The Science of Breathing: Reduce Stress & Activate Your Nervous System | Dr. Sindhu Ramesh

welcome to brain education TV my name is Dr synu rames and today we're going to talk about breathing and stress let's talk about stress that's part of our lives and that's what we're always trying to deal with so where did this stress come from it came actually for a very good cause it was to deal with wild animals or problems with climate and how our body responded in like a few seconds to save ourselves from danger so what is responsible for it it is called the sympathetic nervous system so we have two nervous system the sympathetic and the parasympathetic and they are known as the involuntary nervous system of our body so what does involuntary mean that means breathing our heartbeat digestion all goes on we don't think about it our body is constantly involuntarily doing these things to maintain our lives and to sustain our digestion and breathing and heart rate so the sympathetic nervous system is what comes into play when we are faced with danger what does it do it increases your heart rate your breathing increases increased blood supply to your brain to to your muscles so you're ready to run fight or flight it's all geared up so that you're ready to run away from danger on the other hand the parasympathetic system is called rest and digest that means your body is in a state of calm your heart rate is down your breathing slows down you're ready to digest your food and that is rest and digest so essentially both these systems have to be in balance for us to lead a well balanced life a balance between our mind and our body that's what's needed so what happens nowadays is that we have perceived stress what is perceived stress work timeline deadlines studies all this our body is perceiving as stress and it stimulates our sympathetic nervous system so we are constantly in a heightened state of you know Readiness even though there's really no real danger our breathing is fast our heart rate is fast and we have these hormone called cortisol which is like flowing through our body which has negative effects on our body it affects our blood vessels increases the blood pressure it affects our uh the pancreas and you can get diabetes so you know a chronic state of stress is not not good for our body that's when breathing and the parasympathetic nervous system comes into play and that's something we can do on our own we don't have to depend on anybody so how does it work one of the most important nerves of the parasympathetic system is called the vagus nerve so the vagus nerve is one of the longest nerve in our body it starts in the brain stem that's right here behind our neck courses all the way down the body and IT Supplies up to the large intestine so while it goes down it goes through an opening in the diaphragm so the diaphragm is the muscle that separates the chest and the abdomen and that is very important in breathing that's the muscle that contracts and relax while we breathe so while the diaphragm is moving the vagus nerve that goes through the opening in the diaphragm that is stimulated and what happens when the wi is nervous stimulated you're stimulating your parasympathetic nervous system so what does that do it sends signals to the brain and says okay it's all calm rest and digest heart rate comes down breathing slows down so we can do this anywhere we don't have to depend on anybody all you have to do is be present and breathe how simple is that right so when you're at work or during a lecture or at home just sit still and take some nice deep breaths you're stimulating the vagus nerve the parasympathetic nervous system and you can calm down now let's try this for 1 minute take a nice deep breath through your nose feel your abdomen expand and exhale out through your mouth and feel your abdomen contract fully again breathe in through your nose feel your abdomen expand and exhale breathe out through your mouth feel your abdomen contract and it's when you exhale that the vagus nerve gets stimulated and the parasympathetic nervous system gets stimulated so how do you feel do you realize that you have the power within you to manage stress on your own as you practice more you will come to realize you can reach that state easier and easier every time you do it thank you for watching brain UC education TV I'll see you next time bye-bye