The healing power of breathing practices has repeatedly helped people get rid of many serious diseases. Everyone who has practiced such techniques has been convinced from his own experience: the effect of the exercises is so impressive, how easy and pleasant it is to perform them with a competent instructor who understands the intricacies of breathing physiology.

But, which is paradoxical.

Along with the emphasis on the vital necessity to breathe smoothly and continuously, special attention in the practices is always paid to exercises for holding the breath.

What are the benefits of breath-holding exercises? Are they not harmful? And what is the maximum pause in breathing? How does it relate to practices?

These are the main questions of concern to everyone who has chosen the right breathing for the healing of the body and wants to start exercising. The answers are in the article.

Why is breath holding exercise popular and effective?

In many religious and philosophical teachings, especially in yoga, the practice of holding the breath has been used as a method to help free the spirit. For example, today there are widespread calls on this topic to limit food, water and worldly pleasures. But the role of breathing, as a conductor from the bodily to the intangible, has been completely undeservedly forgotten.

And, nevertheless, the fact remains: the longer a person can hold out without breathing, the more resilient he is, and his health is stronger. Such people rarely get sick, live longer and do not know what boredom, apathy, depression are.

These observations formed the basis of all breath-holding exercises. Indeed, after holding the breath, a short-term effect of ideal well-being occurs, which is noted not only by practitioners, but also by observers.

The paradoxical phenomenon did not remain without a scientific explanation. According to the Verigo-Bohr Effect, a sharp jump in carbon dioxide during breath holding provokes an active saturation of the body with oxygen. The effect is short-lived, but what a! Hypertensive and asthmatic symptoms disappear, the headache ceases, and asthma attacks cease.

You can find similar practices among all followers of correct breathing. It:

• pranayama;
• method K.P. Buteyko (third workout);
• bodyflex;
• practice of square breathing and others.

For example, the essence of holding the breath in Pranayama is the even distribution of the accumulated energy throughout all organs, which has a beneficial effect on the state of the body as a whole. In bodyflex, breath holding is considered from the point of view of improving metabolic processes in the cells of the body that contribute to weight loss.

And here it is very important to understand the meaning of doing exercises for holding the breath. And to see what may be associated with the deterioration of health after such practices.

Let me remind you that the ultimate goal of all breathing methods is the normalization of breathing, which is impossible without "retraining" the work of the respiratory center. The correct, natural, natural way for a person to breathe is nasal, shallow, continuous breathing.

Therefore, haphazard and irregular breath-holding exercises will not help you understand how to breathe. And instead of good they can cause harm.

For an illustrative example, let's answer the question: "What does the complete absence of air lead to?" Yes - only to death.

We get sick for the same reason - thousands of micro-deaths a day. How does this happen? Completely imperceptible. Stress, anxiety, emotional distress and heavy thoughts are reflected by tension in the body. From a physical spasm, we unconsciously hold our breath, which leads to various diseases.

This is why it is important to train the body to notice and prevent harmful temporary breath holdings.

To get a feel for how and when such involuntary breath holdings occur, a little hands-on experiment can be conducted.

We strain the neck, shoulders, stomach and count to 10. We notice that the breath was involuntarily delayed.

We remember who we are angry or offended at. We experience the emotion for 10 seconds. We notice that the breath was again involuntarily delayed.

Holding the breath will also occur when the intellectual center is activated, when trying to remember, evaluate or analyze something.

Thus, physical activity, plus emotions and thoughts that arise during the day, lead to repeated holding of breath.

What harm can breathing exercises do to the body?

The answer to this question is detailed in the studies of the famous physiologists J.S. Haldane and J.G. Priestley. They proved that after holding the breath for more than 1 minute, a person has increased ventilation of the lungs for 3 minutes. A sharp flushing of carbon dioxide from the lungs leads to vasospasm and poor health.

There are also a number of contraindications for performing breath-holding exercises:

• pregnancy;
• postoperative period;
• poor blood clotting.

When doing these exercises, it is important to listen carefully to your body. As soon as he begins to experience the slightest discomfort (headache, dizziness), he must immediately restore his breathing and postpone the practice for another time.

Maximum pause of breath holding

KP Buteyko's methods are of great interest to the students of the “Breathing System” health-improving school. A number of questions are connected precisely with his works. Here is one of them:

Answer: The maximum pause is called holding the breath without volitional efforts until the first desire to inhale, that is, a state of slight discomfort.

The maximum pause after exhalation and breathing exercises are different things. However, with regular exercise, you can lengthen your maximum pause.

Practice: determining the maximum pause

We measure the level of hyperventilation of the lungs.

1. We make a regular exhalation.
2. We hold our breath (comfortable pause).
3. After the delay, there should be no desire to take a deep breath.
4. We count the time of holding the breath (for example, 30 seconds).
5. Divide 90 by the result obtained (90/30 seconds = 3).

The number 3 means that ventilation is three times higher than normal. The norm is 1.

The breath holding result is your maximum pause. The rate of carbon dioxide in the body should be 6.5%. That is, a comfortable maximum pause of 90 seconds.

Consider the results:

• 75 seconds pause - 6%
• 60 seconds pause - 5.5%
• 50 seconds pause - 5%
• 40 seconds pause - 4.5%
• 20 seconds pause - 4%
• 10 seconds pause - 3.5%

The more oxygen in your tissues, the longer you can hold your breath. If you have few seconds (10-30), then there is not enough carbon dioxide. As a result, there is little oxygen in the tissues and the body requires the next breath.

Why is it important to control% carbon dioxide?

Death occurs at 3% CO 2.

At 3.5%, the body is on the verge of life and death.

Symptoms disappear at 4.5%. Nothing hurts.

At 5%, you forget about medications.

At 6.5%, you get a completely healthy body.

CO 2 4.5-5% - hypertension, asthma disappears.

CO 2 5% - no cancer.

CO 2 5-5.5% - stop taking hormonal drugs, since the need for them completely disappears.

How to get to this level? With the help of special physical activities and practices of our school. In this case, the benefits of breath-holding exercises will manifest itself in all its glory!

Breathe correctly and be healthy!

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The term "apnea" in medicine means stopping breathing. In general, in everyday life, such a stop is involuntary, reflex, due to mechanical stimuli of a chemical-pharmacological and neuropsychiatric nature, which can act both at the level of the respiratory tract (a mechanical obstruction to breathing) and at the level of the nerve centers that control breathing (central respiratory depression).

PP mmHg Art.

The graph shows the effect of hyperventilation on breath holding.

In the language of divers, in contrast, when it comes to apnea, it refers to a voluntary action by which the divers stop breathing for a certain period of time, the duration of which depends on the supply of oxygen and the amount of carbon dioxide produced while holding the breath. The voluntariness of this action ends at the moment when the levels of the two gases reach such a value that they cause chemical stimulation of the respiratory nerve centers.

Obviously, the duration of breath holding depends on some individual variables, for example, on lung volume, on metabolic oxygen consumption and on psychological adaptation to diving conditions. In general, the time spent underwater is always very limited as the “break-point” of the apnea is reached very quickly.

The most intuitive, but also very dangerous, way to postpone the onset of the respiratory urge and, accordingly, to prolong the stay under water is called "hyperventilation" (increased breathing).

This method is based on performing a series of slow and deep breaths with a rapid expiration, through which the blood and lungs are "air flushed", which leads to a significant decrease in the percentage of carbon dioxide (CO2) and a slight increase (less than 25%) in the partial pressure of oxygen (O2) ). It is clear that in this situation, the body will need more time to increase the CO2 level to such values ​​for the stimulation of the respiratory centers to occur; so much more to cause a delay in the onset of the apnea breakpoint by several tens of seconds (up to a maximum of 120).

However, at the same time, the consumption of oxygen (O2) for natural life processes continues, and the body soon finds itself in a situation of hypoxia (lack of oxygen), which will last until ascent. With hyperventilation, the difference between alveolar and venous oxygen pressure does not change much, firstly, because hemoglobin, which transports O2 in the blood, is always almost completely saturated with it (by 98%), and secondly, because the oxygen supply with which the body can part, as we have seen, very limited. With continued hyperventilation, the O2 level remains more or less constant, but the CO2 level drops too much at some point, and this can cause hypocapnia (low partial pressure of CO2), which is characterized by dizziness, tinnitus, and in particularly sensitive subjects can even cause fainting (hypocapnic syncope). Therefore, insisting on hyperventilation is both useless and dangerous. On the other hand, if this artificial technique is avoided, one can rely on the physiological process of "automatic protection" described earlier: an increase in carbon dioxide will trigger an alarm in advance, which is a reflexive contraction of the diaphragm, and this will happen before the low partial pressure of oxygen provokes syncope from - due to lack of oxygen (hypoxic syncope).

