For most of us, respiration is an automatic, subconscious function. But a new wave of breath research could change your mind — and your body.
This article appeared in the September/October 2021 issue ofSome of us are better at holding our breath than others. But we’ve all been put to the test.
Many humans have grown up to be chronic shallow breathers. To illustrate, take a few seconds now and notice your own natural breathing pattern. At the end of your natural exhale, when your body is ready to inhale again, don’t. Instead, exhale more air; then even more, forcing it out of your mouth. If you found plenty still to exhale, it’s mostly coming from the lungs, specifically the bottom half that gets stimulated by the diaphragm muscle near your belly.
Donald Noble, a physiologist and behavioral scientist at Emory University, wonders if humans have normalized an excessive respiratory rate. “There may be good reasons to aim lower,” he says. His work has investigated a biological vibration coinciding with a respiratory rate of six breaths per minute, about half of the so-called norm.
Specifically, he’s talking about the resonance of Mayer waves, which may help regulate blood pressure in our arteries. As the data stacks up, Noble and other researchers emphasize that there’s likely no magical perfect rate. It seems to vary from person to person. More importantly, their work can show how specific breath rhythms are ideal for unique circumstances and needs. Sprinting, for example, or having sex might demand very different respiratory patterns than, say, swimming. Especially if you swim like Claire Paris.Paris is a master at holding her breath.
Beyond her ocean studies, she also competes in international freediving events. In May, she claimed her fifth U.S. women’s record in freediving. One of those involved swimming 603 feet underwater in a pool — the span of an American football field and back, plus a few feet into the end zone — with no supportive oxygen. One of her competition strategies is to avoid wearing goggles. “I like the sensation of the water running on my eyes,” Paris says.
In multiple studies, mindfulness and meditation have correlated with a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure.
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