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06. The Pause

The primary purpose of breathing is to take in oxygen, one of our most vital nutrients. When you are performing therapeutic breathing, creating an appropriate pause after each exhale is essential for optimizing your oxygen uptake into your cells. 

You may want to  establish your baseline control pause and CO2/O2 status beforehand. 

Your blood gas “habits” are established by your nervous system which adjusts and establishes a baseline point where it aims to keep the same CO2 level. Your nervous system perceives this to be a “safe” level and is constantly modifying your breath rate and volume to stay within this range. Therefore, as you start to increase your CO2 levels by either reducing your breathing rate and/or volume you may feel like you aren’t getting enough air. We refer to this as “air hunger” and it can make you feel a bit panicky. This signal is your nervous system’s way of trying to protect you and thus what keeps you ultimately in an over-breathing pattern. 

The goal with using a pause after your exhale is to prolong the amount of time between breaths, reduce your breathing rate and ultimately increase your CO2 levels in order for you to receive oxygen in your cells. However, it is critical that you do not push the pause to the extent that you perceive more than a mild amount of air hunger. If you experience more than mild air hunger you will trigger your nervous system to not adapt the new set points for your CO2 level. In this case less is better, not more!

Equipment needed: 

  • Chair with a book/block under your feet so that your knees are at or above your hips.

Instructions:

  1. Sit on a chair with a book/block under your feet so that your knees are at or above your hips.
  2. Round out your low back so that you roll back onto your sit bones. You will be slouching a little.  Do not arch your back or stick your chest out. 
  3. Reach your arms out in front of you by resting them on your legs.
  4. Inhale gently and slowly through your nose only.
  5. Purse/pucker your lips and slowly and completely exhale sensing your abdominals and front lower ribs folding into your belly. Get every last bit of air out of your lungs. 
  6. Pause until you sense a mild amount of air hunger. This is the cue for you to take your next inhale. Initially, you may not be able to tolerate a pause and already feel air hunger after your exhale. In this case, you will need to work up to the pause.
  7. Inhale as fully as you can without your neck engaging and reach forward with your arms. You should sense your mid back expanding. 
  8. Complete 3 sets of 5 cycles or for ~ 5 min.

Perform 2-3x/day and then as often as desired. *Unless otherwise directed

  • Optionally, use your testing technique to determine your optimal frequency and duration to perform.

 

Goals: Be able to feel the following with your neck relaxed

  1. No more than a mild amount of air hunger during the pause before you inhale. 
  2. Attempt to elongate the time it takes you to both exhale and inhale, the slower and longer the better. 
  3. In 2 weeks remeasure your control pause and respiratory rate to see how much they have improved.

 

 

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