Dr. Jack Feldman: Breathing for Mental & Physical Health & Performance | Episode 54
Main Takeaways
- Breathing is essential to take in oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.
- Inhalation requires the contraction of the diaphragm, which expands the lungs.
- The preBötzinger Complex and Retrotrapezoid nucleus are clusters of neurons that play an important role in regulating breathing.
- Sighing is necessary to maintain healthy lung function, and suppressing it can lead to breathing impairment and stress.
- Breathing affects emotional and cognitive states, and different breathing practices can have various outcomes.
- Tummo or Wim Hof style breathing involves rapid, deliberate hyperventilation that can make you feel alert and release adrenaline.
- Physiological sighing involves inhaling through the nose twice and exhaling through the mouth for an extended period to calm down in real-time.
- To increase heart rate, inhale longer and/or more vigorously than exhale, and to slow down, exhale longer and/or more vigorously than inhale.
- Cyclic hyperventilation involves deep inhalation through the nose and deep exhalation through the mouth repeated for 5 minutes to increase heart rate.
- Magnesium threonate supplement has shown to enhance sleep and cognition when taken 2-3 hours before sleep.
