Coherent Breathing and the Body Scan
Can you focus your life-breath until you become supple as a newborn child?
—Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
Babies are remarkably flexible. They can put a toe in their mouth almost as easily as a thumb. Not only their joints, but many other parts of their bodies are more elastic than those of adults. As we age, we become less elastic, more rigid, both physically and mentally. The walls of the blood vessels of a baby are far more elastic than those of an adult who may develop “hardening of the arteries” in old age. The responsiveness of a baby’s nervous system is also more flexible. It is this flexibility that enables infants and children to respond and adapt more rapidly to a greater range of environmental changes. When a person is highly adaptable, their system undergoes less wear and tear during the challenges and stresses of everyday life. Stress resilience is the capacity to recover and rebound from challenging events. Everyone has the capacity to increase their stress resilience. We just need to turn up the healing, recharging parts of the nervous system and tone down the overreactive part of the system. Breath practices enable us to fine-tune the stress response systems quickly whenever needed.
When an individual experiences more stress than their system can handle, particularly repeated or prolonged stress, there will be adverse effects on their emotional and physical health. Initially the person may just feel some tension, excess worry, and some difficulty falling asleep. This can progress to actual anxiety, obsessive worry, insomnia, daytime fatigue, irritability, and muscle aches. During this time, the stress-response system is doing its best to cope, possibly by releasing more cortisol, more adrenaline, more excitatory neurotransmitters, all of which burns more energy, releases more free radicals, and increases inflammation. However, if this goes on too long, the stress-response system may become exhausted, leading to a state of depression, chronic fatigue, overreactivity, feelings of being overwhelmed or helpless, and the progression of physical illnesses such as cardiovascular disease. It is possible to prevent or even reverse this progression by increasing the strength, balance, and resilience of the stress response system.
Coherent Breathing and Heart Rate Variability
In order to cultivate stress resilience, we begin with belly breathing and Coherent Breathing, techniques that shift the stress-response system into a healthier balance by activating the healing, recharging part of the nervous system while quieting the defensive, energy-burning parts. After you learn Coherent Breathing, we will teach you a relaxation practice that will also produce a noticeable increase in the flexibility of your cardiovascular system. The healing effects of Coherent Breathing are accelerated by the addition of techniques such as Resistance Breathing and Breath Moving. Most people are just too busy to spend hours on mind-body practices. We have combined three breath practices into one technique, which we call Total Breath, to maximize the impact and minimize the length of practice time.
The healing, calming part of the nervous system is the parasympathetic nervous system. The level of activity of this system can be measured using the natural fluctuations in heart rate that are linked to breathing; these fluctuations are used to calculate heart rate variability, or HRV. Changing the rate and pattern of breathing alters HRV, reflecting shifts in nervous system activity. We know this not only from scientific studies but also from trying it ourselves and observing its effects in our patients and students. You can do a simple test of this on yourself. Sit comfortably and place two fingers on your pulse, either on the side of your neck or on your wrist, whichever is easier. Now breathe slowly and deeply. Continue the slow deep breathing as you count your pulse. Count the number of beats when you breathe in, and compare it with the number of beats when you breathe out. What do you notice? If you found that your heart beats faster when you breathe in than when you breathe out, you are correct. You have discovered that every breath you take affects your heart rate. Heart rate variability not only responds to breathing in and breathing out, it also changes with the overall rate of breathing. For example, breathing slowly increases HRV. Is that good? Since changes in HRV are mediated through the autonomic nervous system, when the HRV is higher it means that the system adjusting the heart rate as you breathe in and out is responding more robustly and more flexibly to changes in breathing. When HRV is low, it means that either something is impaired or the system is aging and becoming more rigid. So the answer is yes, increasing HRV is very good, because having a higher HRV is associated with a healthier, more flexible cardiovascular system, a more balanced and resilient stress-response system, and overall greater health and longevity. In fact, scientists use HRV as a means of measuring the balance of the stress-response system and a balanced stress response means less wear and tear on the body. People with anxiety disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress, attention deficit disorder, excess aggression, cardiovascular disease, and irritable bowel syndrome have reduced HRV and dysfunctions in their stress response systems.1 After you learn Coherent Breathing, we will teach you a relaxation practice that will also demonstrate the increased flexibility of your cardiovascular system.
