The Breath, the Brain

 

COLLECTIVE RESEARCH AND INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE SHOW US THE POWERFUL EFFECTS OF CONSCIOUS BREATHING AND AWARENESS

Brain Integration

Prolonged stress has been shown to shrink the hippocampus, the region of the brain responsible for learning, memory, cognition and emotional regulation. At the same time, the amygdala, which determines emotional responses based on sensory information that it perceives as a threat or not, has been shown to increase in size due to its overstimulation.

Developing healthy breathing patterns:

  • Calms the stress response thereby increasing oxygen to the hippocampus and reducing the size of the amygdala

  • Strengthens focus and attention

  • Promotes brain integration

  • Fosters deeper and better sleep by releasing physical, mental and emotional tension

  • Strengthens self-awareness

This directly and/or indirectly helps the student do the following:

  • Learn better stress management and consciously choose right action

  • Alleviate anxiety and depression with slow, rhythmic breathing

  • Naturally increase blood oxygen, vital for the growth of healthy cells

check out this short clip from the work of Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School. Just may “blow your mind”. This is from a 2007 documentary.

 

Here’s what the experts have to say…

“I like to sit tall and breathe, I feel calm and I like that.” – 1st grader

“ To get started, think about what calms you down, for me it’s Nature.” – 1st grader

“I need this in my life, I am very busy and sometimes too busy. “ – 3rd grader

“My mind follows the sound, like it's moving up and down - a wave - and I follow it, and then my thoughts go and float and I get relaxed.” – 4th grader

FIRST GRADER, EVERY BEING BREATHES

FIRST GRADER, EVERY BEING BREATHES

“I feel weird. I guess I'm feeling. I'm not used to looking at my thoughts and my breathing, it is quiet.  It is loud. There's a lot to notice when you do, notice.” – 5th grader

“If mindfulness removes the need to act in violence, then peace will cease to need to exist as well right? It would be a new state of being ~ No war so then no peace – those ideas would be over right? Not needed to be defined by its opposite anymore.” – 7th grader

“I'm not sure anything is happening, but I like it. We should do this every morning.” – 7th grader

“I feel lighter. A lot lighter.  How did I do that?” – 8th grader