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Here you will find information and resources that you may find helpful when exploring the connections between mind, body, and spirit. Topics are roughly grouped by category, but the distinction between some of these topics is fuzzy at best, so you may find what you are looking for under a heading that you were not expecting. Be creative in your exploration. Moreover, this is meant to be a living document, so feel free to check in again later.
Quick links to the general categories provided below:
- Mind-Body Connection
- Breath
- Respiration: Breath and Gas Exchange
- Inspiration: Breath and Spirit
- Heart Rate Variability
- Connecting Breath, Heart, and Mind
- Focus and Concentration
- Breathing Exercises
Mind-Body Connection
In an attempt to understand and come to grips with the complex world in which we live, the concept of reductionism is often applied. Reductionism entails an approach by which a complex system is studied by breaking it down into simpler and more manageable components. This is a valid approach, but often, after breaking the complex problem into its corresponding subcomponents, one neglects to reconnect the pieces and thus restore a holistic view. In that context, we have developed a tendency to think of the components of the human body as independent entities. The brain does the thinking and controls our involuntary functions, the heart pumps the blood, the lungs facilitate the exchange of gas in the blood and the out environment, and so forth. But what about the big picture? We know that there is communication between these components of our bodies and that their functions are naturally connected. There is a growing body of research revealing that the degree to which our bodies affect our mind and our minds affect our bodies is actually more profound than originally believed.
You may have heard someone proclaim how powerful thoughts can be. Maybe you have explored this at some point in your own life by attempting to create some element of change in a habit or belief or similar by changing your conscious thoughts. Perhaps you were successful and perhaps you did not observe any difference as a result of your mental actions. Well, the process of harnessing conscious thought to change subconscious patterns can be relatively “straightforward” to describe but difficult to put into practice.
There has been much research conducted, many books written, and even more lectures and presentations given regarding the mind-body connection. It can be a deep dive. As an introduction on one aspect of how we can “rewire our brains”, you may find the following video from Dr. Joe Dispenza illuminating.
The connection between mind and body is not simply a passive connection and form of communication. We can make conscious choices that impact this interplay. In the video below, Dr. Michael Greger provides a brief discussion on how we can influence the mind-body connection.
Breath
As we mentioned in the Breathe section of this webpage, there is much more to breathing than one might initially imagine. We can choose to ignore the breath, and it will continue functioning as part of the autonomic nervous system. And the communications between our mind and body will attempt to establish the most efficient pattern of respiration based on our particular metabolic needs. For most individuals and under ideal conditions, this mode of breathing will serve us quite well. But, life does not always provide us with ideal conditions and sometimes we will want to be more observant of the breath and guide the breath.
Breathing awakens body intelligence. Instead of just going through life with your head leading the way, breath allows you to open your emotional IQ, heart intelligence, and intuition, so you can show up better prepared for every moment in life. There are certain experiences that we cannot think our way through, we have to feel our way through them with the breath.
Dan Brulé
Over the last couple of years, there has been a notable increase in awareness of the power of breathing and the impact it can have on our health and well-being. However, the art of breath mastery or breathwork is not a new concept. Breathwork has been studied and practiced by yogis, mystics, martial artists, and others for thousands of years. But, the early practitioners of breathwork tended to keep the specifics of their knowledge and techniques secret. It has only been in the last several decades that these ancient practices have made their way into mainstream society. As a result, it is being recognized that breathwork offers a host of benefits, such as: an improvement in day-to-day (functional) breathing, a reduction in bouts of breathlessness, an improvement in the delivery of oxygen to the cells of the body, better focus and concentration, an improvement in the body’s core strength, an increase in energy, and an improvement in the quality of sleep. Moreover, many of the benefits are being studied and verified through numerous research projects and clinical trials. That is, the power of breathwork described in the ancient wisdom schools is being corroborated by current theories of respiratory physiology.