Coherent Breathing is a simple way to increase heart-rate variability and balance the stress-response systems. When scientists tested people at all possible breathing rates, they found that there is an ideal breath rate for each person, somewhere between three and a half and six breaths per minute for adults using equal time for breathing in and breathing out, a sweet spot where the HRV is maximized and the electrical rhythms of the heart, lungs, and brain become synchronized. Modern researchers have called this the resonant rate,2 but this phenomenon has been known for centuries by religious adepts in many cultures. For example, when Zen Buddhist monks enter deep meditation, called zazen, they breathe at six breaths per minute.3 The Italian cardiologist Luciano Bernardi discovered that traditional chanting of the Latin Hail Mary occurs at six breaths per minute.4 In chapter 7 you will learn more about Bernardi’s fascinating studies, in which resonant breathing enhanced high-altitude performance.
Coherent Breathing is breathing at a rate of five breaths per minute, around the middle of the resonant breathing rate range. Tracks 8 and 10 on the Healing Power of the Breath audio program that accompanies this book (www.shambhala.com/healingpowerofthebreath) will pace your breathing with a chime tone at five and six breaths per minute, respectively. We use these rates because they maximize HRV for most people. Breathing at a rate that is close to one’s ideal resonant rate can induce up to a tenfold improvement in HRV.5 For people who are over six feet tall, the ideal resonant rate is three to three and a half breaths per minute. For children under the age of ten, comfortable rates range between six and ten breaths per minute. Although most adolescents and adults can learn to breathe at five breaths per minute easily, some people have more difficulty due to physical issues such as asthma or obstructive lung disease. High levels of body tension can also impede attempts to slow down the breath. To make it easier for those who need more time to adjust to slow breathing, the Healing Power of the Breath audio program provides track 10 to pace breathing at six breaths per minute.
There are many ways to learn Coherent Breathing, including a growing array of commercial gadgets with visual cues. But we prefer a method that is relaxing and easy to use anytime, anywhere. Research shows that keeping the eyes closed and the hands still has significant effects on brain waves, indicating greater relaxing effects. When people look at a computer screen, move their eyes, or type on a keyboard, this activity can interfere with the attainment of optimal states of relaxation. This is one of the reasons why we use breathing. It can be done with eyes closed and hands at rest.
In learning breath practices the most important thing to remember is to relax. That may sound obvious, but it isn’t. As you are learning a new practice it may feel awkward or unnatural at first. You may begin to worry about whether you are doing it correctly, whether it is working, whether you need to try harder. All this thinking and worrying will just make you tense up. Self-judgment adds another layer of stress. The less you judge yourself, the easier it will be to relax and experience the benefits of Coherent Breathing. As you read this book, simply follow the instructions as best you can, give yourself time to get the hang of it, and sooner than you imagine, it will all go smoothly. Try not to evaluate or judge what is happening. Just go with it.
Breath Awareness, or Mindfulness of Breath
In the Anapanasati Sutra, an ancient Buddhist text, Buddha taught that awareness of breath was the beginning and the end of the road to enlightenment. The best way to become aware of your breath is to sit comfortably, close your mouth, and breathe through your nose. If you cannot breathe through your nose, you can still do all of the practices by breathing through your mouth with your lips slightly parted. Close your eyes if you are comfortable doing so. Feel the air as it moves in and out of your nose. Breathe slowly and deeply. Feel the air move down into your lungs, then back up and out again. Feel the rise and fall of your belly and chest, the movement of your ribs. Now you are becoming aware of your breath.
This part will be easier if you lie down. Make sure your neck and back are comfortable. Use whatever pillows or cushions you may need. Close your eyes, close your mouth, and breathe through your nose. Taking a deep breath in, relax your belly muscles so that your belly rises each time you breathe in. It is not necessary to actively push your belly out. Let the breath fill you, causing your belly to rise naturally, like a balloon filling with air. Then let your belly come down naturally as you breathe out. Repeat this slowly several times. All breathing should be slow and gentle without any straining. Take these deep belly breaths in and out several times as you relax the muscles of your face and let your whole body relax.
