Breathing

Autogenic Breathing

• Technique:
  • Breathe in through your nose for a slow count of 4 (4 seconds = one-thousand, two-thousand, three-thousand, four thousand)
  • Hold your breath for a slow count of 4
  • Breathe out through your lips for a slow count of 4
  • Hold your breath for a slow count of 4
  • Repeat until you feel your body and mind relax
  • Note: Expand your belly (diaphramatic breathing) first, then chest
• Tactical Breathing – A concise explanation of the technique popularized by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
• Also called “square breathing” or “box breathing“.
• Have you tried box breathing (Mercola, 6/29/2020)
  • Triggers the parasympathetic nervous system to help manage stress and improve relaxation
  • Involves nose breathing to slow over-breathing and raise CO2 levels to balance oxygenation
  • Nose breathing raises production of nitric oxide, which offers antiviral benefits. Consider the four-minute Nitric Oxide Dump (developed by Dr. Zach Bush) to promote blood flow and normalize blood pressure
  • You can easily assess your body’s tolerance for CO2 at home, using a technique developed by Dr. Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko. “Control pause” (CP)
  • When your shoulders lift during inhalation, it’s called vertical breathing. Correct breathing causes your midsection to widen and is called horizontal breathing (diaphragmatic).

Resilience Breathing

• Free program from Scott Sonnon. Elaborates and expands on the basic concept of autogenic breathing.
• Trinity Breathing Exercise (Scott Sonnon)

Be Breathed

• Be Breathed (download or DVD) by Scott Sonnon
• Review of Scott Sonnon’s “Be Breathed” program

Wim Hof

• Wim Hof breathing tutorial by Wim Hof specifically mentions making the body more alkaline
• This Smithsonian Magazine article says the same thing: “Some previous research has shown that this exercise makes Hof’s blood more alkaline, since it becomes saturated with oxygen.” The previous research referred to in the article calls the technique “cyclic hyperventilation and breath retention”.
• “I am familiar with the Wim Hof technique in activating the parasympathetic nervous system and increasing mitochondrial biogenesis but not aware of the pH balancing effect of it.  I will have to read it. I am a big proponent of the Wim Hof technique.” Dr. BH (functional and integrative medicine)
• Doctor Dissects the Wim Hof Method