170: Breathing Instead of Medicating
Age Less / Live More
Lucas Rockwood
4.8 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 1 October 2015
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Yoga is unique and powerful as a mind-body fitness modality in that it can restore balance to the body's electrical system (aka your nervous system) - and breathing is the secret key that makes it all possible. In the same way that our breath changes very predictably during times of fear, sorrow, love, or rest, we can flip that equation around and change our breathing patterns in order to change our mood.
Why then do psychiatrists prescribe drugs before using this age-old practice of balancing breath to treat mental health issues? To answer that question, Lucas is joined by Patricia Gerbarg MD who shares her years of research and on-the-ground training using breathing as therapy.
Dr. Gerbarg reveals some of the current challenges in our modern world and in psychiatric medicine - and she’ll share with you how she uses breath in her practice, often in lieu of traditional treatments like prescription drugs - and it’s working!
Dr. Patricia Gerbarg is a Harvard Medical School trained psychiatrist who practices Integrative Psychiatry, combining standard and complementary treatments. Her research focuses on mind-body practices for reducing the effects of stress and trauma, particularly in survivors of mass disasters.
Along with Dr. Richard P. Brown, she has co-authored over 40 scientific articles, book chapters, and health books on complementary and integrative treatments.
Her books include: The Rhodiola Revolution, How to use Herbs, Nutrients, and Yoga in Mental Health Care, Non-Drug Treatments for ADHD, and The Healing Power of the Breath.
Listen & Learn:
- Why some breathing might cause manic reactions
- How the body-mind is more accurate than mind-body since 80% of the vagus nerve fibers are carrying signals from the body to brain, and just 20% brain to body
- Why most people breathe at 12-15 breaths/min but should aim for “coherent breath” at around 5 per min
- Why some breathing can make you zoned-out and spacey while others can amp you up
- How balance is usually the most useful aim and type of response to strive for
Nutritional Tip of the Week:
- Chickpeas: friend or foe?
Links & References from the Show:
www.breath-body-mind.com
Got questions?
Write to us: podcast@yogabody.com
Thanks to our sponsor!
Absolute Yoga Academy is one of the most-respected and rigorous teacher training schools in the world. It’s a place where students go to become teachers, and where teachers go to become industry transformers. Join the movement!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today's Yoga Talk Show is brought to you by Absolute Yoga Academy. |
| 0:04.7 | Since 2006 at Absolute Yoga Academy, |
| 0:07.7 | we have been turning passionate yoga students |
| 0:10.5 | into highly qualified yoga teachers and every year I'm more and more impressed |
| 0:15.8 | and proud of what all of our graduates are doing teaching in over 40 countries |
| 0:21.6 | over 2,000 graduates to date. |
| 0:23.8 | We have courses in Hot Yoga, Vinnyasa Yoga, |
| 0:26.3 | and we also have a level two, a 500 hour teacher |
| 0:29.5 | training for existing teachers. |
| 0:31.5 | To learn more about all of our course offerings, please visit |
| 0:34.9 | absolute yoga academy.com. Thanks so much to absolute yoga academy and now enjoy the |
| 0:41.0 | show. Yoga and breathing are synonymous for most people. |
| 0:49.0 | Anybody who's been to a yoga class knows that yoga teachers are always talking about the breath. |
| 0:54.4 | It's an integral part of everything that we do in yoga asana, but Prana Yama is also a separate practice, |
| 1:00.4 | a seated practice done all on its own. |
| 1:03.0 | One of the unique things about yoga a-sina practice done with correct breathing is it's both up-regulating and down-regulating simultaneously, |
| 1:11.0 | which is very unique, meaning it's going to create central nervous |
| 1:15.4 | system balance, which again, happens very rarely. We tend to do most of our physical |
| 1:20.0 | exercise tends to be up-regulating and we miss that down regulating part. |
| 1:24.3 | So people will go to the gym, they'll do some interval training, they'll lift some weights, |
| 1:28.0 | and their version of down regulating is watching television, sitting on the couch, trying to chill out with a book, which are all |
| 1:35.6 | potentially good options. |
... |
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