If you are not sure which way your belly is moving, place a small object on your navel and watch it move up and down as you breathe. You could use a shoe, a tissue box, or a favorite stuffed animal. When you are comfortable belly breathing with your eyes closed, move on to Coherent Breathing.
Coherent Breathing
You may sit or lie down in a comfortable, supported position. Close your eyes, close your mouth, and breathe through your nose. Focus your attention on feeling the breath move in and out through your nose and airways to your lungs. When other thoughts enter your mind, just let them float through and refocus your attention on the breathing sensations. Breathing should be slow, gentle, comfortable, not forced in any way.
When you are first learning to do Coherent Breathing at five breaths per minute (bpm), you will need to begin in steps to slow down your breath rate. Once you have learned to breathe at five breaths per minute, you will not need to use these starting steps. You will be able to just start the Healing Power of the Breath audio program and within a few breaths you will be in the correct rhythm. But the first few times, follow the beginning steps listed below.
If you find that trying to breathe at five bpm is too difficult, then as an alternative begin with six bpm using the last track on the audio program that accompanies this book. Once you have mastered breathing at six bpm, it will be easier for you to slow down to five bpm, or you may choose to stay with the faster rate.
If you are not able to slow down to six bpm, you may need to begin with Steve Elliot’s Slow Down! CD. (See the sidebar in the introduction.) This CD begins at your natural breath rate and very gradually slows your breathing down.
Beginning Steps for Coherent Breathing
Once you learn to breathe at five breaths per minute, you will not need to use these learning steps. You will be able to just start the Healing Power of the Breath audio program and within a few breaths you will be in the correct rhythm.
Play track 2 of the audio program. Continue breathing slowly as you listen first to Dr. Brown’s voice, and then to the two-bells chime. When you hear one chime tone, breathe in very slowly. When you hear the next chime tone, breathe out very slowly. If you find it difficult to sustain your breath from one tone to the next, it may be because you are breathing too forcefully, inhaling or exhaling the air too quickly. Try to move the air more slowly in and out. This will slow down your breathing and allow you to retain enough air to make it to the next tone. The more slowly and gently you breathe, the easier it will be.
Old tensions are stored in our systems. Feel where the tension is in your body. You may feel the tension in your belly, chest, throat, or neck. Let it go more and more with each out-breath. Imagine the breath as the wind moving through a forest of trees.
Continue the Coherent Breathing practice for five minutes. If it is going smoothly and easily, continue for ten minutes. However, if you are struggling, stop and rest. Relax a bit and then try again. Be patient and give yourself time to adjust to the breathing without judgment. If you are still having difficulties, read “How to Deal with Obstacles to Coherent Breathing,” below.
Most people enjoy the gentle sound of the chimes on the Healing Power of the Breath audio program. However, some people find the human voice to be more soothing. If you prefer to pace your breath using a voice recording, we recommend that you use the Respire-1 CD recorded by Stephen Elliot. It is available on his Web site, www.coherence.com. On the third track, voice commands are used to pace the breathing. People who have had head trauma often find the voice-led track to be more comfortable and calming. Another reason to use the Respire-1 CD is that the longer-running tracks are convenient for practicing twenty minutes. The Coherence Web site also allows for direct downloading onto iPods or MP3 players.
Daily Practice of Coherent Breathing
Start with five to ten minutes of Coherent Breathing once or twice a day, either lying down or sitting in a very comfortable chair, and gradually increase up to twenty minutes at a time. Most people notice benefits immediately. You will notice that your mind feels calmer, less filled with chatter; your body feels more relaxed. In the beginning, these good feelings may last only a short time after you get up and start doing things under the usual pressures. However, with practice over time, the benefits will last longer and longer, the sense of calm alertness will grow, and the feelings of tension will fade. You will get some benefits even if you practice irregularly, but if you practice nearly every day, your progress will be much faster and stronger. Once you master Coherent Breathing, you can go right into it without having to slow your breath by counting to four in steps, as we described above for beginners.
