Moving and Breathing

By Paul Salmon, PhD

‘Follow the breath' is a basic instruction in meditation practice as a way of helping to anchor attention and awareness. It's one of the few circumstances where breathing is the object of such deliberate attention, being something that most of us take for granted. It's unique among physiological systems that normally operate outside of conscious awareness, because it can be brought under voluntary control on a moment's notice. On average, we tend to take more than a dozen breaths each minute, but in states of deep relaxation or during meditation, breathing deepens and may slow to as few as 3-4 cycles per minute.

Breathing sustains basic metabolic processes because it is responsible for extracting oxygen and transporting it from the lungs throughout the body via the circulatory system. This is the function of the inhalation phase; during exhalation, carbon dioxide and other metabolic by-products are released into the air. Under resting or relaxed conditions, demands for oxygen are relatively slight, amounting to an average of only 3.5 milliliters per kilogram of body weight per minute. (The actual amount may differ from one individual to the next; this is simply a widely agreed-upon standard). Although most people can extract enough oxygen to sustain a resting metabolic state, there are medical conditions, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema, that can significantly impair this process, creating anxiety-provoking feelings of suffocation,  like trying to breathe through a small-diameter straw.

‘Taking a breath' – deep or otherwise -- is therefore something that shouldn't be taken for granted. Each breath is a precious sign of life, an event that has captured the interest and imagination of physiologists, poets, religious figures, and meditation teachers. In the absence of health complications, breathing at rest poses relatively limited metabolic demands. Along with reduced heart rate, slow and relaxed breathing conserves energy and has restorative qualities. In such a state, you may be able to observe a subtle increase in heart rate during inhalation and slowing during exhalation, the ‘respiratory sinus arrhythmia'. Relatively brief movements, such as shifting position or changing posture can be accomplished without increasing breathing rate or depth because muscles operate anaerobically (without oxygen) for short periods of time.

Significant changes in breathing occur during sustained movement, however. Anaerobic energy stores are rapidly depleted and oxygen-based metabolism takes over, more quickly it turns out, in well-conditioned individuals. Breathing rate increases accordingly, in order to increase the amount of oxygen extracted from the air and transported primarily to working muscles. As the intensity of physical activity increases, individual differences in aerobic efficiency become rapidly apparent, signaled in particular by how labored the breath becomes. The primary effect of aerobic training is to increase the amount of oxygen that can be efficiently extracted, delivered to, and utilized by working musculature. Being ‘out of breath' means that you body can't keep up with the demand for oxygen needed to sustain metabolic demands created by physical activity of a given intensity. And although this may simply be a result of reversible physical deconditioning, it may also be a sign of medical conditions that warrant immediate attention. This is why consultation with a physician is routinely recommended particularly for adults as they age, prior to initiating an exercise program.

So whether you are sitting, resting, walking, or running, it makes sense to pay attention to the breath. It is an important source of feedback about how your body responds to metabolic demands during exercise; it can serve as an anchor point to help stabilize attention during quiet meditation; and it can become an objeof fascination in its own right, given its integral role in nearly every aspect of life.

Paul Salmon, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at UoL and a member of KHFM's Advisory Board. He is an ACSM-certified Health Fitness Instructor, certified (RYT/200) yoga teacher, and has a Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology.