How to press the brakes: Breathing for calm
Vishamvritti Praanaayaam: Activating the parasympathetic nervous system
Om Sri Gurubhyo Namah. Salutations to all the teachers.
In humans, the (so-called) involuntary life functions are controlled by what is known as the “autonomic nervous system.” This powerful network controls breathing, digestion, excretion, dilation of the pupils, sexual arousal, the heart rate, and a number of other processes..
The autonomic nervous system can be broadly split up into two parts - the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for our “fight or flight” response. From an evolutionary perspective, this is the system that is activated when we are in danger.
Imagine being chased by a predator.
The breathing speeds up, the heart rate increases to pump more blood to the extremities, the pupils dilate, and adrenaline surges - all so that our cave-person ancestors could escape as quickly as possible, to ensure their survival. In this situation, the body prioritises (in a sense) all the functions that would help us to escape or fight, therefore deprioritizing things like digestion, excretion, and close, focused vision, in favour of all the things that would help us to get out of danger.
On the other hand, the parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for our “rest and digest” functions. This includes things like digestion, sleep, excretion, sexual arousal, and close-up, focused vision - all the same stuff that is deprioritized when we’re being chased by a predator. When the parasympathetic system is activated, breathing slows down, the heart rate reduces, and we feel a sense of calm, relaxation, and well-being.
In today’s world, even though we no longer live in caves, and are not hunted by literal predators, our bodies are still running the same ancient software. As a result, we may at times feel as though the wrong system is activated at the wrong time, resulting in frustration.
Consider this example. You are at work, and someone says something that upsets you. You may notice your breathing speed up, the heart-rate increase, and blood rushing around your body. This is your sympathetic nervous system at work. Your body - meaning well - is giving you the tools to run for your life, but you have no use for it.
Instead, these physical reactions may result in poor decision-making. Perhaps you feel these sensations and react with anger or defensiveness. Perhaps your mind simply feels too muddled to respond appropriately, and so you act in such a way that bears unwanted consequences later on.
Often, this kind of physical reaction becomes habitual. As with practice, the more we repeat a pattern of behaviour, the more it automatically arises in the mind. When this happens, a “stressed” reaction becomes automatic, and we start to see effects on our health.
For example, we may notice issues with digestion, sleep, sexual arousal, or focus. This is no accident - the body is trying to help you survive, giving you the tools to escape the predator chasing you. However, little does the body know that the predator is not out there, but in your mind.
On the deepest level, the body is not wrong. You do feel like you are under attack. Only the “you” that is under attack is not the body, but the identity (the ahamkaar). This ahamkaar is essentially an image that you have built up about yourself, that lives as an idea in your mind, and is the basis for the illusion of doership. However, you take this image seriously (aka avidya), and the body follows suit, activating your fight or flight mechanisms.
Breaking out of this identification is not easy.1 But there is good news - we can sort of “trick” our autonomic nervous system into acting the way we want it to, and break the cycle of it following its own ancient, involuntary patterns.
This is where the breath comes in.
Remember, the autonomic nervous system controls things like breathing, heart rate, digestion, focussed sight, sexual arousal, and so on.
Of all these processes, breathing is unique.
P: How so?
Unlike all the other processes, breathing can be easily controlled voluntarily. What’s more, adjusting our breath sort of “tricks” the autonomic nervous system into behaving one way or another. Basically, we can use the breath as a tool to adjust our autonomic nervous system, therefore adjusting our other life functions in the process.
P: Sounds amazing. But how do I control it?
The two parts of the autonomic nervous system are2:
Sympathetic nervous system: The accelerator. Fight or flight - helps you quickly escape a predator
Parasympathetic nervous system: The brakes. Rest and digest, or “feed and breed”3
These two systems can be activated by particular patterns of breathing, which we will go over in this and the next article. In particular, by regulating the length of the inhale, exhale, and hold, we can voluntarily adjust whether we are pressing the accelerator or the brakes. This kind of adjustment is known as vishamvritti praanaayaam, or “odd-length vritti praanaayaam.”
In this article, we will go over some breathing techniques to activate the parasympathetic nervous system (ie. rest and digest). Next week, we will discuss techniques to activate the opposite - sympathetic - response, intentionally.
