If you’re a hugger, not a “don’t touch me,” kind of person, you’ve probably noticed at least once that when you hugged someone, they emitted a big exhale. You know when this happens, they’ve been holding perhaps a bunch of stuff in.
Isn’t it about time to exhale? The term, “bated breath” was first used by Shakespeare in his 1605 Merchant of Venice, and it refers to abating your breathing, stopping it or reducing it, in short, holding one’s breath in excitement, anticipation, or trepidation for what’s next.
Do you recognize any of these instances when you’ve held your breath: Anything involving a timer; Under water, either literally or figuratively; Against the clock; Holding back your temper/anger; Concentrating on an intricate task; Passenger in a vehicle; Medical procedures; Rushing from one thing to another; Number two – enough said; Awaiting an outcome; Birthing a baby or a project; Waiting for anything; Afraid of something…?
Prior to about the last twenty years, I erroneously thought that when you’re out of breath, say when you’re exercising, it was the inhale that gave you more steam. However, contrary to my common sense and the fact that inhaling when out of breath never worked, it’s the exhale that renews your energy.
It was from Leslie Sansone, the exercise guru, that I first heard, “if you’re feeling out of breath, blow it out. That’ll give you more energy.” Or, “don’t hold your breath, ever!” So, who knew that to exhale is the ticket to better fitness.
About fitness, are you aware that, at least in television and movies, the Brits call good looking, well-toned folks, “fit.” As in glancing at a muscled man or woman, “they’re really fit.” And we expect that fit people are healthy people.
Does it follow, in a blanket cause-effect way, that good-looking people are healthier than those less fortunate in the looks department? I have a pet peeve with people who say things like, “why would he cheat on her, she’s beautiful,” or “why would she leave him, he’s gorgeous?” Like it’s reasonable to cheat on a homely person. Don’t get me started.
Back to the exhale. I think our body’s natural reaction to exertion, or any kind of stressor to the mind which is reflected in the body, is to hold your breath. One would think that breathing the way that is most beneficial to your health would be an instinct.
Au contraire, when our bodies are in flight or fight mode, while stressed, we tend to not breathe according to the original schematic. And if fight or flight has become your usual modus operandi, you’ve taught yourself to breathe shallowly and to rarely exhale sharply.
It seems that learning to breathe properly when under stress or exertion, takes as much discipline as training our muscles, including the heart muscle, to work at their maximum potential for strength and endurance.
The feel-good chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins which are released during exercise, kick in big time when we exhale. These puppies make us feel so good, we might be tempted to exhale constantly instead of going back to the rhythm of, breathe in through the nose, breathe out through the nose.
It takes discipline to learn to exhale sharply, once through the mouth, and then begin to breathe in and out as usual while we exercise. I guess like any feel-good chemical, we want more of it, including the endorphins that our body produces when we exercise. Some of us, then exhale, exhale, exhale – perpetual mouth-breathers, as we can’t get enough of that good thing.
It seems that the exhale is potentially an all or nothing kind of thing. Either we are addicted to exhaling and that’s all we want to do because of how it makes us feel. or, we live with bated breath, holding our breath for eons. When forced to exhale, the relief of it makes us realize “oh my, I should’ve done that a long time ago.”
Have you ever noticed that when you’re stressed you find, or hear, yourself “blowing it out,” sort of constantly. I think your body is practicing the exhale, stirring up endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin, to get your mind back to feeling good. So maybe instinct plays a part in the exhale, after all.
I’m no expert on all this physical stuff, but I am an observer of human behavior. I’ve noticed an awful lot of people walking around with bated breath because I surmise that they feel if they exhale, they’ll explode, lose control, or die because there is so much pent up inside their vulnerable vessel of a body.
Given the stress of our current times, I’ve written these thoughts to encourage us all to just breathe, including the nice cleansing breath known to every birthing woman; and to exhale, letting all that bottled up stuff find a way of escape. I’m reminded of a favorite Scripture, “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).