4-7-8 Sleep Breathing

Breathing & The Autonomic Nervous System

Your nervous sys

Under the ANS umbrella, there are two key branches. The Sympathetic branch stimulates our ‘fight or flight’ response, energy generation and arousal, while our Parasympathetic system regulates our ‘rest and relax’ response, signaling that we're safe, and subsequently promoting recovery and relaxation.

To remain in balance, it’s vital these two branches work in harmony, but it’s never been more difficult. Modern life has generated stressors that the human brain wasn’t designed to deal with. Political instability, financial worries and relationship problems can over-activate the Sympathetic response unit, with repeated and prolonged instances triggering weakened immune systems, or mental health issues like chronic anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

That’s where breathwork comes in. Breathing can help you recover equilibrium in the ANS; it’s the single exception to the mostly involuntary processes of the Autonomic Nervous System. When we take control of our breathing, we can take control of how we feel, with scientific research proving it’s one of the most effective ways to improve mental and physical health, reducing stress, alleviating anxiety, and helping you manage medical issues including sleep dysfunction, PTSD, OCD, ADD, schizophrenia and many more.