Do you sigh often or feel like someone is sitting on your chest when you get stressed? Are heart burn or constipation part of your daily existence? Did you know that taking deeper breaths can actually not just help but relieve these symptoms?
In the book Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda says, “Many illustrations could be given of the mathematical relationship between man’s respiratory rate and the variations in his states of consciousness. A person whose attention is wholly engrossed, as in following some closely knit intellectual argument, or in attempting some delicate or difficult physical feat, automatically breathes very slowly. Fixity of attention depends on slow breathing; quick or uneven breaths are an inevitable accompaniment of harmful emotional states: fear, lust, anger. The restless monkey breathes at the rate of 32 times a minute, in contrast to man’s average of 18 times. The elephant, tortoise, snake and other animals noted for their longevity have a respiratory rate which is less than man’s. The tortoise, for instance, who may attain the age of 300 years, breathes only 4 times per minute.”
Since the first time I heard someone mention that tortoises only breathe four times a minute and they can live to be hundreds of years old, I have been fascinated with the symbolism. If we take away the obvious differences in respiratory needs of humans and tortoises and we simply look at the message, slowing down our respiratory rate can add years to our life. If we slow down our rate of breathing we will naturally take a deeper breath. 
Try this little experiment, for the next minute breathe normally and count how many times you take a complete breath, inhale and exhale. Write down your number. Now focus on taking long slow inhales and long slow exhales for the next minute. See how many breaths you took during that time. Finally go back to breathing at your “normal” rate and count one more time. In most people after taking a minute of deep breaths their rate of breathing naturally slows. If your rate of breathing was still unchanged don’t worry, you just need to practice more deep breathing techniques.
In Chinese medicine when we are stressed it has an energetic effect on our liver. The liver is considered the wood element because it is flexible but doesn’t break. When we are stressed we are unable to nourish the liver energetically with Qi and blood. This is what you will often here called Liver Qi Stagnation, by an acupuncturist. Physiologically when the liver is “congested” energetically then it pulls down on the ligaments that attach the liver to the diaphragm.
The diaphragm is a muscle that contracts when breathing to increase the capacity of the lungs. This in turn causes diaphragmatic restriction, which will show with symptoms of sighing, a tight feeling in the chest, acid reflux, IBS, constipation and diarrhea, and sometimes Crohn’s disease or colitis.
The good news is that taking five to ten minutes a day to practice deep breathing techniques can actually decrease your stress by relieving your Liver Qi Stagnation. By taking deep breaths we move the diaphragm up and down, which also moves the liver. This slight movement can be enough to start to release the energetic constriction in the liver and help us to feel less stressed. So now it is your turn to have more control over your stress. Go take deep breaths, you can do it at your desk, in your car, at home, in the shower, you can wake up five minutes early and do it in bed before you start your day. It doesn’t matter where or when you do it as long as you try to take five minutes a day to take deep breaths. Remember, a tortoise only breathes four times a minute and they live to be 300 years old, what if taking 5 minutes a day to breathe deep could add years to your life? I think it is worth a try!
In the end we will all hopefully be closer to breathing like a tortoise……