How can activity as routine as breathing be so powerful? To address this question let’s consider a bit of physiology and what we will refer to as the body’s innate internal intelligence. The human body is a remarkably resilient organism. We are able to adapt to a daily barrage of environmental changes, which could potentially disrupt our physical, mental, and emotional balance. To cope with this, the body has evolved elaborate regulatory mechanisms to help maintain equilibrium within our respiratory system, blood chemistry, heart rate, mental state, and other physiological functions. The body is continually monitoring the relationship between itself and its immediate environmental conditions, assessing appropriate biological responses, and then initiating the responses as needed. Largely this progression of events occurs in the background without our conscious awareness. It is governed by the body’s innate internal intelligence, which helps regulate the physiological functions designed to maintain balance and equilibrium. A central and critical player in the balancing process is the breath.
We briefly examine the breath and the process of breathing below.
Respiration: Breath and Gas Exchange
At its most fundamental level, the role of breathing is to draw oxygen-laden air into our lungs and to expel carbon dioxide. The human body relies on numerous physiological processes to maintain a healthy balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood for the purpose of efficiently delivering oxygen to metabolically active tissues and removing carbon dioxide from the same tissues.
An overview of the respiratory system is presented in the two videos below.
Our bodies have adapted to cope with intermittent and short-lived episodes of stress. For example, we have learned how to harness our resources when confronted by a threatening situation such as a predator or enemy. In these moments our “fight or flight” or sympathetic system is activated. After confronting the threat, the body will deactivate the sympathetic system and reactivate the “rest and digest” or parasympathetic system. A brief overview of these two systems is provided in the table below.
| Parasympathetic Nervous System | Sympathetic Nervous System | |
| Function | Control homeostasis and the body’s rest-and-digest response | Mobilize the body’s fight-or-flight response to perceived threats |
| Origin of activation | Sacral region of the spinal cord, medulla, cranial nerves 3, 7, 9, and 10 | Thoracic and lumbar regions of spinal cord |
| Neuron pathways | Longer pathways, slower system | Very short neurons, faster system |
| Heart rate | Decreases | Increases |
| Blood flow | Directed to the viscera | Directed to the extremities |
| Lungs | Bronchial tubes constrict | Bronchial tubes dilate |
| Muscles | Relax | Contract |
| Digestive system | Increases stomach movement and secretions | Decreases stomach movement and secretions |
| Saliva and mucus production | Increases | Decreases |
| Pupils | Constrict | Dilate |
| Adrenaline release | No action of the adrenal gland | Release adrenaline from the adrenal gland |
Stressors, in the appropriate proportions, can actually be beneficial to our systems. They help train the body to be adaptive and malleable. However, we are in a phase of human evolution in which stress has become an unrelenting and chronic condition. We are constantly confronted with stressors brought about by our fast-paced lifestyles. Our minds and bodies cannot easily distinguish between sources of threats. For example, our internal fight or flight response can be triggered by the risk of facing a dangerous animal, having an argument with a work colleague, or even missing a deadline. Moreover, we are expected by society to do more, to be more, and to achieve more. In our attempts to cope with these conditions we have adopted the habit of breathing more. This leads to dysfunctional breathing.
When we over breathe, our bodies release too much carbon dioxide. This impacts the delivery of oxygen delivery to our tissues. Oxygen in the blood is predominantly carried by hemoglobin proteins in our red blood cells. The affinity of hemoglobin to oxygen (how tightly the oxygen is bound to the hemoglobin) is affected by the presence of carbon dioxide. As discussed in the video below regarding the oxygen dissociation curve, the presence of carbon dioxide makes it easier for hemoglobin to release oxygen to the body. That is, we can more efficiently utilize the oxygen in the blood in the presence of carbon dioxide.
