How to calm your nervous system using pranayama 1:2
Pranayama practice 1:2 (exhalation lasting twice as many breaths) is a simple breathing practice to reset and activate the parasympathetic nervous system. 1:2 breathing helps calm both the nervous system and the energy that affects the body and mind.
IMPACT ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
The autonomic (autonomic) nervous system is part nervous system, which regulates the vital functions of the heart, lungs, circulatory system and endocrine system without our conscious control. The autonomic system is divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
The sympathetic nervous system mediates the body's response to physical activity , increasing heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tone (tension) in large skeletal muscles, sweat production, pupil dilation and other functions. Simply put, it prepares the body and mind for physical activity.
The parasympathetic nervous system does mostly the opposite job . By activating the parasympathetic nervous system, heart rate, blood pressure and skeletal muscle tone are reduced, the body and mind are prepared for rest, sleep or digestion.
Stimulation of the sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system occurs without our conscious control through physical processes (sleep, eating, exercise) or through our mental processes (the presence of stressful or calm thoughts).
Stimulation also occurs during each breathing cycle. Inhalation increases sympathetic activity, and exhalation stimulates parasympathetic activity. By adjusting the ratio of inhalation to exhalation, we can adjust the relative emphasis on sympathetic or parasympathetic activity in each respiratory cycle.
1:2 breathing technique helps in relaxation, increasing the period of parasympathetic activity during each inhalation. In other words, breathing at a 1:2 ratio reduces the nervous activity of the sympathetic nervous system, which encourages the body to engage in physical activity and exercise, and increases the influence of the calmer parasympathetic nervous system, which regulates the relaxation response.
1:2 breathing is used in the practice of intermediate pranayama level of difficulty during Visham Vritti Pranayama or Anuloma Viloma Pranayama. This ratio can be used during diaphragmatic breathing or yogic breathing.