Deep Breathing Exercises to Boost Your Immune System
Anneliese Kvashay
Between overloaded schedules, negative news cycles, and a boss that calls every 15 minutes, there’s plenty of reasons why you may be feeling stressed in today’s world.
Unfortunately, modern-day pressures are the new norm — and all that stress can be dangerous.
The stress hormone corticosteroid (cortisol) suppresses the immune system by reducing your number of white blood cells, leaving you more vulnerable to viruses and chronic disease.
Headaches, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, infectious illnesses (like the flu), and hormone disruption are just a few of the illnesses that have been linked to stress (Razali Salleh, 2008).
Luckily, there’s an easy way to reduce or even eliminate the effects of stress before they turn serious.
Deep breathing exercises are your secret weapon to fighting off the negative effects that stress can have on your immune system.
As a bonus, you can practice them without ever leaving your couch.
Not all breaths are created equal.
Yogis have said it for centuries. Deep, focused breathing is key to a healthy mind and body.
While normal, “shallow” breaths use only part of your full lung capacity — deep, cleansing breaths can guide air into the deepest part of your lungs, relax tense muscles, and signal your nervous system to lower dangerous stress hormones.
Deep breathing exercises improve your immunity by:
Lowering your blood pressure
Clearing out mucus and debris from your respiratory tract
Lowering cortisol in your body
Boosting arterial blood flow
Improving your body’s autonomic (the subconscious, automatic function) response to stress
Belly Breathing
Diaphragmatic breathing — a.k.a. belly breathing, is a simple technique that helps pull air deep into your lungs so that they expand to their full capacity.
The technique itself is simple. But there’s a learning curve —especially if you’re used to sucking in your stomach.
It can feel a bit strange at first, but belly breathing a great technique to have in your tool belt. When you get it right, you will feel it. Just a few full belly breaths will guide your body into a state of deep relaxation.
There are several known benefits to belly breathing. It relaxes your muscles, alleviates stress, and improves digestion. It also increases blood oxygen levels, which is important when fighting off respiratory illness (West, 2012).
Here’s how to do it:
Lie on your back on a flat surface with bent knees
Place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly just below your rib cage.
Take a deep, slow breath in through your nose, feeling the breath travel down all the down way into your belly. You should feel your belly expanding outward - the hand on your belly should rise while the hand on your chest remains still.
As you exhale, let your belly fall inward as your abdominal muscles tighten. Now the hand on your belly should move downward towards its original position.
Once you get the technique down you don’t need to use your hands as guidance. You can do these from anywhere.
Photo by Victoria Gloria
The Wim Hof Method
Wim Hof, a.k.a. “The Iceman” is a real-life superhero who uses deep breathing methods to achieve extraordinary feats —like climbing Mount Everest in shorts.
Hof believes that focused breathing allows him to control his body’s response to illness — something previously thought impossible.
And he has proof to back it up.
In his most famous experiment, Hoff was voluntarily injected with E Coli endotoxin — a bacteria which causes flu-like symptoms like vomiting and fever. He had none. And was even able to successfully repeat the experiment with a group of volunteers who practiced his deep breathing methods (Cox, Van Eijk, et. al, 2014).
Wim Hof breathing is a powerful technique to incorporate into your routine if you're looking to boost immunity.
Here’s how to do it:
Sit or lie down in a comfortable position.
Take in a quick, deep breath through your nose.
Exhale passively through your mouth.
Repeat 30x.
Take one deep breath in and exhale fully until lungs are empty.
Hold your breath for as long as you can.
Once you can no longer hold your breath, inhale as deeply as you can and hold for 15 seconds.
Exhale fully.
Wim Hof breathing is best practiced first thing in the morning or at last thing at night. Try completing a couple of rounds a day, then work your way up. The exercises can be done on their own or as part of the full Wim Hof Method — which includes doing push-ups and taking ice-cold showers (Eek!). You can find the full routine on Wim Hof’s on his popular app: Wim Hof Method.
Photo by Victoria Gloria
Vagus Nerve Breathing
The Vagus stimulation technique is great if you’re suffering from extreme anxiety, panic attacks, or stress. Your vagus nerve runs along the back of your neck and thorax and connects to your abdomen. It controls your “fight or flight” response and regulates sleep and digestion cycles. (Breit, Kupferberg, Rogler & Hasler, 2018).
Stimulating the vagus nerve is a simple and effective way to lower your body’s stress levels. Singing, chanting, and humming are all effective ways to stimulate the vagus nerve. In fact, sound-vibration techniques have been practiced for centuries by yogis and Buddhists for that very purpose.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation is best done before bed. It will help bring your mind and body into a state of deep relaxation.
Here’s how to do it:
Find a place where you can relax and lie down in a comfortable position.
Take a slow breath in through your nose for a count of four.
Hold your breath for a count of two.
Exhale slowly through your nose while producing a humming sound. Allow the exhale to feel soft and steady.
You can experiment with different rhythms and pitches, eventually lengthening the duration of your humming exhale.
If it feels natural, allow your top and bottom teeth to vibrate slightly as you exhale while humming.
A guided version of this technique can be found here.
The takeaway.
Without much effort, you can improve your immune function, help protect yourself against chronic disease, and regulate your body’s response to stress.
Deep breathing exercises are an important step in your journey towards wellness and should be practiced as part of a larger routine. Get in touch with one of our holistic practitioners today to plan your wellness routine and target chronic health issues at their root. And remember to relax, and breathe.
References
Mohd. Razali Salleh (2008) Life Event, Stress and Illness, Malaysia J Medical Sci., 15 (4): 9-18.
James West (2012) Effects of Slow Deep Breathing at High Altitude on Oxygen Saturation, Pulmonary and Systemic Hemodynamics, PLoS One. 7 (11): e49074.
Matthijs Kox & Lucas T. van Eijk et. al (2014) Voluntary activation of the sympathetic nervous system and attenuation of the innate immune response in humans, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 0027-8424.
Breit, Kupferberg, Rogler & Hasler (2018) Vagus Nerve as Modulator of the Brain–Gut Axis in Psychiatric and Inflammatory Disorders, Frontiers in Psychiatry 9-44.
Anneliese Kvashay is a Holistic Health, Beauty, and Wellness Copywriter on a mission to help people adopt healthier, happier lifestyles. Anneliese draws on her unique background in natural medicine and human rights to create well-researched, creative copy for like-minded entrepreneurs.