Lower Blood Pressure with Breath

"The lungs lie around the heart. Thus breathing is a natural way to the heart." -Saint Nikephoros the Monk

The cardiovascular system may seem like an involuntary function in our bodies, but this is not the case. We have autonomy over our heart's functions. Blood pressure is dynamic and it can be altered with only two minutes of conscious breathing. We just need to engage our mind-body connection. The mind picks up on signals from the body and vice versa. Breath is like a translator between mind and body. It's how our conscious self can speak with our hearts. By becoming aware of breath we gain deeper control over our bodies. Our lungs and our hearts are intimately entangled. The lungs nourish the heart.

Certain conscious breathing practices trigger the parasympathetic nervous system. This is a mode of our nervous systems which regulates relaxation. Your ability to engage your parasympathetic nervous system at will becomes stronger with practice. It's commonly referred to as 'rest and digest' while its counterpart (the sympathetic nervous system) is referred to as 'fight or flight'. The parasympathetic nervous system initiates a number of physiological responses. There are two reasons the parasympathetic nervous system lowers our blood pressure: time and space.

Time is a factor because the rate of our heart beat lowers while engaged in the parasympathetic nervous system. When beats per minute decrease blood moves slower. Slower blood means lower blood pressure.

Space is a factor because our blood vessels vasodilate while engages in the parasympathetic nervous system. This means our cardiovascular network expands. There are thousands of miles of capillaries within us. Vasodilation means they all open up to move blood easier. This means blood can flow freely to our extremities. Think about the relationship between volume and pressure. More space in the cardiovascular network means lower blood pressure.

ENTER A RELAXED STATE BY BREATHING: 4 STEPS

Set a timer for two minutes and follow these four steps. You'll notice a distinct change in your blood pressure. If you suffer from chronic high blood pressure practice these steps often in your daily life. When getting your blood pressure checked by a health practitioner ask for two minutes to prepare. It can change their entire image of your health according to their numbers.

1. Find Stillness

It's important to focus on staying completely still while lowering blood pressure. Ease your mind and body into a state of deep relaxation. Feel gravity doing all the work. Think of stillness as an opportunity to use as little oxygen as possible. The use of oxygen creates a feedback loop in the body telling the heart to beat faster- raising your blood pressure. Cultivate stillness not only in the body, but also in the mind. Even thoughts use oxygen. Your brain also uses oxygen to create images while your eyes are open. So close your eyes. Let yourself sink into a state of calm stillness.

2. Breathe Slowly

Make breath long. Let your inhales expand and nourish you. Let your exhales sink and release you. A good rate is to count 6Do not hurry the breath. seconds in and 6 seconds out. Do not rush the count. Another good rhythm is to count 6 for your inhale and 9 for your exhale. Feel free to adapt this to your level. Once you have a good rhythm you don't need to count every breath. Never be afraid to return to counting if you lose your rhythm. Your exhales should be equal to or greater than your inhales to keep a balanced amount of carbon dioxide in the blood. Carbon dioxide is not merely a waste product, it is essential for your body to have some available to be able to absorb oxygen. Feel free to make your exhales as long as you physically can, as long as the rate is smooth. Oftentimes when we think we are done exhaling we have really just begun. Small exhales can increase carbon dioxide. Too much carbon dioxide will cause your body to enter an acidic state. This will trigger the sympathetic nervous system.

3. Breathe Through Your Nose

The nose is a remarkable organ. Use it for every inhale and exhale. Nasal breathing helps us keep a slow breathing rate. Air can take its time passing through its intricate turbinates, whereas mouth breathing is a rush of air. Turbinates of the nose also act as a filter. This keeps dust, pollutants and even viruses from entering our respiratory system. Next our nose is a natural humidifier. Mouth breathing uses 40% more water than nose breathing. A dehydrated body tends to be less relaxed. Most important for lowering blood pressure, nasal breathing creates nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a molecule that vasodilates us. Remember that when blood vessels are larger, the pressure goes down.. Nitric oxide is the reason beets are a known remedy for high blood pressure. Nose breathers create 15 times more nitric oxide than mouth breathers. Mouth breathing can actually deplete our nitric oxide by hindering bacteria in the back of our mouth which create nitric oxide.

4. Breathe Into Your Belly

Breathing itself uses oxygen, so we should focus on breathing efficiently. Always breathe into your belly. To train this habit, lie on your back with one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly. Breathe in a way that you visualize your belly button being pulled towards the sky. Breathe in a way that the hand on your chest stays completely still while the hand on your belly gently rises and falls with each breath. The more you breathe into the belly the more flexible your diaphragm will become and the easier it will be. The average lungs contain six liters of air. Breathing with the belly only uses about one liter of air. So how can it be efficient at all when we're only using one sixth of your lung capacity. The power is in a little cellular structure called alveoli. Alveoli are tiny little sacs which look a little like a hot air balloon. This is where gas exchange takes place. The bottom region of the lungs has a significantly higher concentration of alveoli, so even though you are breathing a smaller volume of air gas exchanges occurs more readily. Belly breathing is effortless and the parasympathetic nervous system is activated by massaging our internal organs,