In this video, we're going to do alternate nostril breathing which is another way of manipulating our flow of respiration. A very important part of respiration that we've talked about already is how we can increase the surface area of oxygen exchange in the lungs. But there's another thing that you want to talk about, which is very important, which is respiratory rate. Yes. So, respiratory rate is affected by a number of different things. One thing that we probably have all seen and felt is stress. So stress, we've been talking about over and over again in physiology, but stress can cause us to sometimes hold our breath or to breathe very quickly, and shallow quick breathing can actually be detrimental to oxygen flowing to our tissues, to cell respiration happening efficiently, to maximizing energy production. Respiratory rate can of course be affected by cardiac output. We've all probably experienced this. If you go for a run, you breathe heavily. That again is your body's way of trying to get more oxygen to make more energy, and it's also a way to get rid of more carbon dioxide. Acidotic blood or having a blood that has a low pH or is acidotic can also increase respiratory rate or shallow breathing because your body is trying to get rid of carbon dioxide and get rid of some of the acid. So being aware of our respiratory rate and actually spending some time to make it more efficient, to experiment with it, and to maximize oxygen to our tissues is a really important part of physiological health. Our respiratory control centers are in the brain, particularly in the brain stem. So by doing manipulation of the breath in particular ways, we can stimulate the respiratory centers in the brain and then control all the other functions you are speaking about. So what the [inaudible] is used to do was something called alternate nostril breathing. We're going to do a very simple one today. You can either sit on the floor like Ali is or you can sit on a block. I'll demonstrate by putting one underneath. This is just to raise my hips a little higher than my knees to keep my spine straight. You can also do this sitting in a chair or on your couch. You don't want to be too slouched over, you want to be able to hold your spine nicely straight. We're going to begin by breathing five times through our left nostril, and then we're going to breathe five times through the right nostril. Our brain functions and are the hemispheres of our brain are contralateral with our nostrils. So in the same way that the right hemisphere of the brain is controlling the left side of the body and the left hemisphere of the brain is controlling the right-hand side of the body, the activities of the right hemisphere are being expressed through the left nostril, and the left hemisphere through the right nostril. So, by breathing just through the left side, we're stimulating the right hemisphere. By breathing through the right side, we're stimulating the left hemisphere. All of this stimulation is helpful for not only balancing brain function and signaling the brain, but also for helping to access the respiratory centers as well. There are studies that are included in the resource section, which discuss the benefits that have been shown from single nostril breathing. So you're goig to take your right thumb, you're going to place it against your right nostril. You're not going to put your finger in your nostrils, you're going to place it on top of the nostril. There's a little part of your nose, right in this curvature here where you feel your thumb sink in right before the tip of the nose. That's the area that you're going to press into. So press the thumb against that part of the nose, you can keep all your fingers open if you want or you can make a fist, or you can extend two fingers like this classically done. You're going to breathe through your left side five times at your own pace, inhaling and exhaling. Now, as Ali does this, I'll talk a little more. If you find that your left nostril is completely blocked and you can't breed, don't hold your right nostril down too hard. Let little air go through the right nostril as well. Otherwise, you won't be able to breathe at all. After you finish five breaths, you can rest your hand down on the knee. So remember if there's totally included in the nostril, keep a little breath going through the right side. Inhale and exhale one time, then you're going to take the ring finger of your right hand, and you're going to press it against your left nostril, and you're going to breathe five times through the right side, inhaling and exhaling. If your right side is completely occluded or blocked, keep a little bit of space on the left side so some air passes through. That will actually encourage the right side to open a little bit as you breath. Five slow even breaths, and after you've completed the five, you can put your hand back down on knee. Breathe through both nostrils one time. So, which side was easier for you to breathe on? Left. The left side was easier. Okay. So this changes every hour and a half. So every hour and a half to three hours, the dominance changes from side to side, which is reflected in atmospheric dominance of design. We're going to try that one more time, and what we're going to do this time, is you're going to start on the side which is more open. So you're left was more open. If you're right was more open, I want you to start this time on your right side do five breaths. Then after, put your hand down, take one breath, and then switch to the other side. Okay, so my right side was more open, and that's because I've been talking a lot. So I'm a little bit more logically activated right now. So I'm going to start on my right side. Because there's like super calm and you're like everything is intuitive and holistic for you and you see the whole separate everything off into the parts like I do all the time, your left nostril is more open. [inaudible]. Okay, here we go. Five times on your own. If you're breathing through the right side, you should be using your right ring finger. If you're breathing through the left side, you should be using your right thumb. Inhaling and exhaling just through one side. After five breaths, the hand goes on the knee, read one full breath inhaling and exhaling through both, and then changing sides. I'm going to be doing on my left now with my thumb on my nose. You can apply a strong enough pressure, so that the breath becomes even in the spine as straight. After five, you can exhale the hand down. Breathe one breath, okay. On that time, did you find when you breathe through your side that was more blocked, was it a little more open? A little more. Just slightly more. Yes. They're very slightly. If you do that for longer periods of time, say you do it for one to three minutes, you might find that the nostrils begin to balance themselves out. We start very slow, we just did five breaths. You can do five breaths per week or so and then when you feel comfortable and there's no strain. build it up to seven and even 10. You can keep going until you're breathing for one or two or three minutes through each side. But as you increase, it always needs to be comfortable. There should be no stress, no attention, whatsoever, and its balancing for respiratory rate, it's balancing for the nervous system, but you don't want to create any tension. Otherwise, you can throw your nervous system off, balance a little bit, and get more stress from doing it. That you definitely don't want to do. Definitely. Okay, so this is very calming. It's good for respiratory pattern, it's good for the nervous system. If anytime during the day you feel a little bit stressed out or you feel that you can't focus, take five minutes out of the day. Just sit and breathe the few slow deep breaths, do some single nostril breathing for a little while, and then go back to work and see how your mental status.
