Coherence breathing
Resonant breathing to improve heart rate variability
Coherence breathing involves slowing down the rate of breathing so that you take 6 breaths per minute. Breathing at this pace has been shown to lower your heart rate, lower your blood pressure, instill calm, and lowers stress. 1
In the audio today, I’ll guide you through this practice.
The average adult breathes at a rate of 12-20 breaths per minute, so a rate of 6 per minute may take some practice to get used to this rate. Give yourself time to practice without judgement or criticism if you struggle initially.
Benefits of this type of practice:
Activates the parasympathetic nervous system
Improves heart rate variability which is the time between heart beats
Enhances your mood
Increases oxygen in the body which can help with focus and mental clarity
Reduces lower back pain2
Who should use caution with this type of pattern:
Those with pacemakers due to the regulation of the heartbeat with the pacemaker
Those with kidney or lung conditions that may not do well with the changes of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body that happens with resonant breathing
What are some indications that you may need to breathe at your regular rate if you are practicing resonant breathing?
Dizziness
Feeling lightheaded
Feeling faint
10-15 minutes of practice has been shown to lower blood pressure3 in people with high blood pressure. If you are not used to breathing this slowly(which most people are not), I would start with 2 minutes and work up as you can tolerate. Practice daily!
I hope you enjoy this practice! Let me know how you feel when you give it a try!
Take good care,
Sharon
PS: The resonant breathing practice starts at 4:30 in the audio, so if you want to skip ahead, feel free. The practice lasts for 2 minutes.
Zaccaro A, Piarulli A, Laurino M, Garbella E, Menicucci D, Neri B, Gemignani A. How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing. Front Hum Neurosci. 2018 Sep 7;12:353. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353. PMID: 30245619; PMCID: PMC6137615.
Heart rate variability and slow-paced breathing:when coherence meets resonance - ScienceDirect(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104576)
Pagaduan, Jeffrey et al. “Acute Effects of Resonance Frequency Breathing on Cardiovascular Regulation.” Physiological Reports 7.22 (2019): n. pag. Web.