Hypoxic syncope

Forced hyperventilation and the subsequent decrease in the partial pressure of CO2 can lead to the fact that reflexive contraction of the diaphragm, which is an alarming signal for the diver, since it signals the approach of the minimum PpO2 level, will not occur at all or it will be delayed2. Hypoxic syncope occurs quickly without (or almost without) any preliminary symptoms, immediately at the moment when the critical level of O2 (50 mm Hg) is reached. Whereas the reflex contraction of the diaphragm depends on PpCO2. Most often, hypoxic fainting occurs when ascending from a great depth due to a sharp decrease in oxygen Pp. For example, at a depth of 20 meters, the air pressure in the lungs triples (3 atm.), And, therefore, PpO2 also triples. In theory, in such a situation, you can stay at 20 meters until the PpO2 level is around 60 mm Hg. Art. (the critical limit is 50 mm Hg). But at the moment of ascent, the air pressure in the alveoli quickly drops from 3 to 1 atm., Respectively, reducing PpO2, which becomes equal to -0 mm Hg. Art., which is significantly lower than the level of syncope occurrence!

As you can see from the graph, purely hypothetical, if from the onset of apnea PpCO2 is low (18 mm Hg), and PpO2 is high (98 mm Hg), it can happen that after - min. 30 sec. (marked on the diagram) PpO2 will fall below 50 mm Hg. Art., and, consequently, hypoxic syncope will occur even before the level of PpCO- is reached, at which the contractions of the diaphragm occur. You have virtually no safety margin. Whereas, if the initial PpCO2 is higher, then, most likely, the critical level of carbon dioxide will be reached earlier than the critical level of oxygen. And it is this difference that leaves us with a margin of safety.

If we assume that at a certain moment the CO2 level was reached, at which the contraction of the diaphragm begins, and the diver continues to persist and hold his breath further, then this can lead, purely theoretically, not to hypoxic, but to hypercapnic syncope, in other words, to fainting due to excess carbon dioxide.

Hypercapnic syncope

A build-up of CO2 above a critical level can lead to hypercapnic fainting if, ignoring diaphragm contractions, the holding of breath is prolonged so long that PpCO2 reaches its toxic level before the O2 pressure drops critically (hypoxic syncope). It is undoubtedly dangerous to tolerate and ignore contractions of the diaphragm precisely because it leads to the risk of hypoxic or hypercapnic syncope. Cases of hypercapnic fainting as a result of continuing to hold the breath after contractions of the diaphragm are very rare, because such contractions are very unpleasant and cause a strong feeling of shortness of breath or dysapnea. If you wait until the reflex contractions of the diaphragm (the urge to inhale) stop, a seeming sense of well-being may come.

More dangerous and less controllable can be the accumulation of excess CO2 as a result of fatigue and the production of lactic acid in the muscles.

When muscles are very overworked, they produce lactic acid, which leads to an increase in oxygen consumption, but above all, to an increase in the production of carbon dioxide.

Consequently, even at a shallow depth, hypercapnic syncope can occur, caused by a rapid increase in Pp of carbon dioxide during non-intense and short contractions of the diaphragm, so that hypercapnic syncope occurs faster than hypoxic. However, diving in a state of overwork is not recommended in any case, and it does not matter what kind of fainting it may lead to: the main thing to remember is that your safety level drops noticeably!

Dyspnea

We are talking about "spontaneous hyperventilation" caused by high levels of CO2, which indirectly indicates to the body a possible approach of a deficiency of 02, which the body is trying to prevent precisely by means of increased ventilation. Indeed, shortness of breath is an involuntary acceleration of the rate and volume of breathing due to the body's attempt to normalize low O2 and / or high CO2 levels, which in turn have arisen due to too intense or prolonged muscle load.

Carbon dioxide, produced by abnormal or accelerated metabolic processes, cannot always be removed by breathing: it accumulates and begins to irritate the bulbar centers more and more until they begin to take the necessary measures.

In such situations, shortness of breath may exceed 30 breaths and 70 liters of tidal volume per minute, and still remain insufficient. It is quite obvious that such a situation becomes really dangerous, first of all, when scuba diving.

But a diver, holding his breath, can also experience similar problems, despite the fact that he can breathe on the surface at any time: a whole set of reasons (fear, intense excitement, fatigue, temperature changes, etc.) can lead to the occurrence of he has shortness of breath.

In the case of shortness of breath, the number of respiratory movements increases significantly, however, only air from the dead space enters in, and the one contained in the alveoli stagnates, unable to be enriched with oxygen. As if the man was not breathing! To return to normal breathing, you need to take control of your emotions and realize that shortness of breath, as described above, is caused by involuntary reactions, try to calmly regain control of the situation, and not aggravate the situation with a state of anxiety, which in turn will increase the need for air and hence shortness of breath.

Thus, it is important not to dive immediately after overcoming a similar situation, but to wait at least a few minutes, breathing at your normal rhythm, to normalize gas levels and return to a normal mental state.

Summary…

Fainting due to prolonged holding of breath.- General definition for all types of syncope occurring with continued apnea beyond the physiological capabilities of the diver.

Reflex fainting.- It occurs in the same way as fainting due to prolonged holding of breath, but in this case, cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest occur at the same time. Usually caused by temperature changes or digestive processes during diving, and therefore more likely to occur on the surface and not related to changes in oxygen and carbon dioxide levels during breath holding.

Hypercapnic syncope.- Long series of dives, excessive muscle fatigue, continuation of apnea beyond its physiological capacity cause the accumulation of CO2 in the tissues (hypercapnia). Involuntary contractions of the diaphragm occur, stimulated by bulbar centers, which are a warning signal. If a critical CO2 level is reached, hypercapnic syncope occurs.

Hypoxic syncope.- Happens without warning, and therefore is the most insidious. It is explained by the rapid decrease in PpO2 in tissues upon ascent to the surface. If the PpO2 falls below the minimum value (50-60 mmHg), hypoxic syncope occurs. It is also called "syncope of the last meters" or Shallow Water Blackout "Loss of Consciousness on Ascent." It occurs due to holding the breath for too long, especially if hyperventilation was previously performed. Hypocapnic fainting. - Occurs when PpCO2 falls below a critical level due to excessive hyperventilation on the surface. The first symptoms are tingling in the limbs and dizziness.

Reflex syncope

There are other causes of syncope and loss of consciousness that have nothing to do with the partial pressure of O2 and CO2. They occur only in special situations that cause abnormal behavior of the autonomic nervous system (indeed, this syncope is also called "wandering"). If it is caused by a large temperature difference (immersion after prolonged exposure to the sun, heavy sweating or intense physical activity) or immersion while the digestive system is working, then fainting occurs like a lightning strike, causing temporary respiratory and cardiac arrest. There is a sharp narrowing of the peripheral vessels (to prevent thermal dispersion), which forces all the blood to flow to the internal organs, leading to hyperemia - "blood stagnation" - this is a generally accepted term, which is not quite correctly called this type of problem.

First of all, you need to remember that, unlike all other sports, where a reasonable price is paid for a mistake, and there is an opportunity to correct it, in scuba diving, a mistake can cost life. You can hold your breath only by realizing that you are in a good psychophysical state. Not all dives are the same, and it may happen that the body reacts to them differently on different days and in different situations. There are many options: a different water temperature, insufficient rest on the eve of a dive, changes in mood associated with factors of personal life, physical illness, general fatigue. If, for various reasons, there are doubts about the state of your body, it is better to refuse to dive, or at least limit its duration and depth.

It is important to follow the correct diet to have a good supply of energy, but not to overload the digestive system. Naturally, you should not overeat before going under the water, even if you are consuming food that is considered suitable for scuba diving. The current process of digestion can in fact cause many inconveniences: at best, a decrease in working capacity, and in more severe cases - to a dangerous "stagnation of blood". If you previously had experience of diving after a meal without complications, this does not mean that it is worth taking risks in the future; on the contrary, it is better to keep in mind that "that very case" can always happen.

