Once I found out that breathing has a significant impact on the autonomic nervous system I became very interested in breathing.
The autonomic nervous system controls internal body processes like: * Blood pressure * Heart and breathing rates * Body temperature * Digestion * Metabolism (thus affecting body weight) * The balance of water and electrolytes (such as sodium and calcium) * The production of body fluids (saliva, sweat, and tears) * Urination * Defecation * Sexual response
Many organs are controlled primarily by either the sympathetic or the parasympathetic division. Sometimes the two divisions have opposite effects on the same organ. For example, the sympathetic division increases blood pressure, and the parasympathetic division decreases it. Overall, the two divisions work together to ensure that the body responds appropriately to different situations.
But what if it is not responding appropriately? What if we are not healing correctly or carrying more weight than we should considering our level or diet and exercise. What if we are just slightly in a flight or fight response mode a bit too often?
But what if it is not responding appropriately? What if we are not healing correctly or carrying more weight than we should considering our level or diet and exercise. What if we are just slightly in a flight or fight response mode a bit too often?
I might talk about CO2 and a bunch of technical things about breathing. But at the end of the day I’m passionate about it because it allows us a level of control over our autonomic nervous system. We can give our bodies to time to rest, repair and heal. With breathing we can also raise the bar on our stress response so it doesn’t kick in so often.
Glenn
