Breathing may feel like the most natural thing in the world. However, there is a right way to breathe and a wrong way too. If you have no clue what we’re talking about, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we cover the science behind breathing and your brain.
The importance of learning to breathe
From the moment you were born, you have been breathing. Every second that you are alive in this physical body, you will be breathing. While you may never have given any thought to how this process works, understanding the power of breath is vital to you.
It is important to learn how to breathe properly. This is not something that we should do automatically or, indeed, take for granted. When you move along your Kundalini Yoga journey, you will start to learn how to breathe deeply and reap the rewards it offers.
How breathing deeply affects your brain
The concept of breathing and the brain being connected is not just a theory. Researchers from Northwestern University have recently studied this topic in-depth. The team found that deep and rhythmic breathing enhances both emotional judgments and memory recall.
“One of the major findings in this study is that there is a dramatic difference in brain activity in the amygdala and hippocampus during inhalation compared with exhalation,” said Christina Zelano, assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
The reason for this change is that breathing deeply can stimulate a unique part of your brain. “When you breathe in, we discovered you are stimulating neurons in the olfactory cortex, amygdala and hippocampus, all across the limbic system,” she continued.
While breathing slowly and in a neat rhythm can help you take control of your emotions, shallow breathing has the opposite effect. As Christina Zelano explained, when we are anxious or panicky, the way that we breathe has a direct impact on our feelings.
“If you are in a panic state, your breathing rhythm becomes faster,” she said. “As a result you’ll spend proportionally more time inhaling than when in a calm state. Thus, our body’s innate response to fear with faster breathing could have a positive impact on brain function and result in faster response times to dangerous stimuli in the environment.”
Start your pranayama journey now!
You may not have learned how to master your breathwork. However, this is where the practice of Kundalini Yoga comes into play. A central part of the experience is learning pranayama, or breathwork. There are plenty of activities and sets that are ideal for beginners. Wherever you happen to be on your journey, you can use these tools.
Ready to give it a go for yourself? Find a quiet space in which you can engage in breathwork. You should put down a yoga mat so that you are comfortable and ensure that there are no distractions. When you have done all of the above, take a moment to find your center. You can then follow the instructions in one of our many pranayama guides.