You should also be careful not to overheat before diving. Before diving, it is best to first adjust your body by dipping your limbs, that is, arms and legs, into the water, and only then put on a wetsuit. Physiologically, it is very important to closely monitor the build-up of fatigue before and during a dive. This can in fact lead to the formation of lactic acid and carbon dioxide in the tissues, which has a significant impact on metabolic processes and, therefore, on safety. Thus, the ability to adapt and the physical preparation for the dive are important, which are directly related to the duration and intensity of the dive. The ability to hear the signals of your body is a guarantee of good psychological and physical self-control, that is, safety.

It is imperative to never rely on chance, and remember that we are in an underwater environment. A reasonable degree of respect and fear helps us avoid risky activities, especially the youngest and least experienced of us.

Finally, an important precaution is never to use more than the required amount of weight, trying to limit yourself to the minimum in order to facilitate the ascent phase, and not dive, because, as we have already emphasized, the ascent phase is always more responsible, it is on it that the danger of hypoxic fainting awaits us.

Having a diving companion to monitor what is happening from the surface greatly increases safety. This should be a reliable partner who will not let you down in a dangerous situation. It is very important to never compete with your diving partner, also because in the event of an accident, he must be ready to provide first aid. Competition between partners easily leads to misbehavior, when one hopes that he is being watched, while the other is distracted at this time, thinking about another prey or about a deeper dive. When a submariner thinks that he is under someone's control, he often makes the mistake of "delaying" holding his breath (after all, he is being watched!), And as a result, both find themselves in an unpleasant position. Therefore, a partner must be chosen from reliable people with similar physical data and character traits. Remember, each emotion will then be shared in two with the utmost respect, without selfishness or rivalry that would diminish the safety and pleasure of both divers. If you are diving alone, you should take less risk, precisely because there will be no one to help you. You should never reduce your focus by ending apnea long before normal time or, for example, without thinking about dropping a load if you have difficulty ascending.

Finally, not a single fish is worth its own life, and if today, in this particular dive, you did not manage to catch a decent catch, or make an outstanding breath hold, in the future you will have many more opportunities for this. Respect for the sea, for life and for oneself is the first lesson that must be learned well in order to have a happy future with many wonderful breath-holding diving experiences.

Taravana

The word "Taravana", which means "madness" in Polynesian, was used by the natives to describe neurological symptoms, including severe ones, that arose in pearl divers.

The symptomatic picture bearing this name was first described in 1958 and was defined as "decompression apneist syndrome." These are the effects of breath-hold diving, which was observed among the natives of the Tuamotu Islands who worked in Takatopo Bay. The resulting clinical picture almost completely coincided with the picture of decompression sickness during scuba diving; it was described in detail in 1965 by the officer of the Danish Navy P. Paulev after the onset of symptoms of decompression sickness (DZ) in divers holding the breath.

Since this pathology has become increasingly common among those engaged in spearfishing while holding the breath, at depths that are now available to an increasing number of people, we will further consider the causes of Taravan, its clinical picture and first aid, as well as ways to prevent it.

Causes

Several theories have been formulated as to the cause of Taravan symptoms. Undoubtedly, the theory that has already been tested in practice, which explains the occurrence of such a pathology by a real decompression illness, but with a clinical picture resembling an arterial gas embolism, is most trustworthy. Be that as it may, it is associated with the accumulation of nitrogen (N2) in the tissues and insufficient removal of it.

The occurrence of Taravan is facilitated by various factors, the main of which is the too short rest time on the surface between dives, which does not allow the blood to "clear" of excess nitrogen.

Indeed, nitrogen (N2) not removed during the interval on the surface leads to an even greater accumulation of this gas in the tissues, as a result of which, in a few hours, at the moment of ascent to the surface, an almost “explosive” formation of gas bubbles in the blood will occur. With a decrease in pressure (see Boyle's law), these bubbles will increase in volume more and more until a gas embolism (blockage) is formed in the vessels, followed by the passage of a large number of gas bubbles in the artery, which leads to disruption of the internal organs and the central nervous system with typical symptoms of decompression sickness.

But let's take a closer look at what factors contribute to the occurrence of DZ during breath-hold dives:

1) a change in the composition of the alveolar air: it is expressed in an increase in the amount of nitrogen in the alveoli on the surface after diving with a breath-hold up to 90%; this is due to an increase in the percentage of N2 during such a dive due to a decrease in the amount of O2 used by the body, without a significant increase in CO2 “plugged” into the tissues;

2) hyperventilation: leads to blockage of "pulmonary arterial-venous shunts" (places of transformation of venous capillaries into arterial) and an increase in the surface of gas exchange at the level of the alveoli-capillaries. All these changes accelerate the passage of N2 from the alveolar air into the capillaries; 2

3) quiet microbubbles (gas nuclei): they are in the blood for a long time and tend to coalesce and increase in volume as a result of the increase in O2 content on subsequent dives. This phenomenon is also facilitated by the increased CO2 content, which is always the case for breath-hold divers due to intense muscular work during fins on the surface and during the dive itself;

4) fast ascent: ascent at too high a speed, more than 20 meters per minute, causes a rapid release of microbubbles from the tissues and their subsequent increase in volume, in accordance with Boyle's law. Mechanical blockage of the pulmonary arterioles leads to the opening of the arterial-venous shunts and the passage of N2 bubbles in the artery; at the same time, a decrease in the surface of alveolar-capillary gas exchange that occurs during ascent reduces the percentage of N2 removed from the body;

5) thermal stress: thermal dispersion caused by cold leads to vasoconstriction and, therefore, to a slowdown in the release of N2 from tissues;

6) metabolic and psychophysical stress: associated with increased production of plasma catecholamines (adrenaline and norepinephrine) as a result of emotional stress and anxiety. Problems at work or in personal life, in addition to the factors that arise during breath-hold diving (depth, performance, production), can significantly affect catecholamine production and metabolic stress. The increased concentration of adrenaline and norepinephrine in the blood leads to the stimulation of the receptors of the blood vessels, causing them to constrict, and, therefore, a slowdown in the release of N2 from the tissues;

7) dehydration2: occurring primarily due to increased urine output as a result of physiological changes in the body during a breath-hold dive. Especially dehydration is promoted by the occurrence of the Blood-Shift phenomenon, as a result of which there is an inflow of more blood than usual to the heart and the subsequent stretching of the heart muscle fibers of the right atrium; as a result, mechanical stimulation of the volume receptors located in this area begins, which induce the body to produce more of a special hormone with a protein structure.

Atrial natriuretic factor - and partially stops the production of another hormone called an antidiuretic. A reflex change in the content of these two substances, together with vasoconstriction and thermal dispersion, are responsible for an increase in urine output during and after a dive (increased formation of urine in a diver). When we add up the significant fluid loss with the increased energy expenditure and insufficient recovery that we encounter during breath-hold dives, we almost always experience severe dehydration, which affects the fluidity of the blood and therefore interferes with proper blood circulation and substance transfer.

Spearfishing and remote sensing risk

Spearfishing while holding the breath at depths over 20 meters (which, however, are only accessible to the most experienced), as we have already understood, can lead to symptoms of decompression sickness. Risks increase if you hunt for long periods of time, with breath-holding times equal to or greater than 2 minutes, and at surface intervals shorter than breath-holding (rest between dives less than 2 minutes). The risk is also associated with the ascent rate (if it is more than 20 meters per minute) due to a sharp drop in pressure and significant muscle load; however, these factors are difficult to avoid as they are an integral part of our business.

Clinical forms of decompression sickness during breath-hold diving:

Depending on the symptoms, the following clinical forms of the disease are distinguished:

1) vestibular-labyrinth:

Dizziness;

Loss of balance

Hearing disorders (painful hearing loss, ringing, sudden deafness);

2) central nervous system:

Dysarthria (articulation disorder);

Aphasia (speech disorder);

Hemiparesis (paralysis of the muscles of one half of the body) and / or paresthesia (perversion of sensitivity), usually on the right.

In particular, in clinical pictures, symptoms of rapid manifestation are distinguished, local, chronic, indicating blockage of vessels of various types, accompanied by the involvement of various physiopathological mechanisms:

Local symptoms - "bends", especially in areas where inflammation is more likely to occur as a result of excessive muscle load;

Chronic damage occurs in tissues with poor vascularization (long bones and large joints);

Blockage of venous or arterial blood vessels due to bubbles entering the systemic circulation manifests itself in the form of impaired motor sensitivity of one half of the body, usually the right (due to the vertical position of the left carotid artery relative to the aortic arch), and especially the right hand due to its tight dependence on the left hemisphere of the brain.