There are many ways to use Coherent Breathing:
1. Coherent Breathing for anxiety and trouble sleeping
Whenever you feel stressed or anxious, use Coherent Breathing. You will find that even five minutes can help you to stop worrying and relax. If you have difficulty falling asleep, just get into bed, turn on the chime track, turn out the light, and breathe yourself to sleep.
2. Coherent Breathing during daily activity
After three months of regular practice with your eyes closed, you may also begin to do Coherent Breathing with your eyes open. Just play the chime recording and breathe along as you putter around the house, commute on the train, or take a walk. Coherent Breathing is fine for walking, but if you are jogging or exercising, you will need to breathe at a faster rate. Eventually, you will learn how to maintain the Coherent Breathing rate on your own without the chime track. You can even breathe coherently while working on the computer, doing paperwork, taking tests, or any other anxiety-provoking activity. You can download the chime track onto an iPod or MP3 Player and take it wherever you go—for instance, if you are a commuter on the subway you can use it to relax and get ready for your day. You can even use Coherent Breathing at work. No one will know how slowly you breathe or how you manage to stay so calm when everyone else is freaking out. Eventually, you will be able to shift into Coherent Breathing even without the chime track. At that point, we suggest that you go in and out of Coherent Breathing all day long. It is very healthy and will help to further strengthen and balance your system.
Even after you have mastered Coherent Breathing, it is very beneficial to continue to do it in a focused way for the most powerful effects—try to do it with your eyes closed, using the Healing Power of the Breath audio program, for about twenty minutes once a day. If you have an anxiety disorder or depression, you will need to practice twenty minutes twice a day, as we will explain in chapter 4.
Your Anchor
Like ships at sea, we are pulled in different directions by the winds of our aspirations and the currents of our desires. The mind pursues excitement, stimulation, challenge, achievement, new ideas, and change. The body prefers comfort, pleasure, and the predictability of regular eating and sleeping schedules. What does the heart desire? Love, tenderness, intimacy, and security. How often do the mind, the body, and the heart all want the very same thing? Not often enough. Moreover, we are constantly subject to demands from the external environment, the needs of others. How do we keep our balance amidst so many demands and desires? One way is to use Coherent Breathing as your anchor. It will induce resonance between your heart and your brain rhythms. Know when you are away from it and return yourself to it. You will find it easier to unify your mind, body, and heart. Visit it every day to be in touch with your original self in both action and stillness—bringing mind, body, and spirit into alignment.
How to Deal with Obstacles to Coherent Breathing
Any time you try something new there may be a glitch. Here are some of the obstacles you may encounter and what to do about them.
Catching Your Breath
What if you find that your breath catches in the middle of the inhale? The catch in the breath probably comes from stress and tension. Don’t worry about it. Just continue the breathing practice. You will experience the benefits of Coherent Breathing with or without a catch in your breath. Eventually, when more of the tension has been released through the mind-body practices, you will be able to let go and inhale smoothly. Until then, practice the breathing without dwelling on this catch in your breath. When you are not thinking about it, it will vanish on its own.
Running Out of Breath
Suppose you have tried and tried, but you cannot breathe slowly enough to stay with the chimes. You seem to run out of breath. In the beginning, you may find that you come to the end of your inhale before the next chime. When this occurs, just let your breath pause as you wait for the chime, and then exhale slowly. With time and practice, you will learn to breathe more slowly and gently so that each breath will elongate to reach the chime tone. Remind yourself to breathe more gently and to move the air in and out more and more slowly.
Some people have enough breath to last through the exhale, but not enough to last through the inhale. Most people find it easier to prolong the exhale compared with the inhale, especially in the beginning. Novices tend to draw the air in too quickly. This usually corrects itself over time as you learn to inhale more gently, moving the air more slowly. Some people want to give and give, but have difficulty receiving. As you slow down the inhale, you will be allowing yourself to open up to receive all that the breath has to give you.
If Five Breaths per Minute Feels Too Fast
Some people feel that breathing at five breaths per minute is too fast, and they want to breathe more slowly. Individuals who are well-trained athletes, such as runners or swimmers, may feel this way. Yoga practitioners sometimes want to slow their breathing to four, three, or even two breaths per minute, as they have done during deep meditation.
