BITESIZE | The Simple Daily Habit to Reduce Stress, Anxiety and Overwhelm | Patrick McKeown #529
In this episode, leading international breathing expert Patrick McKeown explains how emotions and breathing are interlinked. He shares practical tools and techniques to reduce stress and anxiety, emphasizing that correct breathing is key to better health and overall well-being.
Deep Dive Analysis
11 Topic Outline
Introduction to the Power of Breathing
Nose Breathing vs. Mouth Breathing: Physiological Impacts
The Interlinked Relationship Between Stress, Breathing, and Mind
Critique of the Common 'Take a Deep Breath' Advice
Slowing Breathing to Six Breaths Per Minute for Systemic Benefits
Understanding Baroreceptors and Their Role in Resilience
Important Cautions for Breath Holding Exercises
Breath Holding as a Stressor for Physical and Mental Adaptation
Breath Hold Techniques for Anxiety, Focus, and Preparedness
Using Breath Work to Quiet the Mind and Enhance Presence
The Intelligence of the Body and Bringing Attention Inwards
6 Key Concepts
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Breathing primarily using the diaphragm muscle, which is not only the main muscle for respiration but also linked with emotions. Nose breathing actively targets this muscle, leading to improved oxygen uptake, increased oxygen delivery to cells, and a more relaxed state.
Fight or Flight Response
A physiological state triggered by stress, often exacerbated by mouth breathing and fast, shallow breathing. This response keeps the body agitated and makes it difficult to calm the mind, as the body's physiology sends signals of danger to the brain.
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
The part of the nervous system responsible for involuntary bodily functions, balancing sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) responses. Slowing the respiratory rate to six breaths per minute can positively influence the ANS, improving resilience and coping mechanisms for stress.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation
The vagus nerve is a key component of the parasympathetic nervous system. Slowing the respiratory rate to six breaths per minute stimulates this nerve, leading to increased heart rate variability and enhanced synchronicity between respiration and heartbeat, promoting a calm state.
Baroreceptors
Pressure receptors located in major blood vessels like the aorta and carotid arteries. They detect changes in blood pressure and send signals to regulate it. Slow breathing increases their sensitivity, making the body more resilient to environmental challenges and better able to adapt to stress.
Air Hunger
A gentle sensation of needing more air, which can be intentionally induced through controlled breathing exercises. This mild stressor can cause physiological adaptations and helps to quiet the mind by shifting focus from thoughts to the primal bodily sensation, acting as a form of default mindfulness.
7 Questions Answered
Long-term stress changes breathing patterns to be fast, shallow, and irregular, which in turn feeds back into increased stress, creating a continuous cycle. Conversely, consciously changing breathing to be slower and more diaphragmatic can send calm signals to the brain, breaking this cycle.
Nose breathing actively engages the diaphragm, improves oxygen uptake and delivery to cells, and promotes relaxation and efficient breathing. Mouth breathing, however, tends to be shallow and fast, putting the body into a fight or flight response.
Most people interpret 'take a deep breath' as opening the mouth and lifting the chest, resulting in fast, shallow, upper-chest breathing. This type of breathing actually keeps the body in a state of fight or flight, failing to bring about positive physiological change.
Gently slowing the breath to about six breaths per minute stimulates the vagus nerve, increases heart rate variability, and enhances the sensitivity of baroreceptors. These physiological changes help to balance the autonomic nervous system, making the body more resilient to stress and improving coping mechanisms.
Baroreceptors are pressure receptors in major blood vessels that regulate blood pressure. Their sensitivity, which can be improved by slow breathing, allows the body to quickly adjust to blood pressure changes, serving as a vital marker of one's resilience and ability to cope with life's 'curved balls'.
Yes, short, gentle breath holds can effectively reduce anxiety and stress. Additionally, stronger breath holds can increase blood flow to the brain, open airways, and induce a state of alertness and preparedness, beneficial for tasks like presentations or athletic competitions.
Breath holds, especially those that induce a medium air hunger, can shift attention from constant thinking to the primal bodily sensation of needing breath. This process can create gaps between thoughts, bringing one into the present moment and serving as a natural form of mindfulness.
13 Actionable Insights
1. Prioritize Nasal Breathing
Consistently breathe through your nose, as it actively targets the diaphragm, improves oxygen uptake and delivery, and promotes relaxation, unlike mouth breathing which triggers a fight-or-flight response.
