Stress Management through breathing techniques used by Navy Seals

Stress Management through breathing techniques used by Navy Seals

Breathing correctly is more than simply inhaling and exhaling for staying alive. Breathing correctly can change your stressful situation into something manageable.

Books like The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown and Just Breathe by Dan Brule teach us the importance of breathing as a tool. The correct breathing technique is even taught to special forces like the US Navy SEALs. If the right breathing techniques can help people in such highly stressful jobs perhaps it can be of use for us too.

Special Forces face extraordinary situations including high profile mission, hostage rescues and counter-terrorism. This requires Navy Seals to perform under high pressure and unforeseen circumstances. It is highly important for these SEALs to remain calm, collective and focused and in order to achieve this they rely on these breathing techniques. Later we will discuss few of these techniques.

Now let’s understand the science behind Breathing, a combination of voluntary and involuntary actions controlled by the brain.

The Science of Breathing

The Science of Breath is a book by Swami Rama published in 1979. The book is about the importance of breath control for a healthier, and more relaxed life. The description reads:

“Science of Breath is a complete manual of the Oriental breathing philosophy of physical, mental, psychic and spiritual development. Written by Yogi Ramacharaka, it is widely considered to be a classic. Yogi Ramacharaka authored many books in his lifetime but Science of Breath is considered by many to be his best. It may be required reading for some, and for others it remains an essential part of their personal library.”

An article was published in Scientific American in 2019 by Christophe André, who is a psychiatrist at Paris’ Sainte-Anne Hospital Center and a pioneer in the use of meditation for therapeutic purposes in France.

The article Proper Breathing Brings Better Health in which he writes that certain breathing exercises may help with stress reduction, sleeplessness avoidance, mood management, and greater focus. His work is similar to that of Dr Herbert Benson who wrote The Relaxation Response. Benson focused more on particular meditations such as Transcendental Meditation.

There is enough scientific evidence to prove that correct breathing techniques is beneficial to our health and helps with panic and anxiety. It is therefore not surprising that special forces have also recognized the benefits of utilizing breathing techniques to help their operators.

Tactical breathing or Box Breathing

Here’s a basic breathing method that has shown to be beneficial to many people during the past year, as we’ve all been hit with crises and uncertainties. The Navy Seals refer to it as tactical breathing, while others refer to it as yogic breathing or box breathing. It’s a simple approach that takes just a few minutes and has been shown to relieve tension and bring one’s attention back to what’s going on around them.

The technique is done in the following manner:

• Inhale through the nose for a count of four
• Hold for a count of four
• Exhale for a count of four
• Hold for a count of four

This technique should be practiced using abdominal muscles, with the chest as still as possible. Do this exercise four times. Since it is done four times with four counts for all breaths it is 4 x 4, which is where the name box breathing gets its name from.

Another version of box breathing is shown in this video. There are variations on the theme, but it all remains effective and can still be called box breathing.

The Russian Spetsnaz Breathing Techniques

The Russian Spetsnaz Special Forces undergo rigorous training and also find themselves in life-threatening tactical situations. They have tools to help them cope with the rigours of what they go through. These tools are found in the Russian martial Art, known as Systema.

While its essential skills and training techniques are said to be over a thousand years old, it was rigorously polished into its present scientific form by Soviet engineers and researchers in the second part of the twentieth century.

Vladimir Vasiliev is one of the most well-known Systema practitioners and the one who brought it to North America. He sets forth the techniques of stress management via appropriate breathing in his publication, Let Every Breath, which is based on Russian Systema.

In this book he describes four techniques or principles:

• The principle of breath continuity. With this principle one never pauses one’s breath unless it is physically impossible to breath.
• The principle of intake sufficiency. This technique breaks the breath down into four parts, inhale, pause, exhale, pause.
• The principle of the pendulum. Breaking down one’s breathing into four sections entails inhale, pause, exhale, and pause.
• The principle of nose inhalation and mouth exhalation.

Systema is a sophisticated work that requires intense and in-depth study to be understood.

Popular meditation teachers have always taught that awareness of breathing is critical in reaching a state of calm. By practicing any of the techniques discussed, you might achieve a state of calm and relaxation. The next time you find yourself in a difficult and stressful situation, simply apply these techniques and see if it works for you.