COVID-19

It may seem far-fetched that breathing retraining and performance anxiety management could be applicable to a viral pandemic, but there are some valuable lessons that Big Breath Productions workshops can offer in these times. Below is some information about why wearing masks is important at the moment, and some tips and tricks on how to breathe more comfortably in them.

Breathing and breath control is a vital part of the Big Breath Productions workshops, and it is vital that they are performed at a safe distance. All of David’s coaching and workshop packages can be delivered online or safely distanced in person.

Key facts to take away:
How you react to wearing a mask is directly related to your sensitivity to carbon dioxide. To help with this, you can:

• Practice slowing down your breath

• Practice breathing into your belly keeping your upper chest & neck still

• Practice wearing masks for small periods of time

• Practice breathing only through your nose

Why are masks important?

In 1918, the Spanish Flu killed millions of people worldwide. A patriotic war time parade “The Liberty Loan Parade” in Philadelphia spread the disease across the city. Within 72 hours of the parade, all hospitals in Philadelphia were full. The city was soon in crisis; nearly 14,000 people died in 6 weeks and more than 17,500 in 6 months. There was soon a new phrase coined: “Spit Spreads Death”. Wearing a mask during these times may not have stopped the pandemic, but worn and treated properly could certainly have helped immensely in containing the spread, and in many cases, prevented infection altogether. As the COVID-19 virus is spread in the same way (by respiratory droplets), some of the lessons about mask-wearing and personal protective equipment (PPE) we learned from the 1918 pandemic can be applied to today. Most obviously, that wearing masks can prevent the spread of infections.

Breathing in a mask can be uncomfortable

Understandably so. Not only is it restrictive, but for some it can be more complicated. If you have had a traumatic breathing-related experience, such as a near drowning incident, or you have claustrophobia, this will make you breathe harder and faster while wearing a mask, and most likely through your mouth. This in turn makes you breathe through your upper chest and tense your neck and shoulder muscles, triggering the fight-or-flight response. This may even lead to chronic neck pain or headaches.

Upper Chest Breathing

When we breathe vertically into the upper chest instead of belly or diaphragmatic breathing, we are unnecessarily using accessory muscles around the collar bone and neck. This can cause a raft of problems including shoulder instability, forward head posture and headaches. This eventually prevents you from maintaining strong, stable core strength.

Breathing Low and Slow is the Way to Go

Happily, there are exercises we can practice to counteract the effects of upper chest breathing, and to breathe more comfortably in a mask:

1) Practice slowing down your breath and breathing into your abdomen.
Make sure to keep your shoulders and neck still, and breathe through your nose; this engages the diaphragm automatically.

2) Practice wearing a mask and breathing through your nose for small periods of time.
Maybe 5 minutes while you’re watching TV, reading, or engaging in some other task. Then practice deliberately slowing the breath down. Build this time up in increments, so when you have to wear a mask for more than an hour or two you are more accustomed to it.

3) Practice small breath holds.
After you are relaxed, breathe in and out through the nose. Hold your breath for 3-5 seconds, then breathe normally (through the nose) for 10 seconds. Repeat this for 10 minutes. This increases your tolerance to carbon dioxide as well as increasing Nasal Nitric Oxide (NNO; more below). These small breath holds are one of the many Buteyko Breathing exercises that can not only help you feel more comfortable wearing a mask, but also help treat conditions like asthma, sleep apnea, symptoms of anxiety, and more.

If at any point you feel dizzy or light headed, please take a break from the exercise and breathe normally.

How you react to wearing a mask is directly related to your sensitivity to carbon dioxide, so practicing slowing down your breathing, breathing through your nose and practicing wearing a mask for short periods of time can all help to feel more comfortable while wearing these important pieces of protective gear.

For more advanced techniques to help build your tolerance to carbon dioxide and practices in nasal breathing and breath control, you can book Buteyko Breathing lessons with David on the contact page.

What about carbon dioxide?

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are about 0.04%, which is lower than most people expect. The normal concentration of carbon dioxide in your blood is around 5%, which is far higher than atmospheric levels. In fact, the body needs this concentration of carbon dioxide in order for our red blood cells to release the oxygen they are carrying to deliver it to our tissues. This is called the Bhor Effect, discovered by Danish physiologist Christian Bhor in 1904. It is true that carbon dioxide will pool in a mask, but remember, it is not just a waste gas, and the amount we breathe in while wearing a mask is at perfectly safe levels.

Will a mask really protect me?

Wearing a mask is very clearly beneficial to preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It has been demonstrated that not only will wearing a mask make it much less likely that you will become infected with the virus, it will also prevent you spreading the infection. It has been calculated that you breathe out 42% more respiratory droplets through your mouth. These droplets are what spreads the virus, so it’s important to protect others by stopping these droplets with a mask. Many people infected with the COVID-19 virus don’t experience any symptoms at all, so masks will keep you and the people you come in contact with safe, whether you feel sick or not.

For more information about how to properly wear a medical or fabric mask, visit this World Health Organization website.

What will nasal breathing do to protect me?

Nasal breathing itself won’t protect you from infection, but it can reduce the risk of you becoming infected, or infecting others. Your mouth, which is much bigger than your nose, takes in a significantly higher volume of air and anything that’s in it. One way to minimise the risk of infection is to switch to nasal breathing, and simply take in a smaller amount of air, and therefore potentially, viral load. If you are unable to breathe through your nose, covering your nose and mouth with a mask will significantly reduce the viral load you may be breathing in.

The nose also produces nasal nitric oxide (NNO), which is an antimicrobial gas that is known to have important functions in the regulation of blood flow, neurotransmission, chronic inflammation, lung function, and ciliary motility (Åkerström et al., 2005; Francis et al., 2010). Its discovery in 1998 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Inhaled nitric oxide is currently being investigated as a potential treatment for those infected with the COVID-19 virus, as reported by Chemical & Engineering News on the 20th of May, 2020.

Breathing gently and slowly through the nose allows greater concentrations of nitric oxide to be picked up by the incoming air for improved blood circulation as well as airway dilation (McKeown, P. 2018. Close Your Mouth. Buteyko Books, Galway).

How should I breathe if someone near me coughs or sneezes without covering their mouth?

As you may be encountering a high viral load in this situation, the best thing to do is to hold your breath and walk away. This is why learning to practice small breath holds as described above can be helpful in building up your stamina, allowing you to more safely move away. Doing this combined with wearing a mask will significantly decrease your chances of being exposed to a high viral load.

How can I stop my glasses fogging up?

Make sure the bottom of your glasses sits over the top of your mask. Some people find taping the top of their mask to their skin using a light surgical paper tape such as micropore works a treat. Making a return to slow nasal breathing will also help.

To learn more about breathing in a mask, the benefits of nasal breathing, or how exercises on breathing low & slow, please visit the contact page to make an inquiry.