First aid

First aid provides for the implementation of the same actions that are used in other cases of DZ, namely:

1) normobaric (at atmospheric pressure) supply of O2;

2) providing fluid;

3) constant monitoring of vital parameters (pulse and respiration);

4) resuscitation (only when necessary);

5) fast transportation to the hyperbaric center.

Treatment by recompression in a pressure chamber according to table 6 I. S. Navy proved to be effective in 100% of cases. In some cases, it is complemented by symptomatic pharmacological treatment.

A warning

Taravan Syndrome can be prevented by some measures that should be taken during the most demanding and prolonged (repetitive) breath-hold dives. It is necessary to clarify that each of the above factors can lead to the occurrence of this disease, but usually it is their combination that causes it.

1) the surface interval is at least twice as long as the dive time;

2) frequent fluid intake between dives;

3) avoiding difficult and prolonged diving with breath-holding in situations of thermal or psychophysical stress;

4) with age, even if the body can withstand the load well, it is recommended to reduce the intensity of descents and strive for a higher quality, and not the number of dives;

5) for multiple dives for several days in a row, pause every two or three days;

6) the presence of a reliable partner who knows the possible dangers of apnea and has basic skills in resuscitation and first aid;

7) the presence of a working cylinder with O2;

8) knowledge of telephone numbers and the location of the nearest ambulance centers and pressure chambers.

Drowning and semi-drowning

Drowning is always called “A dramatic and extremely severe clinical case, characterized by a state of asphyxia, which occurs as a result of liquid entering the airways of a victim immersed in water. In Italy alone, for example, between 2,000 and 3,000 drowning deaths, both accidental and suicidal, are recorded annually. Recent studies in the United States have shown that this is one of the main accidents in children; the same studies indicate that if you equalize the time spent in the water and in the car, the risk of drowning will be higher than the risk of a car accident. The most at risk age is from 10 to 20 years, with a predominance of 75% males. It turns out that 35% of those drowned were good swimmers.

From a purely medical point of view, it should be noted that not all drowned people died precisely because of drowning, since in about 10% of cases, death occurs from initial asphyxia, followed by drowning; in this case, the clinical picture is comparable to the picture of hypoxic syncope in a breath-hold diver. Accident occurs due to syncope, and death occurs as a consequence, and is sometimes caused by drowning.

Partial drowning is a sudden respiratory failure caused by the ingress of liquid (sea or fresh water) into the respiratory tract.

Still, a diver's syncope by itself does not immediately lead to drowning. However, if fainting occurs on the surface or in the last meters of the ascent, the unconscious diver, even if he surfaced, may, for dynamic reasons, assume a position in which his face is lowered into the water. After a certain time, which can be different depending on the person, the body will send reflex impulses prompting to inhale. At this point, the diver, if his face is in the water, will inhale a significant amount of water, which will be poured into the respiratory tract, and his body will begin to sink due to the change in buoyancy from positive to negative, since the air in the lungs has been displaced by the water. If fainting occurs underwater, the more reason to use the above mechanism. When fainting due to breath holding, as we found out, first there is respiratory arrest, and then airway flooding may occur (then drowning is called "wet"), then a state of hypoxia occurs, and, finally, cardiac arrest occurs.

When the airways are flooded, it is not only the amount of fluid trapped in it that is decisive for the survival of the victim, but also its type, the presence of chemicals or bacteria in it. Indeed, fresh water, sea water or pool water - each of them contains various toxic substances that play a significant role in complicating the clinical picture. Although the ingestion of these fluids causes various changes both in the dynamics of blood circulation and in the biological composition of the blood, due to their chemical characteristics, they always cause structural damage to the alveoli, and fresh water also causes a physicochemical change in their special component (the so-called “ surfactant "- a surfactant of the alveoli), which makes it more dangerous than salted.

In fresh water: Fresh water has a different degree of salinity, less than that of blood. And since it does not dissolve well in the blood, it forms a blocking layer around the alveoli. Consequently, gas exchange in them is hindered even after the lungs have been emptied of fresh water. Blockage of the alveoli can lead to pulmonary edema, which in turn can cause respiratory and circulatory arrest.

In salt water: salt water has a composition and salinity similar to blood plasma, and dissolves more easily in it, not blocking the alveoli so much. Once the salt water is cleared from the lungs, breathing can resume fairly quickly without serious complications. Only rarely can serious blockage of the alveoli occur, which can cause pulmonary edema with the risk of respiratory and cardiac arrest.

As already mentioned, the greatest harm in semi-drowning is caused by respiratory failure; it is closely related to a change in the gas composition of the blood, as a result of which there is a deficiency in tissue oxygenation.

The clinical picture at the initial stage, called "cardiorespiratory syndrome". It is characterized by suffocation syndrome, with possible regurgitation of liquid and food, which can enter the respiratory tract, which will further aggravate the situation due to the development of "aspiration pneumonia". In most cases, a slowdown in cardiac activity (bradycardia) also occurs, and arrhythmias (ventricular extrasystole, ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation) and arterial hypertension are also possible, i.e., phenomena that are a consequence of not only low oxygen concentration in the blood and a state of acute acidosis, but also the "immersion reflex". Subsequently, thermoregulation disorders are added to the clinical picture: first, hypothermia, and then fever; neurological disorders due to brain hypoxia with a possible seizure attack, which can also lead to irreversible damage to the nervous system. These violations do not always appear immediately after the incident, and can also occur after 6-8 hours.

Earlier we mentioned hypothermia among the complications. This term is called a decrease in body temperature below 32 ° Celsius, it is a consequence of a person's exposure to low ambient temperatures, or special diseases that affect the normal processes of thermoregulation.

In the case of semi-drowning, hypothermia is usually not too severe, since the metabolic requirements of the nervous and cardiac tissues are reduced; indeed, one should not forget that the victim in a state of hypothermia is not necessarily already dead, therefore the presence of hypothermia should always be an incentive to perform resuscitation. The literature describes cases when a drowned man was successfully resuscitated, although he was in ice water for about 40 minutes (Article "Survival after 40 minutes submersion without cerebral sequelae" - from the medical journal "Lancet").

Summary

Drowning: flooding of the airways with subsequent anoxia and asphyxia caused by the inability to carry out alveolar gas exchange.

Syncope drowning falls into two categories:

A) Dry syncope drowning:

Stop breathing;

Loss of consciousness;

Muscle contraction;

Cardiac arrest in 4-5 minutes.

C) Wet syncope drowning:

Stop breathing;

Loss of consciousness;

Muscle relaxation;

Airway flooding;

Muscle contraction;

Heart failure:

After 2-3 minutes. in fresh water;

After 5 min. in salt water.

Transportation of the victim to the surface.

Assistance and transportation with artificial respiration through the tube.

Opasnosti_zaderzhki_dyxanija.txt · Last modified: 2014/07/10 13:38 (external change)

If you hold your breath for inhale, then more blood will flow to the heart and lungs. The ventilated surface of the lungs is also larger (about 100 m2). Due to the fact that oxygen is constantly consumed in the tissues, then its transition into the blood from the alveolar air during inspiration will be more effective and occur at a lower partial pressure in the alveoli. Carbon dioxide at holding your breath while inhaling at first it will intensively diffuse into the lungs, but since it is not removed from there ("locked"), then its partial pressure will be equal to that in the blood and will contribute to its smooth growth in the body. In turn, an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood will contribute to its acidification, which leads to better binding and release of oxygen by hemoglobin. Therefore, holding your breath for inhale perfectly stimulates gas exchange in the body and contributes to its saturation with oxygen.

During exhalation and breath holding on exhalation other changes are taking place. During a strong exhalation, the pressure in the lungs becomes higher than atmospheric pressure, which leads to compression of the vena cava at the entrance to the heart. Hence, blood flow to the heart is reduced and obstructed. If you still hold your breath for exhalation- the heart will be "idle" to contract, like a pump, which has ceased to be supplied with water. Naturally, this will negatively affect its work and blood circulation in general (the pumping function of the heart's blood is disrupted). Lungs during exhalation and holding the breath for exhalation compressed; therefore, they receive little blood and the ventilated surface is reduced (about 30 m2). Oxygen practically does not enter the bloodstream, and carbon dioxide is not excreted from the blood to the lungs. This leads to a sharp increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood, which in turn stimulates the respiratory center, and through the chemoreceptors and the entire central nervous system. An increase in carbon dioxide in the blood acidifies it and sharply increases the concentration of hydrogen ions. This means that a sharp consumption of electrons by the body - the universal energy of all living things - began. The rise in body temperature and sweating during breath holding on exhalation is the first and (the main sign of the body's energetic excitement! Hence, holding the breath during exhalation is an excellent stimulator of the general energy of the body.