Inspiration: Breath and Spirit
What is the link between inspiration, breath, and spirit? Well, they are actually closely connected. Let’s examine the word inspiration. One can approach it from an etymological perspective and note that it derives from an “immediate influence of God or a god” and “inhaling, breathing in” or “blow into, breathe upon”. By way of actual definitions, as taken from Merrian-Webster, we find that inspiration means
- An inspiring agent or influence
- (a) The quality or state of being inspired; (b) Something that is inspired
- The act of drawing in, specifically the drawing in of air into the lungs
- (a) A divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to received and communicate sacred revelation; (b) The action of power of moving the intellect or emotions; (c) The act of influencing or suggesting opinions
Moreover, Meriam-Webster offers this interesting discussion regarding the history of the word:
Inspiration has an unusual history in that its figurative sense appears to predate its literal one. It comes from the Latin inspiratus (the past participle of inspirare, “to breathe into, inspire”) and in English has had the meaning “the drawing of air into the lungs” since the middle of the 16th century. This breathing sense is still in common use among doctors, as is expiration (“the act or process of releasing air from the lungs”). However, before inspiration was used to refer to breath it had a distinctly theological meaning in English, referring to a divine influence upon a person, from a divine entity; this sense dates back to the early 14th century. The sense of inspiration often found today (“someone or something that inspires”) is considerably newer than either of these two senses, dating from the 19th century.
When we are unaware of our breathing and it is taking place in the background, are we being breathed? You could also ask, are we being inspired? Conversely, when we are consciously controlling our breath, are we bringing inspiration to our bodies? These are worthy topics for our consideration.
Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
The rhythm of your heart is typically not constant. In fact, it is healthier if the rhythm is not constant. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a measure of the difference in time between the beats of your heart, typically expressed in thousandths of a second (ms). Greater values of HRV suggest that your body is adaptable. According to the Heart Math Institute (https://www.heartmath.org/), “The study of heart rate variability, is a powerful, objective and noninvasive tool to explore the dynamic interactions between physiological, mental, emotional and behavioral processes.” HRV can also be used to gauge the health and functioning of the autonomic nervous system.
Although the previous video is titled “Everything You Should Know About Heart Rate Variability (HRV)”, if you would like to take an even deeper dive into the topic, here is another good video.
Connecting Breath, Heart, and Mind
The rhythm of our heart is tied to our breathing. As we breathe in, our heart rate goes up. Conversely, as we breathe out, our heart rate goes down. This is known as Respiration Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA). Whereas HRV is a metric used to monitor rhythmic changes in the heart rate, RSA relates the synchrony between respiratory rate and heart rate. During the process of inspiration and expiration and the corresponding impact on the heart rate, modifications occur within our autonomic nervous system. RSA is governed by the vagus nerve. Considering that the vagus nerve consists of 80 – 90% efferent (body to brain) nerve fibers, this means that how we breathe also affects the signals going to our brains.
Focus and Concentration
Many people struggle with focus and concentration. This is understandable considering how many distractions we confront on a daily basis, or an hourly basis, or even every minute. To some extent, we learn to crave distractions. Additionally, our nervous systems become fatigued from overstimulation and our need to deal with a seemingly never-ending onslaught of stress in our lives. The body responds by activating our sympathetic nervous system. As we mentioned above, our bodies were not designed to remain in a constant state of fight or flight. Further exacerbating the situation, societal conventions instruct us to behave as though we were in a relaxed and controlled state. For example, you may be in a meeting with a colleague, who is pushing your buttons and causing you to become agitated (fight or flight) at the same time, you are expected to remain in the meeting and act civil (rest and digest). It is as if you are pressing the gas pedal of a car while applying the brakes. It is no wonder that we find it difficult at times to focus and concentrate.
When we relax our breathing we relax our bodies. The brain is continuously receiving signals from the environment and from within in order to assess if we are in a state of well-being or threat. Different components in the brain are tasked with coordinating these different inputs and then taking appropriate actions as needed. If the brain detects that our breathing is slow, deep, and regular, then it concludes that all must be well and that we can use our energies for rest and digestion. It is time to chill. Now, what happens if you are in a stressful situation? Perhaps you are about to give an important speech or you need to prepare yourself to take an exam or you must confront someone regarding an uncomfortable topic. By controlling your breathing, you can communicate to the body everything is under control. This allows the portions of our brains responsible for higher-order thinking and processing to engage. In this way, we can bring more focus and concentration to a situation.
Breathing Exercises
Below are some simple breathing exercises that you may wish to try. They are generally easy to perform and can have immediate, noticeable effects. However, for long-term effects, it is recommended to establish a regular practice of breathwork.
What is easy to do is also easy not to do.
Jim Rohn
The exercises below will be explained.
Low, Slow, Deep Breathing
4-7-8 Breathing
Box Breathing