As a reminder, here is a diagrammatic representation. There are four possible vrittis, or movements of breath:
Puraka: The inhale (aka antara)
Antara-kumbhaka: The pause after inhaling
Rechaka: The exhale (aka baahya)
Baahya-kumbhaka: The pause after exhaling
For all the techniques in vishamvritti praanaayaam, it is important to have a way to measure the length of each breath. This is called a maatraa, (literally a “unit of measurement”).
For more on this, you can look at the article on the fundamentals of Praanaayaam here.
Briefly, however, any method is ok, as long as you keep it consistent.
Some common methods are:
Counting using the phalanges (the sections of your fingers),
Using a mantra, recited at roughly the same speed (e.g. Om Namah Shivaaya, Subhaan Allah, Om Namo Bhagavate Vaasudevaaya, or just Om).
Rotating the finger around the knee and snapping once.
Just pick one and iterate until you find something that works for you.
Pressing the brakes: How to activate the parasympathetic nervous system
A simple technique to activate the parasympathetic nervous system is to increase the length of the exhale in comparison to the inhale. Once you are able to practice this without a feeling of gasping for air, you can introduce breath holds and bandhas to intensify the effect.
For all of these techniques, it is helpful to start by sitting in your Aasana. However, with practice, you can start to practice these at any time during the day, standing, sitting, or lying down.
Technique #1: 1:0:2:0
Sit in your Aasana
Breathe in for four maatraas through the nose, to full capacity.
Breathe out for eight maatraas through the nose, completely removing all air.
This is one cycle. Repeat for 27 cycles or more.
The actual number of maatraas matters less than the ratio between them. For example, this technique works just the same if you inhale for sixteen maatraas and exhale for thirty-two maatraas. In fact, the more maatraas, the more intense the effect.
It is important to inhale and exhale to full capacity within the count. This takes practice. Do not progress to the next technique until you can do this easily without gasping for air.
Technique #2: 1:4:2:0
Sit in your Aasana
Inhale for four maatraas through the nose, to full capacity.
Optional: Perform the mahaabandha.
Hold the breath for sixteen maatraas without releasing the diaphragm.
Optional: Release the mahaabandha.
Exhale for eight maatraas to full capacity.
This is one cycle. Repeat for 27 cycles or more.
As you practice this technique, gradually increase the number of maatraas. For example, you may start with 4:16:8, then 8:32:16, then 16:64:32, then 20:80:40 and so on.
As you increase the length of each vritti, you may notice some perspiration. This is normal, and the traditional teaching is to rub the perspiration back into your skin. You may also notice some quivering or shaking of the body. This is also normal, and will go away with practice.
If you feel out of breath, reduce the number of maatraas to a more comfortable level, and increase gradually.
As an aside, if you ever have a hard time falling asleep, try this technique, without the bandhas, while completely relaxing your neck.
Once you feel comfortable with this technique, proceed to the next one, below.
Technique #3: 1:4:2:1
Sit in your Aasana
Inhale for four maatraas through the nose, to full capacity.
Optional: Perform the mahaabandha.
Hold the breath for sixteen maatraas without releasing the diaphragm.
Optional: Release the mahaabandha.
Exhale for eight maatraas to full capacity.
Optional: Perform the mahaabandha.
Hold the breath for four maatraas.
Optional: Release the mahaabandha.
This is one cycle. Repeat for 27 cycles or more.
Once you feel comfortable performing these techniques without bandhas, include the bandhas (the optional steps throughout) to intensify the effect of the technique.
Eventually, once you have strengthened these techniques through practice, you can perform there anywhere, in any position. Note, however, that if you perform these techniques outside of your Aasana, do not perform the bandhas.
If at any point you feel breathless, reduce the maatraas.
Finally, if at any point you start to feel jittery or anxious, stop and practice technique #1 until you feel calm, before trying again.
Over time, this will become a tool in your toolkit to adjust your mental state at will.
Until next time:
Start with technique #1 and progress through practice and repetition.
Try adjusting your own autonomic nervous system when you feel the need. At the very least, when you feel stressed, try technique #1.
Finally, just be careful. These techniques can lead to negative consequences if you are not honest with yourself (remember the 4 keys to practice).
Next time: How to press the accelerator: Breathing for energy
This is true in one sense, but in another sense, it is the easiest thing. Far easier, in fact, than clinging. More on this in future articles on Advaita Vedanta.
There is a third component, the enteric nervous system, which we will not discuss here.
This is something of a simplification, but it will do just fine for our purposes here.