If breathing is viewed from the Yin-Yang position, then INHALATION (expansion, increase in space, lightness, cooling) is a Yin process; EXHAUST (contraction, acceleration of time, heaviness, rise of internal heat) is a Yang process. During inhalation retention, the Yin process is activated - the accumulation of oxygen in the blood, the transition of carbon dioxide from the blood to the lungs (accumulation, transition from internal to external). During the expiration delay, the Yang process is activated - the absorption of oxygen by the tissues, the decay of substances with the production of energy (the transition from the external to the internal, the working cycle).

Based on the foregoing, the following recommendations follow: 1 - never hold your breath at the maximum inhalation, this can lead to stretching of the lung tissue, an increase in the diameter of the alveoli, which, in general, will adversely affect health. If you need to take a maximum breath, then do it without delay. It is recommended to hold the breath while inhaling within 70-80 percent. from the depth of maximum inspiration. Moreover, the older the age, the less the depth of inspiration due to the ribs. When inhaling, work more with the diaphragm and moderately with the intercostal muscles and shoulders. 2 - never hold your breath at the maximum expiration, this is a sure way to disrupt the work of the heart. If you need to make a maximum exhalation, do it without delay. It is recommended to hold the breath while exhaling within 70-80 percent. from maximum exhalation. The weaker the heart, the less the amount of delay on exhalation. While exhaling, work more with the diaphragm - this massages the internal organs and the heart.

How fair are these recommendations? If we turn to the experience of Yoga, then the main breathing exercise is performed as follows - 1: 4: 2. Where 1 is the inhalation time; 4 - holding the breath while inhaling, 4 times longer than the inhalation time; 2 - expiration time is 2 times longer than inspiration time. There is no exit delay. A full slow exhalation is made, followed by an inhalation immediately. Everything is physiological inside and out.

Working in the rhythm of breathing 1: 4: 2, yogis only increase the time and go through three types of pranayama. Pranayama, in which inhalation, retention and exhalation are equal to 12, 48 and 24 seconds, respectively, is the lowest type of pranayama. The result of this breathing is the sweating of the body and the elimination of impurities from the body. When the time of inhalation, the delay in exhalation reaches 24, 96 and 48 seconds, respectively, it is called the middle type of pranayama. As a result of this breathing, the body begins to tremble from the passage of powerful energies. And finally, the highest type of pranayama provides for the longest inhalation, retention and exhalation times, equal to 36, 144 and 72 seconds, respectively. Through the practice of the highest type of pranoyama, a person feels the levitation of the body and the surge of Great Bliss.

The time a person can hold their breath for is directly proportional to the state of their health. Therefore, holding your breath will tell you about your health.

It is not easy to be treated by the Buteyko method. This is a lot of work for both the patient and the doctor. In addition to understanding the causes of his illness, the desire to recover, the patient requires considerable willpower and patience. When using the method of shallow breathing, medications are usually canceled, with the exception of seriously ill patients who poorly correct breathing at the beginning of treatment

Breath holding - test according to the Buteyko method

Sit on the edge of a chair to avoid pinching the arteries in your legs. To adopt the correct posture, for which to straighten your shoulders and raise your stomach, taking a normal breath, relax all the muscles of the body and stomach. Raise your eyes up (you can with lowered eyelids) and slightly pout your lips.

“Relaxation of the respiratory muscles entails a natural, non-violent exhalation,” explained Konstantin Buteyko. - At the end of the exhalation with two fingers, you need to pinch your nose, fix the delay start time on the second hand and not breathe until the first difficulty (slight lack of air), which will determine the easy (control) part of the breath holding.

The time a person can hold their breath for is directly proportional to the state of their health. Therefore, holding your breath will tell you about your health:

• less than 20 sec. - painful condition;
• 30 sec. - pay attention to your health;
• 60 sec. - you are healthy;
• 90 sec. and more - you have a good margin of safety.

By itself, such a delay is a good simulator. Doing it every day leads to a serious increase in the delay time, which will immediately affect your health.

RECOMMENDATIONS. The control pause should preferably be measured on an empty stomach. Otherwise, the blood rushes to the stomach and the respiratory center receives less oxygen and carbon dioxide and, experiencing starvation, gives the command to inhale earlier and the pause is shorter.

During the test, you need to monitor the change in heart rate: how often it increases with deep breathing and becomes less frequent during exercise. If the pulse quickens or becomes sluggish - blood pressure decreases, then the test must be stopped in order to avoid exacerbation of the disease or fainting.

The level of carbon dioxide in the body also depends on the length of the pause. The calculation is simple:

• With a pause of 60 seconds, the CO2 level is 6.5%.
• With a pause of 15 seconds, the CO2 level is 4%.

Now we divide 60 by 15, which is 4. This means that breathing is 4 times deeper than it should be.

Heart rate readings should be for an adult:

• 70 beats per minute is satisfactory
• 60 beats per minute is good
• 50 hits is great.

Warning 1: Prepare for Difficulty

It is not easy to be treated by the Buteyko method. This is a lot of work for both the patient and the doctor. In addition to understanding the causes of his illness, the desire to recover, the patient requires considerable willpower and patience. The first days of treatment, patients literally pour out sweat, trying to overcome the desire to take a deep breath. Sometimes it is possible to adjust breathing to the norm only with the help of special corsets. Depending on the severity of the disease, daily exercise is required from several weeks to several months.

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Warning 2: prepare for an unpleasant experience

Having started to practice the system of correct breathing, you need to be prepared for the unpleasant sensations that arise in the first stages of the exercises. Fear, aversion to exercise, exacerbation of illness and a feeling of pain may appear, and symptoms such as decreased appetite, increased breathing and bouts of shortness of breath are also possible. The main thing is not to stop practicing. And then, after a while, recovery will begin, and the unpleasant sensations will pass.

Warning 3: don't take medication

It is better not to use medicines, but if you do not dare to give them up, then at least half or less of the usual one. Severe patients need monitoring (diabetes requires constant laboratory monitoring).

Konstantin Buteyko stated that the widespread use of various medicines for the treatment of diseases is accompanied by serious side effects. At the same time, he noted that most of the drugs used cause allergization of the body; metabolic disorders, poisoning not only of the gastrointestinal tract, but of the whole organism as a whole. Moreover, despite their constant use, diseases are progressing, mortality from these diseases is steadily increasing. Without knowing the underlying cause of the disease, it is possible to carry out only symptomatic therapy, which still dominates in classical medicine.

Traditional treatment only temporarily relieves the symptoms of the disease, but causes additional harm with the side effects of drugs.

Warning 4: stop using other treatments

The method of volitional elimination of deep breathing should not be used in combination with other methods of treatment. They need to be finished and canceled after being convinced of their ineffectiveness. published.

From the book "Breathing by the Buteyko method. Unique breathing exercises for 118 diseases!", By Yaroslav Surzhenko

P.S. And remember, just by changing your consumption - together we are changing the world! © econet

A healthy lifestyle, an athletic body and the development of physical abilities have never lost their relevance, and now they are even more firmly in fashion. Someone buys exercise equipment, learns to dance or swim, while others develop more unusual skills, such as, for example, holding their breath. Benefit or harm - what will be more from this interesting technique?

Unusual skill

Controlling inhalation and exhalation is required during many exercises. When lifting heavy weights, diving, or preparing for a long-distance run, you also need to be able to use techniques such as holding your breath.

The benefit or harm to the body is contained in this procedure - it is still a matter of controversy. Some experts argue that stopping exhalation or inhalation, even for a short period of time, leads to oxygen starvation and causes irreversible brain damage. Others remind that respiratory control is an indispensable skill in such cases as:

• yoga classes. Holding the breath in this practice is one of the most important techniques and is called "kumbaha";
• breathing practices. Holotropic and three-phase breathing, bodyflex, rebirthing, viving and many other systems include intermittent cessation of inhalation and exhalation;
• diving. For professionals who constantly dive to great depths, one of the key skills is precisely holding the breath underwater. Exercise allows you not only to focus your thoughts and calm down, but also to significantly increase your lung capacity.

