Keep Breathing – Study Shows Connection Between Breath Practice, Mind Steadiness, and Brain Health

We’re all about tips and tools for personal and spiritual growth around here. Things you can do right now, in your everyday life, to reach your goals. And what better tool to use than breath? As long as you are alive, it’s there. Sometimes it’s fast. Sometimes it’s slow. But it’s there.

What if your breath was the gateway to success?

According to a recent study in Science Daily, the evidence is growing that the ancient yogis and Buddhists may have been on to something through those breath exercises you read about all the time. According to the Ian Robertson of the Global Brain Health Institute and the study’s principal investigator:

Yogis and Buddhist practitioners have long considered the breath an especially suitable object for meditation. It is believed that by observing the breath, and regulating it in precise ways — a practice known as pranayama — changes in arousal, attention, and emotional control that can be of great benefit to the meditator are realised. Our research finds that there is evidence to support the view that there is a strong connection between breath-centred practices and a steadiness of mind.

Think about that. Something you already do — that you must do — to stay alive is a gateway to a steadier mind. Steadier attention. And that attention has tremendous benefits. According to Robertson:

Our findings could have particular implications for research into brain ageing. Brains typically lose mass as they age, but less so in the brains of long term meditators. More ‘youthful’ brains have a reduced risk of dementia and mindfulness meditation techniques actually strengthen brain networks. Our research offers one possible reason for this — using our breath to control one of the brain’s natural chemical messengers, noradrenaline, which in the right ‘dose’ helps the brain grow new connections between cells.

If you do any kind of breathing practice or meditation, you likely already know the benefits. Maybe you feel lighter. Less stressed. Maybe you just appreciate the 10 minutes of quiet time away from the distractions of the world. Well, it turns out you’re ahead of the game — possibly in more ways than one! Possibly in ways you never imaged.

Keep breathing, everyone, even if it’s just for five seconds. Keep practicing. Keep on with the simple disciplines you do each day that bring you more peace and more joy.