If you prefer slower rates, that is fine while doing other practices such as deep meditation. However, it is important to learn Coherent Breathing at five breaths per minute and to stay with this rate for the practices we are teaching.
Why not slow down? Isn’t slower better? Not necessarily. It depends on your intention. If your goal is to achieve a deeply relaxed meditative state, perhaps one in which you may even let go of conscious awareness, then slower breathing may be appropriate. However, in that kind of state, you would not be able to work or perform tasks requiring attention. Also, slower rates lead to parasympathetic dominance rather than an optimal balance between the parasympathetic and the sympathetic systems.
The unique benefits of Coherent Breathing are attributable to the use of specific rates that induce a state of mental calm coupled with alert awareness, the ideal state for most activities at home, at work, or at play. We find that five breaths per minute is somewhat more calming compared to six breaths per minute, which maximally opens the capillaries to optimize blood flow and oxygenation of the extremities. When your goal is to improve physical performance, especially under conditions of low oxygen (such as high-altitude activities), six breaths per minute would be excellent preparation. Even if five breaths per minute feels too slow for you, unless you are over six feet tall, let the bell tones pace you for Coherent Breathing at five breaths per minute and follow the practices we describe. (As we noted earlier, if you are over six feet tall, your ideal resonant rate is in fact slower: three to three and a half breaths per minute.) In this way, you will discover the special benefits of Coherent Breathing for yourself.
Practicing When Your Nose Is Stuffed Up
If your nose is stuffed up, how can you do the Coherent Breathing? You may breathe through partly closed lips on both the inhale and the exhale until your nasal passages are clear. Breathing through an open mouth can make it a little more difficult to slow down your breath rate, and your throat may become dry and uncomfortable. If a stuffed-up nose is a frequent problem for you, as it often is with allergy sufferers, then you may use pursed lips while doing Coherent Breathing. In chapter 2 we will explain how to breathe correctly with pursed lips. You will be able to use pursed lips effectively on both the in-breath and the out-breath.
You can try some natural methods to clear your nasal passages. For example, tighten your hands into two fists. Press the right fist firmly into the left armpit and the left fist firmly into the right armpit for two minutes. By stimulating sensory nerves, pressure in the left armpit should clear the right nostril while pressure in the right armpit should clear the left nostril. Alternatively, you may need to use mentholated cough drops, an inhaler, a nasal spray, or some form of nasal irrigation, for instance with a neti pot.
Pesky Pets
How can you practice when your pets want attention? What to do with cats and dogs while you practice breathing depends on your pet’s temperament. For instance, if your dog tends to pester you, bark, nudge you for attention, or jump on you to play, it may be necessary for you to put your pet out of the room, as this behavior is too distracting. However, if you have a mellow dog who will lie still beside you, your dog can learn to wait quietly for hugs and praise at the end of your practice. Animals respond to human physical cues, including breathing. As you become more and more relaxed, your pets will also tend to become calmer.
No one wants to feel torn between doing their self-healing practices and attending to their family’s needs. Very young children may not be able to control their need to be close to you. For instance, one mother told us that her young children would lie close to her quietly during Coherent Breathing, and she believed that by feeling and hearing her breathe, they became calmer, too. Although parents are usually told to practice yoga in isolation, if you have children who don’t squirm too much you may be able to focus on your breath practices even with your children nearby. Otherwise, you may need to practice during their naptime or when someone else is available to occupy them.
Clear communication is one of the best ways to avoid negative interactions with your children when you want to do your practices. Enlist the support of your family by explaining that you need to do breathing practices every day in order to reduce stress and improve your energy, mood, and ability to handle your responsibilities, including everything you do for them. Help your family understand that this is your special time and that you are not to be disturbed. Assist them in planning activities to occupy their time while you are practicing. Your children will be the first to sense that you are calmer, less irritable, more patient, and more responsive to them. Once they see the connection between having a calmer, happier, gentler parent and the breathing practice, they will become your most ardent supporters. They may even ask you to teach them some of the techniques. Dr. Gerbarg’s teenage son once teased her about the breathing practices, saying, “Mom, you are so chill now. I bet I could ask you for a Porsche and you would say yes.” Children can find ways to help parents do their practices, as the following illustrates.