Whether you are fond of underwater hunting, pearl fishing, holotropic breathing or yoga, the ability to do without air is a pretty useful skill. However, only if the exercises for holding the breath are performed exclusively consciously and in accordance with all the rules.

Human capabilities

It is believed that an ordinary person is able to stop the respiratory process for a period of 30 seconds to 1 minute. This period of time for holding the breath is normal, and any attempt to increase it can cause dizziness or fainting.

However, there are situations when it is necessary to hold out without oxygen for much longer than a minute. So experienced swimmers, divers and pearl divers develop the skill of holding their breath under water for at least 3-5 minutes, and yoga practitioners may not breathe at all for at least half an hour. And this is despite scientific evidence that the human brain dies in 5-7 minutes of oxygen starvation!

Such results can be achieved only through persistent training. Moreover, it is necessary to practice first on land and only then practice the exercise in water. In order to perfectly master the technique of stopping breathing, it is necessary to take into account several important conditions:

• lack of excess weight. It is necessary to get rid of extra pounds so that the body needs less oxygen;
• mastering meditative techniques. Complete relaxation and the ability to control your thoughts slows down the heartbeat and eliminates anxiety. Only in this state does a person consume less oxygen;
• saturation of the lungs. There are many different techniques that allow you to saturate this organ with oxygen and even increase their volume. Such exercises will help to increase the time for holding your breath, because you will be able to inhale much more.

Regular training, quitting bad habits and mastering breathing techniques allow ordinary people to achieve truly impressive results. The world record for stopping breathing underwater belongs to Tom Sitas. The 35-year-old German managed to hold out without oxygen for 22 minutes and 22 seconds. Tom managed to achieve an amazing result, which was included in the Guinness Book of Records, thanks to many years of training. The German was able to increase the volume of his own lungs by 20 percent.

The benefits of holding your breath

There are several ways to stop the respiratory process, and each of them brings its own benefits to the body:

• for 20 seconds, the breath is held while exhaling. The benefits and harms of such an exercise, according to experts, are far from equal. It is believed that such training has no contraindications and allows each cell of the body to optimally assimilate oxygen;
• delay for up to 90 seconds on exhalation. Prolonged cessation of the respiratory process stimulates metabolic processes, improves digestion, regulates the work of sweat glands and fills the whole body with vital energy. The exercise is especially useful for "rebooting" the nervous system and restoring mental balance;
• holding your breath for more than 90 seconds. Performing an inhalation technique helps to cleanse, renew the body and activate its hidden capabilities. It is believed that being without oxygen during this time allows you to learn how to control your mind.

It is important to remember that breathing exercises must be performed under the guidance of an experienced specialist. Only in this case, training will be absolutely safe for health and will bring maximum benefit to the body.

The harm of holding your breath

Is the lack of oxygen always good for the body? This should definitely be found out, with the goal of perfectly mastering such a technique as holding the breath. The benefit or harm will be the result of training - it directly depends on the state of human health.

Mastering a new skill can be harmful in the following cases:

• the presence of bad habits;
• severe diseases of the heart and blood vessels;
• serious mental disorders;
• diseases of the organs of the endocrine system;
• rehabilitation period after a serious illness;
• pregnancy.

Despite the presence of some contraindications, the health benefits of breathing exercises are undeniable. According to scientists, it is during such exercises that the body actively produces stem cells - the most important material for the "construction" of all our organs. Spiritual teachers assert that, having mastered your own breath, you can find peace of mind and prolong life by at least 10-20 years.

Today, humanity has invented many alternatives to modern medicine. Such methods of prevention and treatment of various pathological conditions compete with drug therapy. One of the most famous world practices of this kind is yoga. Those people who practice such techniques, who have come to us from ancient times, are distinguished by wonderful health, and also live in complete harmony with their bodies. One of the most famous yoga remedies for healing the body is holding the breath, which is also called Kumbhaka. Let's talk about how kumbhaka breath holding is carried out, the benefits and harms of the technique, which technique is used, and how the breath holding treatment is carried out.

It is necessary to immediately clarify that you should not start the practice of holding your breath without mastering the simpler elements of yoga, for example, asana and Shatkarma. In addition, such a means of treatment and prevention can be used only after cleansing the body. Experts advise to achieve these preconditions together, in this case, you will get the really desired result.

So it is worth starting to practice pranayama only one and a half years after the systematic practice of asanas. During this time, a person learns to achieve a certain level of mental relaxation.

Why is holding the breath Kumbhaka valued? Benefit

The main effect on the body using kumbhak is achieved through the respiratory centers, which are designed to adapt the body's breathing to various changes in the external and internal types. If a person's environment or his psychological state changes, the rhythm of breathing changes immediately. This effect is achieved automatically. In this case, the respiratory center has a direct relationship with the nervous system, as well as with the vagus nerve and cerebral center. All of these parts of our body are responsible for regulating the functional activity of our internal organs. Accordingly, learning to consciously change the rhythm of breathing enables a person to consciously control the functions of all parts of his body. Thus, such practices give us the ability to control the work of the body. Our desire can begin to improve the liver, stabilize the nervous system, and even smooth out wrinkles on the face.

Kumbhaka treatment

With the help of holding the breath while performing pranayama exercises, a person activates the vagus nerve, and he already begins to influence the state of the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system. The vagus nerve is the tenth pair of cranial nerves. It is he who innervates the pharynx and larynx, trachea and lungs. In addition, he is responsible for the activity of the heart, esophagus, stomach, small intestine. The functioning of the spleen and kidneys, as well as blood vessels, depends on the activity of the vagus nerve. Also, this part of our body protects the body from the aggressive effects of overexcitation.

Kumbhaka has a stimulating effect on the vagus nerve, promoting salivation and sweating, decreasing heart rate and slowing down the pulse. Holding your breath helps to optimize intestinal motility and glandular activity. In addition, this practice perfectly restores nervous balance, so it will be especially useful for neurasthenics.

With a conscious breath holding, an increase in the vitality of the body cells is observed, in addition, such an exercise has a stimulating effect on all metabolic processes in the body and helps to increase the amount of energy synthesized by our body.

How is breath holding kumbhaka performed? Execution technique

Holding the breath can be performed both on exhalation and on inhalation - with filled or empty lungs. Kumbhaka available to all lasts from three to twenty seconds. This exercise helps to increase the absorption of the inhaled air. This kind of breath holding can be practiced anywhere, and it is absolutely not harmful to health. Longer kumbhakas should be performed at first only with a teacher, while the effect of such practices will be more noticeable, but they have certain contraindications for implementation.

The exercises are best performed on an empty stomach, while it is best for you to wear loose and comfortable clothing, before breathing exercises, you need to do a cycle of asanas. During pranayama, you should not experience any unpleasant sensations.

Who is in danger of holding the breath of kumbhaka? Harm to the body

Short breath holdings are completely incapable of harming a person. However, it is worth considering that this practice is completely incompatible with the consumption of alcohol and other substances that cause intoxication of the body. It is worth giving up alcohol, tobacco, and meat food at least a couple of days before starting the exercise. It should also be borne in mind that pranayama is categorically not recommended for people suffering from various mental disorders.

Doctors advise against practicing kumbhaka for problems with the heart and lungs, as well as in the presence of disturbances in the activity of the endocrine glands. In addition, you should not start performing breath holdings if you have recently suffered serious illness, or are now unwell. Certain practices are also categorically contraindicated in women who are expecting a baby.

Thus, holding your breath can effectively heal the body at a very different age and in representatives of different sexes. This technique has been successfully used for more than five centuries in India, and now has many followers around the world.

Holding your breath

Breathing (external respiration) is a process that is provided by the respiratory system and is a gas exchange between the body and the environment. When breathing, oxygen is supplied to the body, which is necessary for biological oxidation processes, which generate a large amount of vital energy. And the carbon dioxide formed in these processes is removed. What happens in the body when holding the breath and whether it brings harm - we will try to figure it out.

The physiology of breath holding

Breathing is one of the few bodily abilities that is controlled consciously or unconsciously. That is, this is a reflex activity, but it can be consciously controlled.

During normal breathing, the inspiratory center of the brain sends impulses to the muscles of the chest and diaphragm, causing them to contract. As a result, air enters the lungs.

