"Breath holding is the yin to the yang"

"Breathholding is just not blacking out. Breathholding is the new black."

I watched the TEDxOdense talk, Breathholding is the new black by Stig Severinsen. I absolutely loved his talk and I think anyone with even a remotely slightly stressful lifestyle should watch it.

"When you hold your breath you open the gateway to your heart. And I don't mean this as a metaphor. When you hold your breath, you activate a natural response in your body, called the mammalian dive response. I like to call it our inner dolphin that we all have. When the dolphin wakes up, you trigger the Vagus Nerve, the tenth cranial nerve that runs from your brain to your heart. So you actually do get a physical contact with your heart. It also runs into your lungs, your internal organs and your intestines. It is a part of the nervous system called the parasympathetic nervous system, also called the rest and digest system. When you hold your breath a little longer, the diaphragm (pallea) starts to move and you build up carbon dioxide. Now you might think you are getting a good abs workout, but you are also releasing and dissolving stress, trauma and fear from the solar plexus region.

Breathholding as shown today is the natural part of breathing. It is very overlooked which is a shame because it has so many benefits. When done correctly, breathholding is power and magic. It can help you heal, it can help you change broken patterns and it can help you make better decisions. It can even help you transform stress into relaxation. We hear so much about meditation, mindfulness and conscious breathing. I say that just as important is holding your breath. Holding your breath can help you quiet your busy mind. It can help you get a shortcut to inner freedom and peace."

We hear a lot of talk about the Vagus Nerve. My friend Emilia Vuorisalmi explains the Vagus Nerves function really nicely in her article 'Hermoston kolme tilaa'. You can also watch this video from the Art of Living on the in order to understand more about this important nerve that links directly to the brain, the heart, lungs and other organs.