“My mommy can’t come to the phone until she stops breathing.”
Finding a Time to Breathe
Sometimes it isn’t easy to find time to breath during a busy day. When is the best time of day to do breathing practices? Any time you can do the breathing practice is good—morning practice refreshes and calms; evening practice recharges and relaxes for sleep. For instance, one of our patients, Alison, complained of feeling tired all day, stressed out at work, and “crabby” when she got home at night. She was making more mistakes at work and worried about losing her job. We taught her Coherent Breathing during an office appointment, and she was able to experience the relaxing and refreshing effects.
Even though Alison realized that the breath practices worked, she did not want to get up twenty minutes earlier to make time for morning breath practice. She compromised, agreeing to practice for ten minutes in the morning and another ten minutes at the end of the day for one week. She discovered that the morning practice refreshed her and prevented fatigue better than the ten minutes of sleep she had given up. Also, since she was more relaxed throughout the day, she was able to get more work done with better attention to details, fewer mistakes, and smoother interactions with coworkers. Instead of leaving work feeling defeated at the end of the day, she found herself coming home feeling good about what she had accomplished and ready to enjoy her family. Alison’s family meant a great deal to her. By the end of the first month she chose to make the breathing practice part of her permanent morning routine and miraculously she found twenty minutes in which to do it.
Sleeping When You Want to Stay Awake
You may become so relaxed that you fall asleep during the breathing practices, even when you want to stay awake. This probably means that you are not getting enough sleep at night. When you don’t have to rush off to work and you have the time, it is best to allow yourself this extra rest. Your system may need it. However, when you don’t have the time to sleep, you may need to do the breath practices sitting up and using Breath Moving (see chapter 3) to stay awake.
We have seen people with severe sleep deprivation fall asleep during Coherent Breathing, even while sitting up, and sometimes even snoring loudly. If this occurs repeatedly it may be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition that requires medical evaluation. Obstructive sleep apnea can be a cause of fatigue, falling asleep while driving, obesity, and pulmonary hypertension.
Feeling Unsafe
Among the hundreds of people who attend our workshops, there are usually some who are survivors of severe abuse or trauma. A person who grows up in an unsafe, abusive environment can have much in common with a war veteran returning from multiple tours of duty—they never feel safe. One of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder is hypervigilance, meaning a state of always watching out for danger. As a result, the traumatized person may be unable to close his or her eyes when other people are around.
Usually one of us leads our Breath~Body~Mind workshops while the other walks quietly around the room assisting participants who need help with the practices. During one morning workshop, we noticed Bianca, a slim, dark-haired woman sitting bolt upright with her eyes wide open. Dr. Gerbarg asked if she would feel comfortable closing her eyes while learning breath practices. She shook her head no. Bianca never closed her eyes when there were people around. Having grown up in an abusive home, Bianca never felt safe. She suffered from hypervigilance, and she constantly scanned her surroundings for possible threats. Rather than pressure Bianca to close her eyes, Dr. Gerbarg gently suggested that she try to half-close her eyes so that she could focus her attention inward and notice her more subtle experiences. Six months later, Bianca returned to take another workshop. She reported that she had learned to use Coherent Breathing with Resistance Breathing to calm herself whenever feelings of panic arose. Another sign of progress was that during her second workshop she was able to breathe with her eyes completely closed.
The More the Merrier: The Family That Breathes Together . . .
Candace, a mother of two girls, had an eleven-year-old daughter who wanted to do the breathing with her. We advised her that children over the age of ten can usually learn breath practice with a parent, but in the beginning they should only do it for a few minutes or for as long as their natural attention span allows. It is not helpful to insist that a child sit still and do breath practices for longer periods of time. Frustration and restlessness will defeat the purpose of the practice. If a child maintains an interest, they can do it for longer periods of time, but this should be determined by how they feel.