When you hold your breath, carbon dioxide, unable to escape through the lungs, accumulates in the blood. Oxygen begins to be actively consumed by tissues, progressive hypoxia develops (low oxygen content in the blood). An ordinary person is able to hold his breath for 30 - 70 seconds, then the brain forces him to inhale. Also, if for some reason the supply of oxygen is limited (for example, in the mountains), then with the help of special receptors that respond to a decrease in oxygen and an increase in carbon dioxide in the blood, the brain receives a signal and increases the intensity of breathing. The same thing happens with active physical activity. This is the unconscious, automatic regulation of breathing.

When talking, eating, coughing, periodically there is breath holding on inhalation or exhalation - apnea. Unconscious respiratory arrest for more than 10 seconds can occur regularly in some people at night (sleep apnea syndrome).

By engaging in special breathing exercises and practicing conscious breath holding (for example, in yoga or when doing freediving), you can learn to hold your breath for a very long time. Divers hold their breath for about 3-4 minutes, and yoga masters hold their breath for 30 or more minutes.

The harm of holding your breath in a dream

As noted above, holding your breath at night during sleep is involuntary sleep apnea. Its average duration is 20-30 seconds, but sometimes it reaches 2-3 minutes. The symptom of this disease is snoring. A person with sleep apnea stops breathing during sleep and then wakes up to inhale. This can continue up to 300 - 400 times per night. The result is inadequate sleep, which leads to headaches, irritability, loss of memory and attention, and other negative consequences.

Sleep apnea causes:

• the cerebral respiratory center for some time ceases to send signals to the respiratory muscles;
• the air flow cannot reach the lungs due to the narrowing of the lumen of the airways (larynx, nasal passages);
• some somatic and nervous diseases.

Holding your breath during sleep can be dangerous, so treatment is imperative.

Wellness breath holding

According to scientific research, deliberately holding your breath is of great benefit to the body. The achievements of yoga masters are proof of this.

Respiratory gymnastics has a targeted effect on the respiratory apparatus, increases its functional reserves and causes changes in various organs and systems of the body. A person has the ability to use oxygen in smaller quantities, regulate the concentration of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the body, and stimulate internal (cellular) respiration. But this opportunity needs to be developed. This allows you to strengthen physical and mental health, prolong life expectancy. Holding the breath during inhalation and exhalation is of paramount importance in breathing exercises.

Correct execution of the breath-hold technique is essential for its safe and successful practice. To be sure of the correct execution and achieve positive results, you need the help of a qualified instructor.

Holding your breath is an important part of recovery!

The results of many years of research have shown that all absolutely healthy people are distinguished by a high content of carbon dioxide in

blood - 6.5%. It turned out that almost all metabolic processes in the body depend on the amount of CO 2 in the blood. Most people know how important oxygen is for the life of the body. Hemoglobin captures oxygen molecules in the lungs and transfers them to cells. But, if there is little carbon dioxide in the blood, then the oxygen molecule transported by hemoglobin cannot "peel off" from it, getting into the tissues of the body, as a result of which hemoglobin with the same oxygen molecule can circulate in the body for a long time! When the CO2 content is low, the oxygen-rich blood cannot give it to the tissues. A paradoxical phenomenon called the Verig Bohr effect is observed: with a lack of carbon dioxide in the blood, the human body experiences acute oxygen starvation even when the blood is oversaturated with oxygen!

There are many different methods for determining the level of CO2 in the blood, one of the simplest is based on measuring in seconds the time of holding the breath while exhaling, who will last how much without air. So, we exhaled, noted the time and tried not to exhale - the control pause (CP) between inhalation and exhalation lasting 60 seconds corresponds to a blood carbon dioxide level of 6.5%. If it is less than 5 seconds, it means that the level of CO2 in the blood is approaching the level of 3.5%.

Based on the control pause of holding the breath during exhalation, the following conclusions can be drawn about the state of human health:

0-2 sec... - dying condition;

2-5 sec... - a control pause between inhalation and exhalation from two to five seconds indicates a serious health condition, the presence of severe and latent diseases;

from 5 to 10 seconds inclusive- zone of increased risk: any unfavorable factor leads to a drop in health in the zone of danger to life;

10-20 sec... - poor health under the predominant influence of the energies of ignorance (characteristics of the energies of ignorance: unregulated and disordered life, improper and unbalanced diet, bad habits, bad relations with others, etc.);

20-24 sec... - a transitional period. 20 seconds - the lower border of the transition to the zone of sustainable health with a noticeable influence of the energy of passion combined with ignorance;

After 24 sec... - resistance is great, it is very difficult to significantly improve the state of health. All severe stages of diseases (chronic) are left behind. Chronic diseases progress to the middle stage of severity. Acute illnesses (flu, colds, etc.) are overcome with the help of breathing exercises in 1-3 days. From the point of view of modern Western medicine, this is a "practically healthy person";

30 sec... - the line at which many chronic diseases go away, while others pass into an easy stage;

40-44 sec... - a transitional period. 40 seconds - the lower border of the transition to the zone of sustainable health under the influence of passion with residual elements of ignorance in the gross and etheric body and with elements of goodness at the level of good everyday habits and striving for self-awareness;

After 44 sec... - high stability of health in the energy of passion: great efficiency, optimism, excellent health (but very serious offenses in the past - "karmic debts" such as diabetes, heart, kidney, and cerebral insufficiency have not completely disappeared);

50 sec... - cleaning (global) of the nervous system. Change in attitude, contemplation, deep understanding and other mental changes. A person literally changes before our eyes. The energy of goodness begins to suppress the energies of ignorance and passion. Man strives for knowledge and purity. All diseases (except for oncology and some very serious karmic diseases) are a thing of the past;

60-64 sec... - a transitional period. 60 seconds - the lower border of the transition to the zone of sustainable health in the energy of goodness. These people are steadily striving for Divine Love!

At a level with a natural pause above 64 seconds there are mystic yogis who begin to manifest supernatural abilities.

After 80 seconds, the super health level begins: such a person becomes not susceptible to disease, and nothing can harm his health.

There are yogic methods, they are intricate and cunning, at first glance, but they must be made a habit, then everything will be easy.

The higher the natural pause between inhalation and exhalation, the lower the depth and frequency of our breathing. The breathing of a healthy person is light, almost imperceptible breathing. Some breathing exercises, if performed incorrectly, can do more harm than good, so they are best done only under the guidance of an experienced professional. Nevertheless, there is one method, called "IstaZdrav breathing", which is quite simple to perform, universal and effective enough for everyone.

"Breath of IstaZdrav" is a set of natural factors, each of which

oops, by itself helps to reduce the rate of respiration. Combining together, they put the body into a healthy, shallow breathing regime and provide a powerful therapeutic effect. Each of these factors is very important in itself, and you must learn to observe some of them whenever possible: on public transport, listening to lectures at an educational institution or being at a business conference - thus, you will constantly make a certain contribution. in the piggy bank of your health.

In order to fully expand all the alveoli of the lungs, in the morning it is useful to carry out several cycles of breathing exercises "Basic Pranayama" - alternating breathing, Bhastrika and Cleansing breath. This will allow you to breathe with the entire volume of your lungs, which, in turn, will significantly reduce your breathing rate.

So let's get started.

1) Comfortable posture... Any tension causes a reflex increase in the depth and frequency of breathing. This is an axiom. Therefore, the more comfortable you are, the lower your oxygen consumption. In everyday life and at work, this means that you must equip your desk or workplace so that you do not have to be in an uncomfortable position. It is very important to choose the right chair and adjust the height of your desk. In a complex exercise, this means that you can sit in any position that is convenient and comfortable for you - the lotus, half-lotus, cross-legged Turkish style, or simply sit on a chair. At the same time, the seat should be neither too hard nor too soft: hard causes inconvenience and tension, and too soft requires additional effort to maintain balance. In this case, you do not need to lean on the back of the chair. So we sat down.

2) Correct posture... Raise your shoulders up, pull them back as much as possible and lower them. Everything is very simple. Any violations of posture immediately cause tension in the internal organs, which also entails increased breathing.

3) Relaxation of the diaphragm(the membrane that separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity). This is not difficult: pull in your stomach, helping with your palms, and suddenly release. That's all. The diaphragm is relaxed.

4) relax the base of the brain... 78% of the cerebral cortex is reflexively associated with the activity of the fingers. Therefore, it is not surprising that many brilliant people often made something, were good sculptors, painters, were engaged in modeling, etc. - that is, their fingers were in constant motion. Therefore, for the mental development of children, it is very important to keep them busy with manual creativity. Relaxing the cerebral cortex through a reflex connection is also very simple: to do this, you need to raise both hands up above your head and shake them strongly with relaxed hands for 20-30 seconds. At the same time, many people immediately feel a noticeable freshness in their heads.

