Exhale | Anette Aarsland | TEDxTrondheim

has anyone ever told you to take a deep breath in order to calm down doing that's actually the worst thing you can do it is a common misunderstanding that we don't get enough air but the opposite is actually true we breathe far too much air Russian studies suggest that the ideal amount of air to breathe is four to seven liters a minute today many breathe as much much as 10 to 15 liters this hyperventilation causes the carbon dioxide level in the blood to slightly drop and the oxygen to remain in the blood instead of being released into the organs the muscles and the brain this is the reason some suggest breathing into a paper bag when we hyperventilate there is more carbon dioxide in the air we exhale than in the air we normally inhale so when we breathe into a paper bag the carbon dioxide level in the blood we slightly increase the oxygen will be realized and subsequently we will feel calmer and more present I once sat next to a lady on a plane her fists were all clenched around the arm rests and she was clearly hyperventilating are you scared I asked I'm terrified she replied instead of giving her the paper bag I asked her to stay along s most cruises yes she looked at me as if I were mad but finally she exhales saying along s through her mouth and inhaled silently through her nose she said happily she was calm for the rest of the trip in Norway and other Scandinavian countries we do something really strange and frankly quite oft we speak while inhaling especially saying the word for yes yah on an inhalation what does this really tell her brain danger alarm panic our main breathing muscle the diaphragm is placed just under Arabs it goes front to back when we exhale fully the diaphragm moves upwards like a dome into the chest causing the air pressure inside the lungs to become longer than the air pressure outside our bodies this vacuum gradient causes the diaphragm to move downwards and the air to get pushed into our lungs just like this bubble expands our lungs will expand automatically so inhalation is something you never need to worry about it is automatic this movement alone can make the heart move as much as seven centimeters when we exhale fully can you imagine what happens to the other organs they all move which is brilliant because movement is life moving the intestines for example will prevent constipation the American psychologist of the Fredman did research on breathing exercises for anxiety and depression he found that the prolonged exhalation had a great positive influence on both anxiety and depression because it seems to put the body into a state of equilibrium at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden they reduced the morphine doses to chronic pain patients by 50% through breathing exercises alone the conclusion the slowly breathe the less pain we experienced study from several countries also show that the blood pressure goes down dramatically with slow breathing babies all breathe correctly you can see their entire torso move for each breath their stomachs ribcages and even their backs you never ever see a baby breathing like this but because of too tight clothes prolonged stress or even from keeping our stomachs in in order to look slim we start breathing superficially in our chest and collarbones so we prevent the diaphragm from doing its most important job I once met this wonderful self ironic and slightly overweight lady she said look at my stomach when it's relaxed it's here when I tuck it in it's here why do I bother breathing superficially also causes the muscles in our chest neck jaw and shoulder blades to tense up yet very few realized that their headaches migraines neck or even back pains may be directly caused by their poor breathing so no let's we'll try this please sit up straight on the front of your seats with the palms of your hands facing upwards imagine that the back of your head is hanging in a spring from the ceiling your chest is relaxed yet lifted and most importantly your stomach is really heavy like the Buddha then afterwards I would like you in your own speed to make a long exhalation by saying an S and towards the end of this s I would like you to pull your navel slightly towards your back while you still say the s as soon as the s stops close your mouth relax your stomach imagine you're about to yawn and let the air flow back in for your nose feel your stomach ribs and back expand but keep your chest still make sure the inhalation is silent and if you don't put the air in actively okay let's thought please close your eyes at your own tempo exhale and towards the end of the Esper your neighbors slightly towards your back then relax with some Mike and close your mouths and let the air flow back in by itself through your nose okay your stomach and ribs expand then again exhale for your stomach's slightly in towards the end of the earth and relaxes thumb I can let the air flow back in through your nose and again hex a list do it at your own speed your stomach goes in and close your mouth and relax your stomach and let the air flow back in through your nose do one last time exhale feel your neighbors like you to watch your back then release your stomach and let the air flow back in and please open your eyes what did it feel like do you feel any coma or maybe you feel anxious or even slightly angry this might be the case if you have high levels of stress hormones in your body and if the respiratory center in your brain is used to you hyperventilating this Center may then protest saying hello you don't get enough air you have to breathe more air eventually though if you continue practicing this slow breathing pattern the respiratory center will shut up your cortisol levels will drop and you will feel , if you suffer from any form of anxiety or panic make sure to breathe this way exhaling through your mouth and inhaling through your nose exhaling through nose can make the anxiety escalate the same way as inhaling through your mouth does if you don't remember much from this talk it's probably because you didn't breathe slowly enough however there are two things I do want you to remember exhale and relax your stomach thank you very much you

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 22,821

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Norway, Life, Health

Id: i3UmZucFap8

Length: 10min 35sec (635 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 09 2016