Ever wonder why deep breaths seem to help calm us down?
A team of neuroscientists at the Salk Institute can explain the phenomenon better now, thanks to the group’s landmark discovery that links a specific brain circuit between the frontal cortex, where we process complex thoughts – to the more instinctive medulla which controls automatic breathing.
To put it in simpler terms:
Let’s say I have an anxious thought that involves a bit of catastrophizing and suddenly notice my breathing is faster… well, this particular brain circuit precisely explains why the two things are connected.
Now, cool, you might say.
But what can that do specifically for me?
Well, first off. It helps explain why practicing things like mindfulness meditation, deep breathing etc can help calm our minds.
There’s a pathway between our thoughts and breaths, and vice versa.
“But I already assumed that. We all kind of know that.”
True.
But it’s not just that we now know how that path works (you can read about it in more detail here), but also because it offers tangible benefit for potential therapies ahead.
From Salk:
“Our findings got me thinking: Could we develop drugs to activate these neurons and manually slow our breathing or prevent hyperventilation in panic disorder?” says first author of the study Jinho Jhang, a senior research associate in Han’s lab. “My sister, three years younger than me, has suffered from panic disorder for many years. She continues to inspire my research questions and my dedication to answering them.”
The researchers will continue analyzing the circuit to determine whether drugs could activate it to slow breathing on command. Additionally, the team is working to find the circuit’s converse—a fast breathing circuit, which they believe is likely also tied to emotion. They are hopeful their findings will result in long-term solutions for people with anxiety, stress, and panic disorders, who inspire their discovery and dedication.
“I want to use these findings to design a yoga pill,” says Han. “It may sound silly, and the translation of our work into a marketable drug will take years, but we now have a potentially targetable brain circuit for creating therapeutics that could instantly slow breathing and initiate a peaceful, meditative state.”
Read the actual study in Nature Neuroscience here.
Now, I wanted to mention a few things, as a Christian, who’s aware that Christendom is vast and that there are large swaths that will rejoice at the idea of therapies based on breathing and medication, and also, aware that there are many Christians who still a) think “mindful meditation” is a secular substitute for prayer and b) don’t trust medication.
For my friends in the latter group…
I grew up being taught to distrust “mindfulness meditation.” In fact, almost to fear it.
The standard line in my circles was that if you “empty your brain,” then that’s exactly the vacuum that Satan wants to use to come fill that brain with lies.
That’s still a fairly prevalent notion in evangelical circles.
Of course, as Christians, we’re called to think critically about what we’re taught, partly because we never want to fall into the trap of adding man-made rules and regulations to the sacred pearl that is the Gospel – that Christ died to save sinners, that we’re called to share the Good News, and that the two commandments we’re truly bound to are a) loving God with all our heart, soul and mind, and b) neighbor as ourselves.
Both Jesus and Paul had lots of pretty harsh things to say about putting extra burdens of man-made rules into the divine truth.
So, is mindfulness meditation really wrong?
Well, it depends.
First, what form of it are you practicing? There are lots of religious forms and completely non-religious types.
In fact, that phrase is used and practiced so broadly that it’s impossible to give a yes/no answer.
Think about the word “conversation.”
You can have a conversation about robbing a bank, or you can have a conversation about the weather, or you can talk about Christ.
But would we say “conversation” itself is a bad thing?
Mindfulness can be used towards all different sorts of things, but for some, it’s as simple as walking and just noting each car that passes you, or just counting your breath.
For others, it’s a religious thing.
We can’t say whether it’s good or bad beyond what and how it’s used.
So are we pursuing mindful meditation along the path that eastern religions do where it looks very religious and points towards a view of self and universe that’s fundamentally wrong?
Or are you just making a conscious effort to focus on your breathing, to count your breaths, to not think about anything else as you count your breaths, but just literally lie or sit there — making mental notes of how your body feels, how it breathes, the sounds you hear?
For me, there isn’t a thing in the Bible that would, in any way, prohibit the latter.
If you download an app like Headspace, for example, and practice western mindfulness meditation, this is the gist of what you’ll be doing a lot of (for example, in their course for anxiety).
-Get in a comfortable spot where you won’t be disturbed.
-Feel the points of contact between your feet and the ground, your body and the chair. Listen to any sounds with your eyes shut and just realize you are where you are.
Not where you’ll be in 15 minutes, not where you were 15 minutes ago, just right here and now.
-Take five or six deep breaths.
-Then just start breathing normally and counting your breaths.
-If you find your mind wanders (which it always does), just say “oh, my mind wandered” and then go back to counting your breaths.
-Fifteen minutes of breathing later, you’re done.
And your body and mind will thank you, as a vast slew of medical research and personal experience has shown.
Again, there are a million different forms of meditation, and I’m sure some are extremely pagan, but it seems a mistake in life to dismiss all things as one thing, in any area.
That’s the conclusion I came to.
So I gave it a try years ago, and it helped (I only wish it weren’t such a pain to take 15 minutes out of my day for what “feels like a waste” of just breathing. That’s the challenging part for me. It seems to be such a waste of time, but 15 minutes of deep breaths later, my body is just in a better spot).
I’d also like to add this.
Christians often talk about “meditation” and say “We’ll, it’s okay, but we’ll do Christian meditation, instead,” and there’s nothing wrong with that, at all, but I think for folks with anxiety disorders, it can often be good for our bodies to just take a break from our thoughts about any topic because our brain needs that rest.
Just like your muscles and other parts of your body need a rest.
For me, mindful meditation is no different from exercise or any other bodily thing I do. It has no spiritual connotations, implications, or overtones.
And for me, they’re entirely different spheres, and each Christian should think critically for himself or herself because we all have different backgrounds and things that stumble one person might not another.
There are wonderful Christians whose conscience won’t allow them to meditate and wonderful ones who do, and I think this is clearly a Romans 14 issue, and “each of us will give an account of ourselves to God” and also should, as Paul urges, refrain from judging those who think differently.
There have been numerous issues like this throughout church history, and different and good Christians will come to opposing opinions. Yet, at the same time, we’re called not to oppose one another over them.
I’m excited to hear that we know why breathing meditation is so calming, and I’m excited to hear that researchers are going to look into further applications, and that the Lord gives us medical mercies that can target areas of our brain that need a little help, and that some people are called to research it.
Medical advance and care has walked, hand-in-hand, with Christianity over history. I’d pray that Christianity would continue to be the helping hand that early pagans found so gripping and compelling.
If you’re depressed, or struggle with any aspect of mental health…
For readers from the United States….
Find a psychiatrist here.
Find a therapist here.
For readers, internationally, seek help from a local resource.
For salvation, Christ and Christ alone.
[Art: Meules, Monet. You can read about it here].
