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Nose breathing has been shown to influence the brain's processing of fear, as suggested by several neuroscience studies. Here are the key ways in which nose breathing impacts the brain's fear processing:
Olfactory Pathway Activation: Breathing through the nose activates the olfactory system, which directly connects to the brain's limbic system, including the amygdala, a region crucial for processing emotions, including fear. This activation can modulate the neural circuits involved in fear responses.
Rhythmic Breathing: The rhythm of nasal breathing can synchronize brain waves, particularly in the olfactory cortex and related areas. This synchronization can affect emotional processing and potentially reduce anxiety and fear responses.
Enhanced Cognitive Function: Nose breathing is associated with better cognitive function and emotional regulation. Proper oxygenation and the calming effect of rhythmic nasal breathing can help the brain manage stress and fear more effectively.
Impact on Autonomic Nervous System: Nose breathing can influence the autonomic nervous system, promoting a parasympathetic (rest and digest) response. This can counteract the sympathetic (fight or flight) response, helping to reduce fear and anxiety levels.
These insights suggest that nasal breathing can significantly modulate fear and anxiety, highlighting the importance of this simple yet effective practice in emotional regulation.
It’s been a while since I have written; with everything going on in the world, I didn’t want to add to the noise. Additionally, I felt overwhelmed with the constant news updates. As an American, you were either afraid of Trump being in office, out of office, or were afraid to elect the wrong guy. The point is that you were anxious either way. I imagine most of us spent our 2020 preoccupied with what would happen next. And a lot happened!
We all coped in the only way we knew how, mine was to pace.
As one of my friends so eloquently put it, we have been riding a rollercoaster of emotions. But it wasn’t always bad. Believe it or not, my relationships became better. I got closer to friends. During this pandemic, all of us were forced to wage which friendship was worth dying for, as dramatic as it sounds. The lucky got to stay at home and watch everything that was happening from our computers or T.V., while “essential workers” were honored from a safe distance, our balconies.
I am not going to recap everything that happened because we all lived through it. I never felt as close a comradery for my fellow humans as I do now. I guess it took a pandemic for all of us to realize that we are one species and that we can die off at any moment.
I don’t know if any of you ever played that game “Pandemic”?
I did! It had not occurred to me that I would ever have to live through one. I feel terrible about being excited seeing the whole map turn red (that means the whole world had been infected and close to dying). I guess this is my Karma. Either way, this post is only to say, “Hello! I am still alive.” Also, it’s an excuse to embed a ton of gifs because I learned how to do it.
The way we feel about ourselves dictates how we process our reality. According to the HRSA, Health Resources & Service Administration;
“Two in five Americans report that they sometimes or always feel their social relationships are not meaningful, and one in five say they feel lonely or socially isolated. The lack of connection can have life-threatening consequences, said Brigham Young University professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad, who testified before the U.S. Senate in April 2017 that the problem is structural as well as psychological.”
Bonds are important because apart from making us feel like kids again, bonds reduce the risk of mortality and help to speed up recovery when we are ill and acts as a buffer for developing certain diseases. So how do we open up ourselves to the gift of friendship?
We train ourselves to withhold judgment not only with others but with ourselves too.
To judge or not to Judge? It’s not even a question. We all judge. It keeps us safe from obscure situations. Being able to judge circumstances is a survival instinct that humans carry and it serves us well, but when it comes to making connections it can create barriers for us.
When I was younger I was not as social as I am now. I lived a rather preoccupied life with lots of emotional baggage and because of this, I missed many opportunities to get to know most of my peers. That’s something that I regret. I realized with maturity and inner work that I was living with this filter which made me feel rejected and different from others. Because I felt this way, others perceived me as such. I held a divisive attitude and my peers mirrored this back to me completing the self-fulfilling prophecy.
After much contemplation, I saw that it wasn’t that my peers were rejecting me, it was I who was rejecting them. However, at the time, I took their rejection as confirmation of my strongly held beliefs.
I decided to proactively work on this and the crucial step that I took was to work on the most important relationship I could have. The relationship with myself.
You see, how you feel about yourself matters. It matters tremendously!
This is what it means when people say that you create your reality. Your thoughts influence your emotions which influence your actions and then the world mirrors this back to you. It’s a cause and effect.
So ask yourself what are some strongly held beliefs that you carry and are they serving you well? If there are some beliefs that you would rather toss out, trash them. Nothing is keeping you from finding beliefs that support the experiences you want to have.
During yoga class, we did a backward bend. Upon returning to a sitting position, I felt a whirlwind of sensations, it was very uncomfortable and disorienting. While I was feeling terrible and dwelling on the negative sensation, the yoga instructor said to the class, “Just because we are uncomfortable we don’t have to attach suffering to it.” This was the golden nugget of wisdom!
“ Just because we are uncomfortable we don’t have to attach suffering to it.”
It will be uncomfortable to shift strongly held beliefs, but along with this discomfort there need not be suffering. As we assimilate the beliefs that seemed so foreign to us they eventually will become second nature.
