Stress, Trauma, and your Breath

by Dr Arielle Schwarz

Our bodies reflect our relationship to stress. When under duress, your sympathetic nervous system kicks into gear which can lead you to breathe with quick, forceful inhalations into your upper chest. This breathing pattern prepares you to flee or fight off impending danger. There is wisdom in your body’s protective defense patterns – yet you are not meant to live there long-term.

Ideally, we have an opportunity to reset, relax, and restore body and mind. This requires that we feel safe. Experiences of chronic stress or trauma can lead us to feel keyed up in anxiety or panic for extended periods of time. If you have experienced chronic stress or have complex PTSD, you might feel as though your resources are depleted. You might feel exhausted, depressed, and as if you cannot handle any more stress. In this case, your breathing might be shallow, your chest might feel collapsed. You may feel as though you cannot take a deep breath. This suggests that you might be relying heavily upon an imbalanced expression of your parasympathetic nervous system—one that conserves energy for the sake of survival.

In either case, I invite you to remember that your body is trying its very best to protect you. However, it is common to remain in defensive breath patterns when; in actuality, you will benefit from relaxing and resting. You can reclaim a sense of safety by focusing on conscious breathing which will help you orient to a here-and-now sense of ease in your body and mind.

Breath and Fascia:

As I discuss in my new book, The Polyvagal Theory Workbook for Trauma, the key structures in the anatomy of the breath include our lungs, heart, diaphragm, the intercostal muscles between our ribs, and our psoas muscles deep within our belly. Traumatic events can lead us to accumulate physical tension around these areas, which restricts the flow of the breath. The lungs, heart, diaphragm, and intercostal and psoas muscles are inextricably related to each other through the fascial web, which consists of layers of connective tissue that extend throughout your body.

These connective tissues carry the neurotransmitters and hormones, such as serotonin, dopamine, GABA, and oxytocin, throughout your body. These neurochemicals form the basis of your emotions. When you move and breathe, your fascia acts like a lubricating fluid in your body, supporting easeful movements and the flow of your emotions. In contrast, stress, trauma, and lack of movement can cause the fascia to become sticky or hardened, which is associated with greater fatigue, pain, inflammation, and immune system imbalances.

The fascia of your diaphragm connects to the connective tissue around your heart, which is called the pericardium, also known as the heart protector in the Traditional Chinese Medicine system. When you inhale, the diaphragm is meant to lower and expand, which gently tugs on the pericar­dium, creating more space around your heart. On the exhalation, your diaphragm returns to its natural resting position tucked under your rib cage. Moreover, the vagus nerve travels through your diaphragm alongside your esopha­gus. The movement of your dia­phragm expanding and contracting with your breath helps create a gentle massage and natural stimu­lation of your vagus nerve. Ideally, the intercostal muscles that sit between your ribs are also able to expand and contract with your breath. They open out to the sides and contract to midline. These movements create more space for the expansion and contrac­tion of your lungs.

The connective tissue of your diaphragm is also deeply connected to your psoas muscles.

The psoas muscles are part of a complex grouping of muscles and fascia at the base of your pelvis that comprise the pelvic floor. The pelvic floor acts as a secondary diaphragm that helps form the foundation for the breath. In addition, the pelvic floor provides support for your abdominal organs. When you have a history of trauma, you can sometimes carry excessive tension in the pelvic floor, which tends to restrict the breath. Because the connective tissues extend throughout your body, tension in the pelvic floor is often linked to tension in your neck, throat, and the soft palate at the back of your throat. The soft palate functions as an additional, third diaphragm in the body, and it too is meant to move with the breath. Once again, it is common to carry tension in the muscles of the neck and throat when you have a history of trauma, and most people carry some degree of tension in these areas.

Breathing and your Emotions:

When you have a history of trauma, conscious breathing can feel uncomfortable. If this is the case for you, please know that you are not alone. Your breath is deeply connected to your ability to feel your emotions. And healing from the traumatic events of your past involves feeling and expressing your vulnerable emotions. The invitation to explore conscious breathing might bring these emotions to the surface, and you might feel more discomfort before you find relief.

In Traditional Chinese medicine, the season of autumn is associated with the lungs and the emotions of sadness and grief. There is a lot happening on the planet right now. If you are feeling grief, you are not alone.

The good news is that you can restore healthy energy to the lungs. This is referred to as Qi in Chinese medicine and Prana in the yogic tradition. When healthy energy is restored to the lungs, we tend to think more clearly which supports our communications and actions in the world. The vagus nerve plays an important role in this link between our lungs and our wellbeing.

The breath plays a key role in our health because the vagus nerve extends into the smooth muscle of the lungs and heart. When we feel ready, conscious breathing helps us to cultivate nervous system flexibility which means that we can tolerate a range of different arousal states without becoming stuck in hyper- or hypo-arousal states. There are many, many different breathing patterns taught in pranayama. Each serves us in different ways and we can draw upon different strategies of breathing at different times to facilitate our wellbeing. Some are energizing, some facilitate relaxation, some are cleansing, and some create a balanced mind and body.

Most importantly, you need to know your body and your signals of nervous system health. This requires that you build a conscious relationship to the many ways that your body communicates with you throughout the day. You can learn to listen to your body’s signals that indicate that you need food, water, movement, touch, and rest. As you experiment with breathing practices, you also learn to listen to your body’s feedback about which breath practices serve your goals at any given moment.

You can learn more about applied polyvagal theory, conscious breathing, and trauma recovery in my new book, The Polyvagal Theory Workbook for Trauma.

Dr. Arielle Schwartz is a licensed psychologist and leading voice in the healing of trauma. She is an internationally sought-out teacher and award winning author of eight books including The Complex PTSD Workbook, EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology, The Post-Traumatic Growth Guidebook, Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma, Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga, and The Polyvagal Theory Workbook for Trauma. She specializes in applied polyvagal theory which addresses imbalances within the autonomic nervous system that underlie most mental and physical health conditions. As the founder of the Center for Resilience Informed Therapy, she offers a mind-body approach to therapy and informational mental health and wellness updates through her writing, public speaking, social media presence, and blog. Dr. Schwartz has a passion for hiking in nature combined with her love of photography. She believes that the journey of trauma recovery is an awakening of the spiritual heart. Learn more at www.drarielleschwartz.com and resilienceinformedtherapy.com

Buy Arielle’s new book here.

An additional article on Applied Polyvagal Theory in Trauma Treatment appears as part of the Members’ content for this month. N.B. Members also gain a 25% off the price of Arielle’s new book – see our membership page for details of joining us.