Email Apnea: A Phenomenon That Is (Unfortunately) Taking the World By Storm

Before I get to how emails are harming our health, you might have heard of another condition called sleep apnea that is equally as damaging.

Sleep apnea is a condition where a person holds their breath while they sleep. Now, that might not sound so bad to you but it produces rather unfortunate side-effects to occur with some more serious than others.

In mild cases, it causes snoring, poor sleep, and infections but over time, hypertension, chronic fatigue, inflammation, high blood pressure, and even heart conditions can occur.

People most susceptible to sleep apnea include people with poor breathing habits, obesity, alcohol consumption, and people suffering from high-stress levels, insomnia, and/or mental health.

These people also suffer from “email apnea” too but I’ll get to that in just a minute.

To understand what’s happening here, it’s important to know how the nervous system works. So, let’s look at that now.

This will then set the foundations for how emails are unintentionally killing us.

The Two Sides of the Autonomic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system is made up of two parts: The sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

The sympathetic nervous system controls our stress response, better known as our fight or flight response. It monitors the body’s temperature, controls saliva levels, inhibits digestion, accelerates heart rate, dilates pupils, constricts blood vessels, helps to release adrenaline and cortisol, raises blood pressure & perspiration (heat and sweat), and creates goose pimples. These combine to make the body alert, sharp, focused, and ready. It’s also associated with left brain activity or cognitive and analytical thinking.

The parasympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, is better known for helping us rest and digest. It does this by slowing and stabilizing a resting heart rate, slowing and stabilizing the breath, promoting digestion, improving recovery and healing times, producing saliva, helping to release endorphins and hormones such as dopamine, oxytocin & serotonin, and boosting the immune, digestive, and cardiovascular systems. It is also associated with right brain activity or creativity and intuition.

Now, every single moment we are alive, the autonomic nervous system is alert, engaged, and aware. The so-called unconscious mind is anything but unconscious! Even when the body sleeps, the nervous system doesn’t. The speed at which it does this, however, is even more impressive. At any given moment, for example, the nervous system is computing millions and millions of bits of data simultaneously from both our external environment and our internal experience with the breath acting as a bridge between the two.

So, when the breath stops (and here’s the important thing), our sympathetic nervous system gets activated so the body’s stress response gets engaged. This then puts the body under tension which at a time of sleep when the body is meant to be resting and recovering, it’s not.

Now, what’s all this got to do with emails I hear you ask… And how the hell are they killing us?

Good question.

So, without any further ado, here’s how.

What is email apnea?

This is a modern phenomenon that’s taking the world by storm.

It’s most common in office environments but it’s equally as damaging in schools, especially during exam times.

This is otherwise known as exam apnea.

One study incredibly estimates that around 80% of office workers suffer from email or screen apnea.

80%!

That’s mega!

What this means, in simple terms, is that people are unintentionally holding their breath for long periods of time while they work. This is then activating their sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and creating stress, anxiety, and inflammation in the body.

This could be making stressful work even more stressful!

The good news here though is that because the breath is made up of two parts — inhale and exhale — we can reduce stress by exhaling more.

And that’s super empowering!

So, whenever you realize you’re holding your breath, feeling stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, or frustrated, take a few nice, long, deep exhales, maybe even sigh, relax the shoulders, and allow the breath to soften the edges.

If you’re feeling extra aware before you sit down to work, open your emails, or attend a meeting, focus on taking a few conscious deep breaths as this will prepare and equip you for the tasks ahead.

One of my all-time favorite breaths for day-to-day life is this:

Rhythmical breathing

1. Breathe in through your nose (smoothly and without force) for 4 seconds
2. Breathe out through your nose or mouth (smoothly and without force) for 4 seconds
3. Leave no pause at the top of the inhale or at the bottom of the exhale
4. Continue up to 5 minutes or 40 breaths
5. Return to normal breathing.

If you find that four seconds is too long, try breathing in for two seconds and out for two seconds instead, or in for three seconds, and out for three seconds until your breath naturally relaxes. Then extend your breath once you feel more at ease. Try not to judge or wish for your breath to be different here, just allow it to naturally soften as you continue to relax and observe.

As long as you’re breathing in a consistent rhythm without force, any rhythm is good. Your heart will know what to do next so it will naturally follow your lead and become coherent. And the best part about this exercise is that no one even needs to know that you’re doing it.

It can be your own silent superpower that you can use to create mental clarity, emotional stability, and physical health.

Another powerful calming exercise

Create “Soft Eyes”

Our eyes, like the breath, often reflect our inner state. Sharp, dilated, focused eyes, for example, reveal a heightened sense of alertness. Soft, open eyes, on the other hand, reflect a sense of ease and relaxation. So, by creating “soft eyes” the nervous system naturally relaxes as a result.

This practice is great for relieving stress, reducing anxiety, and relaxing the body. It’s a quick and effective way to tap into the parasympathetic nervous system and enter a space of peace and calmness.

It’s one of the ways wild animals can be hunted one minute and graze upon the grass the next as if nothing happened.

Putting it into practice:

• · Sit comfortably and allow your body to relax
• · Look straight ahead and land your gaze on an object in the distance (if you’re in the office, try to avoid making this object a person for awkwardness’s sake!).
• · Begin to connect to your peripheral vision while continuing to look straight ahead.
• · Now, expand your awareness to the spaces up and down without moving your eyes. Then connect your vision to the spaces at the side as well.
• · Allow your focus to be on all things all at once as your eyes begin to soften
• · Stay connected to your breath
• · Remain here for as long as it feels good

Closing thoughts

Inside the body, there are tools that generate energy, stress, and heat or peace and stillness.

The breath does both. So, it’s one of the best ways to regulate the body. It’s also accessible to every single person around the world, regardless of gender, race, location, religious beliefs, age, body type, or even health condition. It’s completely free of dogma, judgment, and prejudice too as it transcends all that.

And because it accompanies us through every conservation, work meeting, meal, and sleep, it’s also one of the most accessible, present, and consistent.

Now, having said that, it needs love and awareness to keep it working for us and not against us because as I’ve already shared every breath taps into both sides of the autonomic nervous system. So, even though it can be a supportive way to create peace, it can very quickly generate stress and tension as well.

But here’s the thing: How you breathe determines what outcome you experience. So, what’s important to remember here is that there’s always a decision to make, and you are the one who makes it.

To learn more about the benefits of cultivating healthy breathing habits, check out a thorough and in-depth blog I wrote about here: The Importance of Breathing Correctly

Or alternatively, discover my favourite breathwork technique here.