Transcription
What if I told you that changing one thing you do 15 times per minute could reduce your stress, fight inflammation, and add years to your life, and you're probably doing it wrong right now? I'm talking about deliberate breathing as a tool to change your physiology and neurochemical state in your body and mind. In this video, I will show you one master technique and three powerups you can add on.
Hi, my name is Karo and I'm a Brassbor and movement coach with a 20-year background as a traditional martial arts teacher. We all breathe about 15 times per minute. When stressed, it goes up. Here's the fix. Slow it down to 10 breaths per minute. That's 6 seconds in and 6 seconds out. Try it right now with me for a few breath. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Feel that? That's your parasympathetic nervous system kicking in. You just hacked your body's natural calm switch in just 20 seconds.
According to the American Institute of Stress, a large proportion of primary care visits involve conditions where stress plays a meaningful role in symptoms, severity, and recovery. Prolonged stress increases inflammation. All the top 10 disease related death causes are directly or indirectly caused by excessive inflammation or at least made worse by it. The mistake many people make is to assume that reducing stress is all about controlling our external world or that we reduce stress by just doing nothing. But you can actually do much more by deliberately slowing down your breathing as we just did right now. Studies have shown that following this breathing rhythm reduces the resting heart rate and increases heart rate variability which are the easiest markers to track your veagal tone respectively how much you engage your parasympathetic nervous system.
Now the crucial question is how long should I breathe this way to be effective? One study showed that engaging in this rhythm for 20 minutes three times per day reduces inflammatory cytoines in COVID 19 patients. Three 20-minute sessions can seem like a lot but if we divide those 60 minutes into smaller chunks it becomes quite easy to do. The breathing rhythm is also easy enough to follow while doing other tasks. I, for example, love to do this in the morning after waking up, after a workout session, or before bed, or between tasks when I need a short break.
Now, I'm going to show you three add-on techniques that you can layer on top that serve me as cheat codes that transform this basic slow breathing rhythm into a superpower. The third one is my secret weapon for overall health and mental resilience.
Power up number one is going to sound weird, but it gave me a 15-fold increase in something called nitric oxide, a molecule that plays a powerful role in human physiology. And this technique is just hum when you exhale. M. The primary and most well-known function of nitric oxide is its ability to relax and dilate blood vessels, a process called vesso dilation. Why is this important? For starters, ask someone with erection problems. It's it's actually much more than just your innate viagra pill. When your blood vessels dilate, blood flows more freely throughout your body, which reduces blood pressure and decreases the workload on your heart. This improved circulation means that oxygen and nutrients can reach your tissues more effectively, which is why increasing nitric oxide levels supports overall cardiovascular health. But here's the part most people miss. This enhanced blood flow creates additional benefits throughout your body like reduced fatigue and enhanced stamina. Similarly, increased blood flow to the brain supports sharper mental clarity, better focus, and improved memory. So, who wouldn't want that? Beyond circulation, nitric oxide plays an important role in your immune system where it helps immune cells identify and destroy pathogens more effectively. Now, if you're like me and you feel too self-conscious about humming in public or while you work on your computer, practice calming breathing there when you work and are around with people and replace your shower singing with humming. Fun fact, I love practicing slow breathing with humming while taking ice bath or cold showers.
Next, let's learn how we can boost our productivity with the next power up. The next little calm breathing add-on is simple, yet it stopped my social media addiction in 5 minutes. It's a really powerful technique to manage your cravings and procrastination. Urges and cravings are individual. Some people find it easy to resist one thing while having a lot of trouble with other things. So no matter what your kryptonite is, cravings and urges come in waves. The trick is to let the wave swell and wait until it subsides again. A great tip comes from psychologist Dr. K who shared this beautiful simple technique of alternate nostril breathing. But before I show you the technique, it's very important to have the right mindset around overcoming cravings, which helped me reframe my expectations and emotions around it. Resisting an urge is an inner conflict that feels very uncomfortable or sometimes even painful. In the past, I've always thought that this discomfort was wrong, bad, or a sign of weakness. But this feeling of inner conflict means that I'm actually succeeding. Give in to the craving and the discomfort vanishes just like that. It disappears. So as long as you feel this pain of resistance means I'm winning. This really helped me reframe the experience of resisting cravings. So the game is to ride the wave of discomfort instead of pushing it away. And what you experience is that waves come and go.