2. Slow Diaphragmatic Breathing
When feeling stressed, consciously slow down your breath and engage your diaphragm, as this sends calm signals to the brain, counteracting the fast, shallow breathing associated with stress.
3. Adopt 6 Breaths/Minute Cadence
Practice a specific breathing cadence of inhaling for 4 counts and exhaling for 6 counts to achieve six breaths per minute. This stimulates the vagus nerve, increases heart rate variability, and enhances baroreceptor sensitivity, improving resilience to stress.
4. Use Short Breath Holds for Resilience
If in general good health, perform small breath holds by taking a normal breath in and out through the nose, pinching the nose, holding for five seconds, then breathing normally for ten seconds before repeating. This acts as a mild stressor to improve the body’s adaptive capacity.
5. Pre-Performance Breathing Strategy
Before a performance or presentation, first slow down your breathing to achieve calm focus, then perform five strong breath holds (inhale/exhale through nose, pinch, walk until medium/strong air hunger, release, calm for a minute, repeat) to increase alertness and preparedness.
6. Breath Holds for Mindfulness
If you struggle with traditional meditation, try breath holds as a ‘default mindfulness’ technique, as the sensation of air hunger naturally stops thoughts and brings your attention into your body.
7. Self-Assess Breathing Habits
Regularly check your breathing: Are you breathing through your mouth, fast, shallow, or with audible gasps? Identifying dysfunctional patterns is the first step to improving your overall well-being.
8. Daily Conscious Breathing Ritual
Make a concerted effort to bring your attention to your breath, gently slowing it down, and integrate this conscious breathing practice into your everyday routine.
9. Cultivate Mental Solitude
Actively work on switching off constant thinking (‘head off’) to create gaps between thoughts and connect with your body, feelings, and intuition, rather than being perpetually stuck in your head.
10. Engage Sensory Awareness
Practice bringing your attention into the present moment by consciously engaging your senses—seeing, listening, feeling, smelling, and tasting—to fully relate to life instead of being lost in thought.
11. Breath Hold Safety Guidelines
Avoid breath-holding exercises if you have unstable high blood pressure, are pregnant, or have any serious medical complaints. Never practice breath-holding underwater.
12. Rethink ‘Deep Breath’ Advice
Disregard the common advice to ’take a deep breath’ when stressed if it means opening your mouth and lifting your chest, as this is often counterproductive and does not promote positive physiological change.
13. Share Podcast Episodes
Spread positivity and valuable information by sharing this episode with your friends and family.
6 Key Quotes
How well we breathe can really determine in a huge way the quality of our life, the quality of our performance, the quality of our relationships even.
Patrick McKeown
When the mind is stress, it affects our breathing. When our breathing is fast and shallow, it affects our stress.
Patrick McKeown
The information, take a deep breath when you're stressed, is absolute nonsense. It is based on nothing and it helps nobody.
Patrick McKeown
Breathing is information. The way you breathe is the way you live.
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee
We have been trained how to think, but we have not been trained how to stop thinking.
Patrick McKeown
If you feel a medium air hunger on that sort of deep primal level, if that continues for another minute or two, that's a threat to life, right? So you start to shut off everything else and you come right into your body.
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee
3 Protocols
Slow Breathing Cadence for Autonomic Nervous System Influence
Patrick McKeown- Gently slow down your breath, breathing through the nose.
- Adopt a cadence of breathing in for a count of 2, 3, 4.
- Breathe out for a count of 3, 4, 5, 6.
- Continue this pattern to change the respiratory rate from your normal spontaneous breathing down to six breaths per minute.
Gentle Breath Hold for Anxiety and Stress
Patrick McKeown- Take a normal breath in and out through the nose.
- Pinch the nose.
- Hold the breath for five seconds.
- Let go and breathe in through your nose.
- Breathe normally for 10 seconds.
- Repeat the sequence.
Breath Holds for Alertness and Preparedness (Pre-Presentation/Competition)
Patrick McKeown- Take a breath in through your nose, then a breath out through your nose.
- Pinch your nose.
- Walk around holding your breath until you feel a medium to strong air hunger.
- Let go and breathe through your nose, calming your breathing.
- Wait one minute.
- Repeat the sequence about five times.