can withstand
enormous external and internal pressures. He also elicits
nervous system responses that most people cannot influence. He
does this through deep breathing. It sounds like a smoke and
mirrors show but Hof has been tested by University researchers
and research teams from respected organisations. He walks the
talk, as they say.
Hof controls his immune system and his core body temperature
directly through a controlled breathing technique. Think about
that? Our immune system is our defence against infection. It’s
the front line of protection for our bodies. If we keep stressed
our body stressed we shut this down. The ability to control this
system opens a world of possibilities for human health.
Takeaway: You Already Have the Tools for Improving Your Health
Today
The immune function and auto-immune disease are complex topics.
The state of our health is not black and white, nor can it be
affected by one-stop solutions. A holistic approach to health
will always win against quick fixes. Once we understand that
improvements in these essential body systems can happen thanks
to natural processes, we can take steps towards building a solid
foundation for health. It’s simpler than we think.
Learn exhale, activate your diaphragm, breathe deeply, and work
on fixing your posture.We can also use some breathing training
devices to achieve training effects, such as OPUMP. Simply
thinking about better breathing will trigger positive immune
responses. When we slow our breathing and reset our bad
breathing habits we send signals to our body that all is
well.
HTML https://theopump.com/
Breathing deeply and mindfully is one of the most effective
things you can do right now for your wellbeing.
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