The power of breath
In medicine, one of the first things they teach you to assess and establish when taking care of trauma patients is an Airway, Breathing, and Circulation, or the ABC’s. The basic principle is simple; the human body cannot function without oxygen.
Vital signs are regularly taken on all trauma patients from
the moment care is initiated in the field until they are discharged from the
hospital. A great deal of information
can be gained from assessing the breathing of trauma patients; however, have
you ever assessed your own breathing?
How you breathe when faced with a stressful situation can affect your
performance in such a situation. Rate,
depth, and steadiness of breathing each play a significant role in your ability
to effectively complete your job. Quick,
shallow breathing will raise your heart rate, significantly impairing hand-eye
coordination, decreasing judgement, and making it harder for you to complete
tasks.
There is a way to counteract these negative effects of
stress caused by quick, shallow breathing.
Tactical breathing is a breathing technique used by the military to
physically and emotionally improve the tactical athlete’s focus and improve
performance. Humans are born with the
innate knowledge of how to breathe.
However, by consciously paying attention to breathing rate, depth, and
steadiness, athletes can learn how to control breathing. This has been shown to decrease stress,
control your emotions, and improve long-term health.
Tactical breathing helps to quickly and effectively relax an
athlete in critical environments. When
involved in stressful situations, the sympathetic nervous system is active,
thus increasing heart rate and blood pressure, as well as increasing production
of stress hormones, including cortisol and norepinephrine. To offset the sympathetic nervous system, tactical
athletes should have some control over activating the parasympathetic nervous
system. Tactical breathing can help to
do this.
To perform tactical breathing, take steady, deep breaths,
with longer inhalations and exhalations that each last between 4-6
seconds. Feedback is then sent to the
brain lowering heart rate and blood pressure.
The release of the stress hormones is also slowed. Thus, counteracting stress, increasing
alertness, enhancing immunity, and improving metabolism. Additionally, this breathing technique can
reduce symptoms associated with anxiety, depression, insomnia, and
post-traumatic stress disorder.
Not only is tactical breathing important while out in the
field, but it can also help during your training sessions and workouts. Coordinating your breathing with
weightlifting can help you to lift heavier weights and also prevent injuries to
the spine and other joints.
Through the use of tactical breathing to gain control over
breathing rate, depth, and steadiness, tactical athletes can gain control over
stressful situations. Maintaining a
slow, steady breathing rate, hand-eye coordination will improve, and you will be
able to more accurately and precisely complete work-related tasks. In high stress situations, the more you can
remain under control and keep your focus, the better you will be able to handle
those situations.
By: J. Scott, DPT, ATC, CSCS, TSAC-F
Sources: Human performance resources
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