The Power of Breath

Is the solution to stress as simple as “Just Breathe”?

Not quite - though I’d love to tell you that it is! Our response to stress is a complex mind and body process, and Just Breathe is far too simple a solution. I am here to tell you though, that Breathe can help!

Let’s face it - in today’s day and age, we face and approach stressful situations daily and it’s important that we learn and use practices that help protect our mind and body from the effects of prolonged stress. That’s where the act of breathing, or otherwise known as Pranayama practice in yoga, can be helpful.

Our modern day biologically hard wired stress response is not always effective at dealing with our modern day stressors. Heard of the saying fight or flight? In truth, that is how our stress response system is biologically designed, to assist us in fleeing or fighting our way out of something we perceive as dangerous. Now imagine trying to fight or flee your way out of our modern day World’s stressors, for example, things like financial issues, or negotiating a curfew with your teenager - I mean we’ve probably all run away from these problems before or fought our way through them. I wonder though, on the other side of it all did you find that fighting or fleeing was the most effective strategy, did you end up exhausted and burnt out?

When our fight or flight response kicks in, we often participate in shallow breathing. This occurs as a survival instinct for a number of reasons. For example, one reason is that we need to circulate oxygen quickly as our body has a larger need for oxygen to our muscles when preparing to fight or flee. Another reason is we hold or keep a reserve of breath in our lungs during a flight or fight situation in case we need it, for example, if we are heading under water, or need to run away quickly.

So how can Pranayama help?

Prolonged experience in our fight or flight system is not good for our body and has detrimental effects. Research has linked chronic stress to the onset of heart conditions, obesity and prolonged, chronic and complicated medical issues (see Gabor Mate’s book The Myth of Normal for more details).

Let me be clear - breathing is not the solution to that sticky stressful problem you are having. That takes effort, energy and problem solving skills and sometimes let's be honest - luck and patience - as a lot of our everyday problems are out of our control. What Pranayama does do though is give you the grounded-ness you need to approach with ease life's challenges, combating negative side effects of prolonged stress, like burnout and fatigue and can lower blood pressure (Sharma, Subramaniam, Rajajeyakumar, Bhavanani & Sahai, 2013; Goyal, Lata, Walia & Narula, 2014). Now that's magic.

Check out my latest Instagram post @yogablissbytess for a daily breathing activity you can integrate into your routine today!

PS I care about everyone’s safety, if you have any medical concerns, please discuss the use of breathing exercises with your physician before using them on your own.

Sharma, V. K., Trakroo, M., Subramaniam, V., Rajajeyakumar, M., Bhavanani, A. B., & Sahai, A. (2013). Effect of fast and slow pranayama on perceived stress and cardiovascular parameters in young health-care students. International journal of yoga, 6(2), 104–110. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-6131.113400

Goyal, R., Lata, H., Walia, L., & Narula, M. K. (2014). Effect of pranayama on rate pressure product in mild hypertensives. International journal of applied & basic medical research, 4(2), 67–71. https://doi.org/10.4103/2229-516X.136776

Mom’s - This is for you.

Finding and maintaining true happiness and health takes continued effort and practice. This is hard work. I am glad you are here mama! Spend a moment thanking yourself for continuing to put energy and effort into this wonderful, messy and beautiful journey we call self-care when there really feels like there is no time for ourselves.

For me as a momma to a 2 year old baby boy, (do they ever stop being your babies), wife to an ICU nurse and a mental health professional by day, self-care has not always been an easy task, and yet I find it is so vitally important to my life. When I participate in a regular yoga practice, I approach things with a clearer mindset - daily stressors are easily navigated and solved, I am more efficient at work and my energy levels begin to match that of my toddlers. I still occasionally struggle with finding the time and energy for yoga, but, when I am confronted with that challenge, I stop and think - Tessa remind yourself of the benefits and get to it! That laundry load after baby is asleep can wait (if you still think it can’t - I have been there, but oh it can! HINT HINT WINK WINK REMINDER - energy levels increase with regular yoga practice)

Don’t believe me? Believe the research. Yoga has been known to calm the nervous system, promote physical health and improve brain functioning. Seriously - there are studies that measure your brains ability to be adaptive and they find that there are more proteins related to good brain functioning found in our blood streams when we have a regular yoga and meditation practice (Tolahunase, Sagar, Faiq & Dada, 2018)!

Narrowing it down and being more specific to all us moms out there, Yoga helps us prepare our bodies for the zen it needs to carry a baby, to heal after labour and to keep our cool in those much needed, "I am having a mom day moments". For those with other concerns, like stress management, anxiety, depression or general wellness needs, yoga promotes the production of healthy hormones and contributes to overall wellness (Bridges & Sharma, 2017).

While there is significant research that discusses the importance of meditation, yoga and breathwork, if you’re still skeptical, think about our daily life practices and what healthcare providers have been saying for the last several years. You’ll often see signs and hear “just breathe”. Did you deliver a baby? I promise you I heard it a million times when I did - just breathe. You may think huh - how will that solve my problem? I probably would have if I didn’t know the science. Let me be clear- it won’t solve your problem. What it will do though is give you the grounded-ness you need to approach with ease your daily struggles, and as mom’s, let’s face it, we have many.

Now, let’s consider what happens when we take our Asana Yoga Practice (Asana means the postures that we do in yoga class) and pair it with foundational yogic lifestyle choices, like breathwork and meditation. I promise you, you’re in for a treat!

After 15 years of continued use and practice of these strategies for my own grounded-ness and self-care, I find myself in a place in my life where I would like to share these practices with the World! I have partnered with Tiffany Hunt (@tunedinwithtiffany) to host an upcoming day retreat for mom’s that embraces the importance of all of these modalities at Zen on the Lake (@zenonthelake) retreat centre in Fort Erie.

I met Tiffany when I was completing my undergraduate degree in Psychology at Brock University. Tiffany has had the most amazing impact on my life as a young professional in the field of Psychology. She has now become a supportive, informative and motivating mentor that I continue to work with. Since Tiffany and I met in 2012, we have collaborated on several research projects, co-facilitated mindfulness groups and have now come together again to promote holistic healing practices, each with expanded training in our areas of yoga, sound therapy and breathwork.

Tiffany Hunt has devoted her career to the health and wellness of her patients and clients, with over 15 years of counselling and integrative trauma-informed treatment. She is a certified sound therapist and breathwork facilitator educated in clinical and health psychology. She obtained her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Ottawa, Ontario and sound certification from the Institute of Traditional Medicine in Toronto, Ontario. She is also certified in Conscious Connected Breathwork (Jon Paul Crimi’s method). Her personal and professional experience in mental health, informed by her own struggles with depression, leverage her background as a Clinical and Health Psychologist, instructor, researcher, published author, and clinician working with clients of diverse experiences and psychological needs. She has been a trusted guide to many Veterans, police officers, firefighters, and other first responders.

Head to my services page to sign up!