The technique of alternate nostril breathing anchors your mind to the present moment by focusing on your breath and simple movements while shifting your physiology towards calmness through slow breathing. So you take the same slow breathing pattern of 6 seconds in and 6 seconds out. But now you take your thumb and middle finger to block one nostril. So block one nostril with your thumb and inhale for six. Then tilt your hand to block the other nostril with the middle finger and exhale for six. Then keep the hand position and inhale through the same nostril again. Then switch again to exhale through the other nostril. And then repeat this pattern for 5 to 15 minutes. Aside from the calm breathing, the hand coordination keeps your mind in the present moment and also to me at least feels similar to a fidgeting device that you find in different cultures to calm the mind or meditate. The blockage of one nostril slightly increases the carbon dioxide, further calming you down. So, this combination of mindset, coordinated hand movement, and breathing is perfect while riding the wave of a craving. Try it out and let me know in the comments if it worked for you.
Before I show you the final technique, here's something that most people miss. Theory is not practice. I have taught thousands of people these and other breathing techniques. The ones who transform their lives. They don't just watch, they practice. If you want structured guidance and a community to keep you accountable, I created a breath work academy. The first seven days of it is free. So the link is below. You can try it out if you want.
Now let's go to the last technique where ancient wisdom meets cutting edge neuroscience. The last powerup technique is isometric horse stance breathing. an ancient kung fu stance and technique that increases your willpower and awakens a superpower in your brain that I just recently discovered. Even though I have been practicing this exercise for more than 20 years, when you hold a deep horse stance, you're placing significant metabolic demand on your large leg muscles, particularly your quads, glutes, and core stabilizers. This sustained muscular engagement creates what's called metabolic stress where your muscles must work hard over an extended period without rest. This is even multiplied by adding the quasi-isometric arm movements. This type of challenge triggers your body to produce various growth factors including BDNF as an adaptive response. I always thought that the horse stance is just a torturous exercise back in my kung fu days, but the widespread benefits blew my mind.
Brain derived neutropic factor commonly known as BDNF is a protein that acts as a fertilizer for your brain cells. Think of it as a growth hormone specifically for your neurons supporting their survival, growth, and the formation of new connections between them. BDNF is one of the most important molecules for brain health and cognitive function. Yet, many people have never heard of it despite its profound impact on how well your brain works throughout your life. Higher levels of BDNF are associated with better memory consolidation, faster learning, improved mood regulation, and greater resilience against age-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Conversely, low BDNF levels have been linked to depression, anxiety, and various cognitive impairments. The remarkable thing about BDNF is that you can actively increase its production through specific physical and mental practices like the horse stance.
Stand about two shoulder width apart. Point your toes forward and squat down until your upper thighs are ideally parallel to the floor. Keep your torso upright. Then extend the arms in front of you. Bend the elbows a little and point them downward while the fingers point upwards. Then inhale to a count of six while pulling your arms back until your hands reach your lower ribs. As this is an isometric exercise, give your pull some resistance so that all your muscles in your arms, chest, and back fire up and need to work. Then exhale and push your arms forward again also while contracting all your muscles and depressing your shoulders. Do that for 10 to 15 breaths. Then rest for the same amount of time while maintaining your slow breathing rhythm and repeat this for five sets.
The mental focus required to maintain both the stance and the breathing pattern adds another layer of benefit. You must concentrate intensely to keep your posture correct, your breath steady, and your mind from surrendering to the discomfort. This mindful attention itself stimulates brain activity in ways that support BDNF production. You're essentially training your brain to maintain calm awareness under physical duress, which strengthens neural pathways associated with emotional regulation and stress resilience. As a side note, if you have trouble with the horse stance, you can do a wall sit instead or a plank. or you can watch my extended video with complimentary exercises to learn the proper horse stance. I will link it down below in the description.
So, this was a deep dive into the calming breathing principle. If you want to master all four breathing principles that transformed my life, watch this video next.