It controls airflow so that each phase of the breath cycle can be prolonged to an exact count. This slow breath technique (2–4 breaths per minute) increases airway resistance during inspiration and expiration.
The Ujjayi, the Bhastrika, Om, and Sudarshan Kriya.ġ- " Ujjayi or "Victorious Breath ": This involves experiencing the conscious sensation of the breath touching the throat. There are four main SKY breathing meditation techniques documented by research. What are some SKY breathing meditation techniques? You're improving your endothelial health, brain health and overall health, and it's all connected to having and maintaining healthy nitric oxide levels. When you practice SKY, you're improving more than your mental health.
This brings us back to SKY breath meditation techniques. increases airflow to arteries, veins, capillaries, and nerves.A few other benefits of breathing through your nostrils: When you breathe through your mouth, you are not producing nitric oxide. BRAVO! You just increased your paranasal nitric oxide levels.Īnytime you breathe through your nose, your paranasal sinuses are producing nitric oxide.
Feel good? Feel free to repeat a few times. And release slowly for a count of eight, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8. Now, hold in your breath for a count of four, 1-2-3-4. Is your mouth open? Are you breathing in through your nose or your mouth? Is your breathing heavy, medium, or slow? Before we go on, let's reset your breath with a SKY technique: Breath in through your nose for a count of four, 1-2-3-4. Take a moment right now to notice your breath. How do SKY meditation breathing techniques increase nitric oxide? It's a lifestyle that includes being mindful of how we breathe. Keeping our nitric oxide levels up is more than eating the right foods or exercising. You can learn more about the basics of nitric oxide here, but the bottom line everyone should know is that:ġ - Nitric oxide is a cell-signaling molecule that many doctors have deemed an indicator of good health and wellbeing.Ģ - With age, nitric oxide production levels sink by 10% every decade (that means at least a 50% decline in nitric oxide production by middle age). Most people who know about nitric oxide know that we increase our production levels through the nitrate-rich foods in our diet and exercise - what are called nitric oxide dumps. Therefore, we don't inhale the gas instead, when we breathe it in through our nose, and when we do so, nitric oxide is produced inside our paranasal sinuses and travels through our sinuses airways all the way to our lungs.īefore we dive deeper into how SKY meditation works on wellbeing, let's understand the importance of nitric oxide on health and how our breathing choices (yes, choices) impact nitric oxide levels. Unlike how it sounds, nitric oxide is not inhaled from an external source it is instead created in the body. Breathing meditation and nitric oxide reside in the same wellness house. The one thing missing from the many studies, articles, and videos on SKY is the direct relationship these nose breathing techniques have on our nitric oxide levels. In the case of SKY, we're looking for a reduction of anxiety, stress, and depression, which means using breathing techniques to tap into our parasympathetic nervous system.
Science has shown that we can reverse this cause and effect pattern, meaning we can choose the breathing pattern for the feeling we are looking to attain. When we are calm, another pattern, when our flight or fight responses are triggered, called the sympathetic nervous system, our breathing rapidly increases to yet another pattern. Our psychophysical states come with their own breathing patterns when we're happy, we breathe in a particular pattern. It is also associated with increasing prolactin, decreasing cortisol, improving concentration, learning, success, and productivity, according to Emma Seppälä, Ph.D., science director at the Stanford Center For Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. SKY is a practice with breathing techniques used for relaxation, stress management, and control of brain states. S-K-Y makes up the acronym for Sudarshan kriya yoga and is Sanskrit for 'proper vision by purifying action.' The practice was discovered by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living. Perhaps the stress of living through a pandemic has caused us problem-solving humans to seek new ways of reducing anxiety and depression.