“What about my six-year-old daughter?” Candace asked. We explained that a younger child needs a faster breath rate than an adult. For children between the ages of five and ten, the simplest method of breath practice is to have them breathe at a rate of ten breaths per minute. For this rate, they do one entire breath, breathing in and breathing out, after each bell tone. In other words, at the sound of each chime they inhale and exhale before the next bell. This paces the child’s breathing rhythm to ten breaths per minute while the parent is doing five breaths per minute. A younger child should only do this for a few minutes or for as long as her natural attention span allows. Breathing practices can be especially beneficial for children and adults with attention deficit hyperactivity. In our book, Non-Drug Treatments for ADHD, we describe breathing and other mind-body practices for ADHD.
How to Slow Down
Suppose you have really tried to do Coherent Breathing at five breaths per minute and even at six breaths per minute, but you just cannot slow your breath down. You feel too short of breath to go that slowly. Do not get discouraged. You simply need to slow your breathing down more gradually. Stephen Elliot’s Slow Down! CD will help you to do this more comfortably. You may order the CD on his Web site, www.coherence.com, and as you listen to the CD you can follow the “Specific Instructions for Slowing Down” below.
The Slow Down! CD contains sixteen consecutive breathing rhythms, ranging from twenty breaths per minute to five breaths per minute. Each recording consists of a high note followed by a low note that repeats over and over again for the duration of the track. We suggest inhaling on the high note and exhaling on the low note. Toward the end of each note, you hear a chime. The chime signals that the note is about to end and that a change from inhalation to exhalation or from exhalation to inhalation is nearing.
Specific Instructions for Slowing Down
Step 1: Before you begin, sit comfortably for a moment. With a watch or clock, count the number of times you normally inhale or exhale per minute. Try not to change your current breathing pattern, just count the number of inhalations or exhalations. Record this number. We’ll call it our “current breathing rate.”
Step 2: Turn on the Slow Down! CD. Find the track that corresponds to your current breathing rate—for example, fifteen breaths per minute, and practice breathing at this rate for the duration of the track, about four minutes. This helps to develop a smooth, rhythmic breathing cycle at your current breathing rate.
Step 3: When that track ends, it will automatically step to the next track. When it does, begin inhaling and exhaling at this lower rate for the duration of this next track. Continue in this way for two or three tracks—for example, practicing at fifteen, fourteen, and thirteen breaths per minute.
Step 4: The next day, begin at your current breathing rate minus one, again practicing for two or three tracks—for example, fourteen, thirteen, and twelve breaths per minute. Continue in this way, with the ultimate goal of comfortably reaching five breaths per minute. Once you do, try to breathe at five breaths per minute all the time, circumstances permitting.
Here is an example of how to slow your breathing down if your current breathing rate is eighteen breaths per minute.
1. Day 1 Use tracks at eighteen, seventeen, and sixteen breaths per minute.
2. Day 2 Use tracks at seventeen, sixteen, and fifteen breaths per minute.
3. Day 3 Use tracks at sixteen, fifteen, and fourteen breaths per minute.
4. Day 4 Use tracks at fifteen, fourteen, and thirteen breaths per minute.
Continue to reduce the breath rate by one breath per minute each day until you are able to do five or six breaths per minute comfortably. If you are not able to get all the way down to five breaths per minute because of physical limitations, that is OK. For example, if your lowest possible breath rate is eight breaths per minute, you will still succeed in improving the balance of your stress-response system. Over time, with daily practice, you will probably become able to further reduce your breathing rate.
Body Scan Relaxation
Now that you are adept at Coherent Breathing, you’re ready to move on to the body scan. At the completion of the breath practices, it is best not to immediately jump up and start dashing about doing things. In order to allow the practice to settle deeply into your system and to consolidate its beneficial effects, we advise ending with a brief relaxation period. You may choose to do any form of relaxation you like, such as meditation, visualization, or your own variation of the body scan. Some people find that this is an ideal time for deep prayer, because the mind is clear and the heart and spirit are especially open after the breathing practice. But first we would like to guide you through a basic body scan, using the Healing Power of the Breath audio program. The instructions for doing a basic body scan are as follows.
Basic Body Scan
After ten minutes of Coherent Breathing, lie down and play track 8.