5) Raise your pupils up... This can be done with your eyes closed or with your eyes open - it doesn't matter. When the pupils are raised up in a person, oxygen consumption immediately decreases and CO2 in the blood begins to increase. For some people who have not raised their pupils in a long time, this can be a difficult task, but, as a rule, within a few days, the eye muscles of the eye become active quickly. It is curious to note that in ancient Greek the word "man" literally meant "looking up", and the word "space" is translated as "decoration". In other words, only a person is able to direct his gaze upward, both literally and figuratively. From a physiological point of view, humans are, in fact, the only mammals that can raise their pupils upward; animals, in order to look up, need to raise their heads up.

6) Relax your facial muscles... Mental stress also causes increased breathing, and our mental state is closely related to facial expressions. By relaxing the muscles of the face, we also contribute to our inner relaxation. It is necessary to relax the muscles of the face with the thought that the base of the tongue relaxes, the lips need to be pulled into a tube and then released, blowing them a little. Imagine that all the muscles in your face are hanging loosely on it, and your cheeks are relaxed, like a bulldog. Periodic complete relaxation of the facial muscles is necessary for you to keep them in good shape - this helps to preserve the beauty of your face.

7) muscle relaxation... Imagine that, having warmed up well, you are lying in a hot bath, from which the water level gradually decreases. When the water is completely drained out, your body becomes completely relaxed and heavy, like wet cotton wool. The words "muscles" and "psyche" in the subconscious mind are associated with tension, therefore, to achieve relaxation, self-hypnosis formulas need exactly the correct formulation of words, and to achieve relaxation, the word "relaxation" must come first, immediately adjusting the body in a certain way.

8) Mental relaxation.

9) We begin to train breath holding on exhalation... At least seven delays in one approach. Between delays, we recover, we try to breathe like children - the lower abdomen, the chest practically does not rise and breathing becomes natural.

The breath holding itself is divided into two stages: the control pause (CP) - the time of holding the breath after natural exhalation until the first discomfort or feeling of slight lack of air appears, and the volitional pause (VP) - the time the pause continues from the end of the CP to inhalation. We record the CP and VP time in a separate table (download the table and graph) and look at the dynamics of the increase in the delay time.

Below are the charts of the work carried out:

CORRECT

WRONG

TRAINING DOES NOT HAPPEN

Since the body is exposed to a complex effect during such breathing, chronic and latent diseases can be sharply exacerbated. This is a good sign - a signal that the process has started and the body is actively getting rid of accumulated harmful substances and dead cells. Your achieved result will drop, but not lower than the previous level - you get a wave chart (see the first chart) with a gradual increase in results day by day. You can call this a kind of crisis of cleansing the body, if the state of health has deteriorated very much, you can take a break and continue after a while.

10) The maximum duration of one lesson - before the first unpleasant sensations appear, no more than 15 minutes: the back is tired, the eyes are tired, the legs are numb, etc. As we already know, any unpleasant sensation causes internal tension and increases the breathing rate. Many people have very weak back muscles, so it is sometimes difficult for them to even just maintain correct posture. You need to rest at least a little before continuing with your studies.

For your achievements, we have summarized all the above information in a table.

State organism		deviations			Pause after exhalation
hardy	Superficial
	DEEP

Control pause (CP) - the time of holding the breath after natural exhalation until the first discomfort or feeling of slight shortness of breath appears.

Volitional pause (VP) - the time of continuation of the pause from the end of the CP to inhalation.

Maximum pause (MP) - the sum of the control and volitional pauses.

HR is the heart rate per minute.

RR - respiratory rate per minute.

AP - automatic pause.

Using this technique, it is possible to cure respiratory diseases, diabetes mellitus, allergies, almost all metabolic diseases and a whole list of other diseases, provided that the patient has already adjusted his daily routine and stopped using substances that accelerate metabolic processes in the body, namely : alcohol, tobacco, non-vegetarian and caffeinated foods. For medicinal purposes, this exercise must be given at least one hour a day (morning, afternoon, evening and before bedtime). The main thing is the regularity of the practice.

Lesson on "Breathing IstaZdrav" before bed will allow you to sleep better in a shorter period of time, and if you breathe like this for 10-15 minutes before eating, then you can better get satiated with much less food. Among other things, you will also become much calmer and more confident in yourself.

This practice has no contraindications, is effective, simple to execute, easy and accessible to everyone. It should always be well remembered that our main goal is not just a long, but a long and happy life in the service of God and people. Human life should be judged not by its duration or by the number of breaths we take, but by its quality, that is, by the number of moments when it takes our breath away!

Bodyflex! What is the benefit or harm from it?

Why Bodyflex is harmful.
The creator of the "Bodyflex" method Greer Childers in her books writes a lot of correct and useful things about deep breathing, about the supply of oxygen to tissues, about the fact that the best protection against cancer is the full provision of healthy body cells with oxygen, etc. But when she starts to the description of their method, all these statements are beginning to look somewhat ridiculous, since "Bodyflex" itself has the exact opposite - anti-oxygen! - focus.
If we briefly designate the sequence of respiratory movements, then it looks like this: exhalation - quick inhalation - strong exhalation - 10-second breath holding - inhalation.
What is striking in this scheme? What is the basis of the method?
In a 10 second breath hold.
"Bodyflex" is a method based on breath holdings, and, moreover, very large ones. Not breathing for 10 seconds AFTER exhalation is an extremely long time!
With common sense, it is clear that holding the breath, and even after exhalation, if it is capable of supplying the body with something, it is not oxygen, but carbon dioxide. It is from this that all the signs that we see in everyone who are engaged in "Bodyflex" appear - sweating, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate - all these are signs that there is a lot of carbon dioxide in the body.
In other words, "bodyflex" is not at all what Greer Childers claims to be, and it has nothing to do with the full supply of oxygen to all tissues, its entire effect is based on prolonged breath holding, which leads to an increase in the content of carbon dioxide in the blood ...
Why are breath holdings harmful and how do they affect our body?
Here I want to digress a little and tell you something about how our brain works and works. The brain consists of two parts that are not equal and differ in composition: the large brain and the cerebral cortex. The large brain occupies 4/5 of the total volume of the brain, consists of two hemispheres and is built mainly of white matter. From above, this large brain is covered with a thin layer (2-5 mm) of gray matter, which is called the cerebral cortex. In general, it is customary to call the cerebral cortex - the cortex, and the large brain itself - the subcortex. The cerebral cortex is a relatively small and young formation that arose about 60 thousand years ago. The age and volume of the subcortex is much larger, it arose several million years ago and its volume exceeds the volume of the crust by 5-10 times. The subcortex was formed millions of years ago and its only function is to ensure the survival of the organism at any time and in any place. All activity of the subcortex (subconsciousness) is determined by the instinct of self-preservation, which forces a person to act in accordance with their emotions, instincts and needs. So, the subconscious is the absolute possession of our instinct for self-preservation. Everything here is subordinated to survival, survival and survival again.
You can't do Bodyflex for a long time!
Bodyflex is a breathing practice built entirely on breath holding and oxygen starvation, which, in the long term, is extremely dangerous for both the brain and the body. For the brain, this is dangerous because a person begins to think worse, becomes inadequate and prone to lying. It is dangerous for the body because oxygen starvation of tissues can lead to a catastrophic result - the formation of a cancerous tumor. The fact is that the cells of the body that receive oxygen from the blood have a huge advantage over cancer cells that arise every second in our body. Cells of the body, receiving nutrition directly from the blood, multiply much faster than cancer cells and, competing with them for nutrients, quickly win this fight. Cancer cells, as soon as they arise, immediately die off without receiving nutrients.

LIGHTWEIGHT

As for the benefits, I can say that it really helps to lose weight. The whole body is tightened. And this can be seen from the first days of classes. To learn how to breathe correctly, it's best to watch the video. There, just this aunt who invented Bodyflex, breathes like a steam locomotive. But there is also harm from all this. He is in oxygen starvation and an increase in the level of carbon dioxide in the body. It is believed that weight loss is achieved not from a special type of breathing, but from the stress that the body experiences for 15 minutes. The pressure also rises.
In general, it is better to do something than do nothing. After all, summer is coming! Swimwear and all that! The benefits and harms of a microwave oven