The Alternative Road - Meditative Breathing

Learning to breath properly was a foreign concept to me a few years ago.  In fact, I hadn't given it any thought until Dr. Berkoff recommended that I consult with a biofeedback expert.  Though I was excited at the prospect of a new therapy with scientific basis, I was very curious as to how biofeedback worked.  Biofeedback is a generic term for equipment that measures the body's response to normal functions (like breathing) or external stimulus.  In this case, Dr. Berkoff recommended that I see Dr. Gevirtz, a specialist in biofeedback for meditative breathing.  I had heard of meditative breathing - even dabbled in it while doing Yoga.  But I didn't understand the connection between breathing and health.  Wasn't breathing innate and self-regulated?  The answer to that question was yes.  So wouldn't it follow that we would naturally breath for optimal health?  The answer to this question surprised me.  It was a big fat resounding NO... or at least not all of the time.  

Meditative breathing has been practices by yogis, swamis, Buddhists, and various other practitioners for millennia.  These practitioners have been able to control bodily functions (such as heart rate) that are not typically thought of as controllable.  It is only recently that science has begun to look into and understand these phenomenons and their connections with breathing.

The science revolves around something called heart rate variability (HRV).  You are probably familiar with your resting heart rate, normally taken at the doctor's office and given to you as a single number somewhere between 50 and 80 beats per minute.  This single number is actually an average heart rate.  For the most part, when we exhale, our heart beats slower than when we inhale.  HRV is a measure of the pace between heart beats over time.  Erratic HRV is associated with stress, fatigue, and an overactive parasympathetic nervous system.  A regular or even HRV is associated with a balanced autonomic nervous system and good health.

Below are actual screenshots of my HRV using a program and attachment produced by a company called Heartmath to show you the difference between an erratic HRV and a regular HRV. 

Erratic HRV - Adam Hoch

Notice the uneven spacing between the vertical red lines, indicating erratic breathing and providing for poor HRV.  Compare that to the evenly spaced vertical red lines, indicating regular breathing and excellent HRV in the figure below.

Regular HRV - Adam Hoch

According to Dr. Gevirtz, the research shows that meditative breathing for only ten minutes per day a couple of times per week can have a noticeable impact on health.

IF YOU ARE SUFFERING
If you are suffering from any symptoms that could be attributed to stress, anxiety, or an unbalanced autonomic nervous system, including dry mouth, poor digestion, anxiety, etc., meditative breathing may help.  The goal is to find your optimal breathing rhythm and to practice breathing for at least 10 minutes four times per week.  I have found three avenues for finding your optimal breathing rhythm as discussed below.

1. There is a free app called My Calm Beat that you can download to your smartphone.  It is a fairly basic program but allows you to input your optimal breathing pace (mine is 6 breaths per minute to give you a benchmark) and pace your breathing.
2. For those who are interested in tracking their HRV a little closer, the company mentioned above called Heartmath has developed an instrument that clips to your ear and connects to your smartphone.  The display can track your heart rate variability to provide a visual of your HRV.
3. Alternately, you can schedule an appointment with someone who specializes in this type of biofeedback, like Dr. Gevirtz.  Click here to read more about Dr. Gevirtz and his work.