I have spent many years trying to understand the workings of the autonomic nervous system. I feel a chronically stressed or imbalanced nervous system causes many of the health issues we see today. Please see my blog on Dysautonomia (stress and your nervous system), neuro- inflammation and adrenal fatigue.
Over the years, I have researched countless natural remedies to calm, strengthen or balance the nervous system. While I have certainly found some wonderful natural medicines, I am finding that it is also useful to give people some tools to manage or ‘train’ their own nervous system.
I use the word train intentionally, as this reminds us of exercising to get fit. Repeated bouts of exercise strengthen the body to be able to tolerate exercise better. The body adapts! While we can use remedies to calm an over-active fight or flight system, or strengthen parasympathetic nerve function in cases of insomnia or digestive issues. Wouldn’t it also be nice if we could start to teach the body how to do these things on it’s own!
But how do we teach the nervous system to adapt to day-to-day stress, without ending overwhelmed by stress hormones? Once we are stressed, it’s so easy to end up back on the stressed-and-wired roller-coaster!
I feel that breathing may be one possible answer.
Your breathing and your nervous system are strongly connected. When we are calm; we breathe slowly, when we are excited; we breathe fast. It is a well know fact that people having an anxiety attack start to hyperventilate. Therapists will teach an anxious person to breathe slowly, with a focus on the exhale, to calm them down. Doctors, when listening to a persons heart know that on the in-breath, the heart speeds up and on the out-breath, the heart slows down.
Wim Hof breathing uses this connection by mimicking a mini stressful event, through hyperventilation. Then calming things down by holding the breath. A person does a couple of rounds of this – hyperventilation (revving up the fight or flight system) and then breath holding (calming the fight or flight system). Watch Wim Hof himself explain his technique of breathing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzCaZQqAs9I please follow his safety guidelines.
If practised regularly, this has many benefits. Firstly, it helps to take a person out of the state of chronic low grade stress, that many of us are in. Lots of people live almost constantly with a slightly activated fight-or- flight nervous system. The switch is stuck in the on position. The breathing switches things on and off again, resetting the switches, as it were. So you end up feeling more relaxed afterwards, but also energized – this is due to dopamine release. The stress relieving effect is very similar to exercise, but without leaving the house. The effect also builds the longer you do it, with the body starting to adapt, and become more ‘tolerant’ to stress.
You can take this technique with you anywhere, and it only costs you your time.
I also believe that the positive effects extend beyond just better stress tolerance. Considering your nervous system is wired into pretty much everything in the body, I believe this technique may be a first step in treating many of our (stress related) modern illnesses. There is research to show that it improves immune function, and people around the world have seen a myriad of other heath benefits.
Wim Hof has created a method, of healthy activities and mindfulness, to challenge the body and mind, and to stimulate the body to adapt to stress. His method is a combination of numerous ancient practices, and includes cold exposure (the topic of another blog). But far from being just another health nut, what sets Wim Hof apart, is that he has encouraged scientist to study him. He has taught his body to adapt to many things, and he believes we can too. He has made it his mission now to teach others, and empower them to face their difficulties and gain more control over their health.
I am passionate about helping others experience an improved sense of wellness. Often this means helping them obtain a better grip on the damaging effects that stress is having on their health. I am very happy to meet with you and discuss breath-work, or other options to reduce your fight-or-flight activation or allow you better control over your own health.