Closing your eyes and your mouth, breathe slowly and gently in the Coherent Breathing rhythm.
Continuing the Coherent Breathing and keeping your body still, direct your attention to the soles of your feet.
Let your attention linger on the soles of your feet for a few moments.
Direct your attention to the tops of your feet.
Let your attention linger on the tops of your feet for a few moments.
Direct your attention to your ankles.
Let your attention linger on your ankles.
Direct your attention to your knees.
Let your attention linger on your knees.
Direct your attention to your hips.
Let your attention linger on your hips.
Direct your attention to your belly.
Let your attention linger on your belly.
Direct your attention to your chest.
Let your attention linger on your chest.
Direct your attention to your hands.
Let your attention linger on your hands.
Direct your attention to the crooks of your arms, the inside of your elbow where it bends.
Let your attention linger on the crooks of your arms.
Direct your attention to your neck.
Let your attention linger on your neck.
Direct your attention to your face.
Let your attention linger on your face.
Direct your attention to your head.
Let your attention linger on your head.
Direct your attention to your whole body.
Let your attention linger on your whole body.
Now just relax and breathe naturally. Roll onto your right side and rest a few minutes.
Notice how you feel.
Body Scan with Pulse Awareness
Once you are able to do Coherent Breathing for fifteen minutes, you will be ready to do a body scan relaxation process and test the flexibility of your circulatory system. There are many kinds of body scans. In general, they involve focusing your attention on different parts of the body, usually starting with the feet and moving up to the head. This body scan is a little different in that it asks you to focus your attention on your pulse. For this you will want to be lying down comfortably. When you focus your attention on each location, stay with it there for at least ten seconds before moving to the next spot. If you have more time to practice, you can linger at each spot a bit longer, perhaps for thirty seconds. It is better not to distract your mind with counting the seconds. Focus your attention on the pulse. Take the time to read this section all the way through before beginning this practice.
Pulse Body Scan
Begin by turning on the Coherent Breathing track (track 2 on the audio program), and then lie down.
Closing your eyes and your mouth, breathe slowly and gently in the Coherent Breathing rhythm for about fifteen minutes.
Continuing the Coherent Breathing and keeping your body still, direct your attention to the outside edge of your toes. Is it possible to feel your pulse there? Feel the pulse for at least ten seconds at each location.
Can you feel your pulse at your ankle?
Is it possible to feel your pulse behind your knee?
Can you feel your pulse where your legs join your body?
Is it possible to feel your pulse in your belly?
Can you feel your pulse in your chest?
Is it possible to feel your pulse in the tips and sides of your fingers?
Can you feel your pulse in the crook of your arm, the inside of your elbow where it bends?
Is it possible to feel your pulse in your neck, in your throat?
Can you feel your pulse in the lips?
Is it possible to feel your pulse at your temples, just beyond the tips of your eyebrows?
Now just relax and breathe naturally. Roll onto your right side and rest a few minutes. Notice how you feel.
How is it possible to feel the pulse in so many places where you never felt it before? You are able to feel the pulse because Coherent Breathing increases the elasticity of your blood vessels and the amplitude of the pulse wave. As the walls of the blood vessels become more flexible, they expand (balloon out) more with each pulse wave. So, as the blood flows through the arteries, instead of a little blip, it creates a palpable pulse. Now you are seeing for yourself one of the ways that Coherent Breathing increases the flexibility of your vascular system.
If you cannot feel your pulse in all these places, don’t worry about it. With a little more practice, as you increase your heart rate variability, you will eventually be able to feel your pulse in many places. For now, just direct your attention to the different parts of your body, even if you cannot feel the pulse there. Just the act of directing the attention enhances the relaxing effect of the body scan.
As you continue to work on Coherent Breathing and doing the body scan in your day-to-day life, you will begin to feel recharged, rejuvenated, and more in harmony with your emotions. Essentially, you are taking the time to reconnect with your body in a gentler, more healing way. The breathing will seamlessly bring you back to the natural mental and emotional flexibility you had as a child, but with the direction and purpose you have as an adult. Over time, you may find that you feel calmer, more relaxed, and more aware of your body, your breath, and your mind.