Posted by TENA/DIAMOND on 9/6/2009, 11:01 pm, in reply to "The Importance of Breathing Patterns in ME/CFS Symptoms & Recovery #1"
The Importance of Breathing Patterns in ME/CFS Symptoms & Recovery #2
Ujjayi Breathing for Calming Anxiety
In the excellent book How to Use Herbs, Nutrients, and Yoga in Mental Health Care, written by three psychiatrists affiliated with universities in New York, the authors recommend 'Respire I' from www.coherence.com, cited above. They also recommend combining this with a simple breathing technique called Ujjayi breathing (literally, 'loud breathing'), a yogic breathing technique. They write:
"Those who are able to learn Ujjayi breathing can be instructed to use the Respire I CD with Ujjayi for even greater effects. Ujjayi breathing creates a sound using contraction of laryngeal muscles with partial closure of the glottis, permitting fine regulation of the respiratory rate while increasing airway resistance, intrathoracic pressure, baroreceptor stimulation, HRV, RSA (Calabrese, Perrault, Dinh, Eberhard, & Benchetrit, 2000), and stimulation of somatosensory afferents in the pharynx, lungs, chest wall, and diaphragm. When done at a slow rate (2 to 6 breaths per minute) ... Ujjayi is physically and mentally calming.
"In clinical practice, the authors find that basic Ujjayi breathing is the single most rapidly effective breath intervention for anxiety symptoms in patients diagnosed with anxiety disorders... The patient who is taught Ujjayi breathing will usually experience a profound sense of physical and mental calmness within five to 10 minutes of doing this technique."
Type in “Ujjayi breath” at http://www.youtube.com to watch videos on this breathing technique. Incorporate Ujjayi breathing along with the coherent breathing for the duration that suits your body and complete the duration of the breathing time by simply breathing along to the sound cues.
You may need to start with just 5 minutes of Ujjayi breathing and build up over time as is comfortable. Make sure you keep your neck, throat, shoulders and chest relaxed as you breathe. It shouldn't feel strained or forceful, just relaxed and slow with a partial contraction of your throat muscles.
Complementary Practices – More Options for Banishing Stress
Start with the combination of coherent/resonant and Ujjayi breathing until it feels natural and easy. At this point, you can add aspects of other mind-body practices such as meditation or qigong for further benefit. A few options are as follows:
• Heart focus. Fascinating research from The Institute of HeartMath has found that focusing attention on the area of your heart improves the balance and tone of the autonomic nervous system. In the HeartMath coherence exercises, they instruct you to imagine your breath is flowing in and out of the area of your heart.
• Mantra based or breathing meditation. For example, focus attention on the flow of your breath.
• Qigong meditation. Qigong traditions believe the abdominal region between your navel and pelvic bone, called the lower dantian, is a key energy reservoir. Qigong practices often involve focusing attention, or meditating, on this area.
- Blake Graham, BSc (Honours), AACNEM
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* Clinical Nutritionist Blake Graham, practicing in Perth, Western Australia, specializes in nutritional and environmental medicine therapies for those with chronic medical conditions, such as ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, and environmental illness. His website – www.nutritional-healing.com.au
This article is reproduced with kind permission from Blake Graham’s Nutritional Healing e-newsletter. To sign up for the free newsletter, click here.
Note: This information has not been evaluated by the FDA. It is not intended to prevent, diagnose, treat or cure any condition, illness, or disease and is not a substitute for personal medical care. It is very important that you make no change in your healthcare plan or health support regimen without researching and discussing it in collaboration with your professional healthcare team.
TENA/DIAMOND
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