W WELLBEING
L
ARE YOU SUFFERING FROM
EMAIL & TEXT APNEA?
BY JOEL JELEN, BREATHING EXPERT
The focus on breathing better for health has slowly gathered
pace over the last 10 years thanks to the likes of yoga,
mindfulness and meditation practices.
Some people I’ve worked with refer to what I do in retraining
people’s breathing using Buteyko techniques as ‘the next yoga’.
Regardless, the process of raising awareness of Buteyko has
been made easier partly through how many people overbreathe
on a daily basis in and outside of work. Many of you during the
day will spend seven hours or more in front of screens each day,
albeit on email or texting. Emmanuel Stamatakis a researcher in
the field, found that “…even those who exercise can’t overcome
the detrimental effects of too much screen time.”
Many people habitually shallow breathe or hold their breath
when t hey email. They comment that their breathing is
completely different when walking around compared with
being on a computer. Another researcher and author Linda
Stone spent seven months observing and talking with others
about email apnea, and even tested friends at her dining room
table, using a simple device that tracked pulse and heart rate
variability (HRV). She also spoke with researchers, clinicians,
psychologists, and neuroscientists to get a sense of what
happens to our physiology on cumulative shallow breathing and
breath holding.
It was Stone who conjured the phrase email apnea or screen
apnea, which means, temporary cessation of breath or shallow
breathing while working (or playing!) in front of screens.
She also noticed that only about 80% of the people observed
and tested had email apnea. Twenty percent did not have it. She
then became very interested in the 20%! The people who didn’t
have email apnea were dancers, musicians, an iron man athlete
and high performance athletes and a test pilot. When she
questioned these people, she learned that they had been taught
breathing techniques to manage their energy and emotions.
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Drs. Margaret Chesney and David Anderson have demonstrated
that cumulative breath holding contributes to stress-related
diseases. The body becomes acidic, the kidneys begin to re-
absorb sodium, and as the balance of oxygen, carbon dioxide,
and nitric oxide becomes compromised, our biochemistry
is thrown off. Nitric Oxide (not to be confused with nitrous
oxide, the “laughing gas” used in the dentist’s office) has
been implicated in immune function, learning, memory and
cognition, sleeping, weight, feeling pain, and inflammation.
With email apnea, or compromised breathing, we tend to go
into a “fight or flight” or stressed state. Consider that when
we’re afraid, we inhale and hold our breath. We become hyper
alert to noises and motion. The body resources itself to run
from danger. In a fight or flight state, the sympathetic nervous
system, or the fight or flight nervous system, is activated and
causes the liver to dump glucose and cholesterol and the heart
rate increases. We crave sugar and carbohydrates. If you notice
that you have email apnea, what can you do?
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Awareness - The next time you look something up on your
smartphone, or catch yourself responding to a text or email,
notice: Are you breathing or holding your breath? Are you
aware of your whole body? Or are you mostly aware of the
keyboard, your fingers (and your typos!)? Are you holding
yourself stiffly or does your body feel relaxed?
Take a break! - Get up once an hour for at least 5-10
minutes. Walk around and take a break. In Finland,
students take a break every 45 minutes for 15 minutes and
this has been shown to be effective.
Dance - Dancing is a terrific exercise. It can help with
breathing, posture, and moving to rhythm.
Sing - Singing is a great way to learn breathing techniques
and to improve lung capacity.
Joel Jelen is founder of Reset Breathing. More details can be found
at www.resetbreathing.com