#6

20,000 times a day! No, I haven’t gone mad. I’m not proposing you meditate or wash your hands mindfully thousands of time a day. I am, however, drawing attention to the core element of awareness I keep harping about — the breath.

“The physiological mechanisms that make up a single breath could fill an entire book. And yet, for an event that recurs an average of 20,000 times a day, we generally pay very little attention to our breathing. In fact, it may be more accurate to say that your breath breathes you, rather than the other way around.”

So writes Matthew MacKinnon MD in a readable article on Why and How we breathe, How the lungs work, How blood pressure is affected, and Why our brain’s hypothalamus acts as Cruise Control and the prefrontal cortex as the Seat of Consciousness [1].

Most of the research cited in the article defined slow, deep breathing as a rate of 6 breaths per minute. The normal adult rate is 15. The following exercise (adapted from MacKinnon) aims to replicate this breathing rate to let you experience the sensation of slowed-down breathing.

1. Inhale through your nose for approximately 4 seconds and then exhale through your nose for about 6 seconds. If you can extend this single breath for longer than 10 seconds this is also fine.

2. Repeat the above 6 times to bring your respiratory rate to 6 breaths per minute.

3. Breathing slowly and deeply, emphasizing the extended length of your exhalation, you may begin to appreciate a sense of calm.

4. As you sense calming sensations, continue to bathe in them. Afterwards make a note of this experience in your meditation log.

5. Optional: begin your next meditation practice with this slow-deep breathing exercise.

[1] MacKinnon, M. (2015). “Take a Deep Breath: The Physiology of Slow Deep Breathing.” Link. Diagram in “Amygdala on the Lookout.” American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 172, no. 8, pp. 704–705, DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2015.15050646. Link.