Just Breathe: Building the case for Email Apnea

I've just opened my email and there's nothing out of the ordinary there. It's the usual daily flood of schedule, project, travel, information, and junk mail. Then I notice...I'm holding my breath.

As the email spills onto my screen, as my mind races with thoughts of what I'll answer first, what can wait, who I should call, what should have been done two days ago; I've stopped the steady breathing I was doing only moments earlier in a morning meditation and now, I'm holding my breath.

And here's the deal. You're probably holding your breath, too.

I wanted to know - how widespread is "email apnea*?" I observed others on computers and Blackberries: in their offices, their homes, at cafes -- the vast majority of people held their breath, or breathed very shallowly, especially when responding to email. I watched people on cell phones, talking and walking, and noticed that most were mouth-breathing and hyperventilating. Consider also, that for many, posture while seated at a computer can contribute to restricted breathing.

Does it matter? How was holding my breath affecting me?

I called Dr. Margaret Chesney, at the National Institute of Health (NIH). Research conducted by Chesney and NIH research scientist, Dr. David Anderson, demonstrated that breath holding contributes significantly to stress-related diseases. The body becomes acidic, the kidneys begin to re-absorb sodium, and as the oxygen (O2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and nitric oxide (NO) balance is undermined, our biochemistry is thrown off.

Breath-holding and hyperventilating disturb our body's balance of oxygen, CO2, and NO. Nitric oxide, not to be confused with the nitrous oxide used in dental offices, plays an important role in our health. From a briefing document prepared for the Royal Society and Association of British Science Writers, Pearce Wright explains, "The immune system uses nitric oxide in fighting viral, bacterial and parasitic infections, and tumors. Nitric oxide transmits messages between nerve cells and is associated with the processes of learning, memory, sleeping, feeling pain, and, probably, depression. It is a mediator in inflammation and rheumatism."

As I researched the literature, and spoke with physicians and researchers about breath-holding, a relationship to the vagus nerve emerged. The vagus nerve is one of the major cranial nerves, and wanders from the head, to the neck, chest and abdomen. Its primary job is to mediate the autonomic nervous system, which includes the sympathetic -- "fight or flight," and parasympathetic -- "rest and digest" nervous systems.

The parasympathetic nervous system governs our sense of hunger and satiety, flow of saliva and digestive enzymes, the relaxation response, and many aspects of healthy organ function. Focusing on diaphragmatic breathing enables us to down regulate the sympathetic nervous system, which then causes the parasympathetic nervous system to become dominant. Shallow breathing, breath-holding and hyperventilating trigger the sympathetic nervous system, in a "fight or flight" response.

The activated sympathetic nervous system causes the liver to dump glucose and cholesterol into our blood, our heart rate to increase, our sense of satiety to be compromised, and our bodies to anticipate and resource for the physical activity that, historically, accompanied a physical fight or flight response. Meanwhile, when the only physical activity is sitting and responding to email, we're sort of "all dressed up with nowhere to go."

Some breathing patterns favor our body's move toward parasympathetic functions and other breathing patterns favor a sympathetic nervous system response. Diaphragmatic breathing, Buteyko breathing (developed by a Russian M.D.), some of Andy Weil's breathing exercises, and certain martial arts and yoga breathing techniques, all have the potential to soothe us, and to help our bodies differentiate when fight or flight is really necessary and when we can rest and digest.

Now I want to know: Is it only the Big Mac that makes us fat? Or, are we more obese and diabetic because of a combination of holding our breath off and on all day and then failing to move when our bodies have prepared us to do so? Can fifteen minutes of diaphragmatic breathing before a meal tune us in to when we're full? If, when we're doing sedentary work, and O2, CO2, and NO are optimally balanced, through healthy breathing, will we escape the ravages of an always-on sympathetic nervous system? Can daily breathing exercises contribute to helping reduce asthma, ADD, depression, obesity, and a host of other stress-related conditions?

I predict, within the next 5 to 7 years, breathing exercises will be a significant part of every fitness regime. In the meantime, why not breathe while doing email? Awareness is the first step toward wiping out email apnea!

*Email apnea - a temporary absence or suspension of breathing, or shallow breathing, while doing email (Linda Stone, February 2008)

Comments

[LSStone]

Thanks, Michael. Who would you call?

While preparing the post, I spoke with a handful of medical researchers, physicians, chiropractors, and neuroscientists, and had the piece fact-checked by both physicians and medical researchers from a handful of disciplines. You're correct -- observation and hypothesis here -- lots of opportunity for future research!

Further, separately, some readers have concluded that I'm suggesting that "email is bad." I don't believe that and it's not the point at all.

The point is this: frequently, people inhale and then hold their breath when they do their email. Breath holding is highly correlated with certain physiological consequences -- thus, breathing is a good idea and it's good to notice whether you are breathing or not. Posture, too, when working at a computer is often compromised -- arms forward, head forward, and that can contribute to more restricted breathing. Paying attention to posture is also a good thing.

The intention of the piece is to shine a light on breathing -- in any context, especially around technology. Technology is NEUTRAL. What we do with it and how we do it, is everything.

[michaelhunt]

I suspect this behavior is more general to working in front of a computer than simply reading and composing email messages. Would be nice if scientific research actually confirmed and measured the extent of the phenomenon. Your observation has yielded an interesting hypothesis, so why not continue along the path of the scientific method?

Shouldn't that be "whom I should call"?

[CDimitri]

Always enjoy reading your articles, Linda!
Your friend in PA....CL

[JoiIto]

Great post Linda. Maybe you should have a daemon that emails you my favorite breathing poem from Thich Nhat Hanh every day. ;-)

in, out

deep, slow

calm, ease

smile, release

present moment, wonderful moment

[JoiIto]

Great post Linda. Maybe you should have a daemon that emails you my favorite breathing poem from Thich Nhat Hanh every day. ;-)

in, out
deep, slow
calm, ease
smile, release
present moment, wonderful moment

[LSStone]

GREAT poem! Thanks for posting it. Sometimes I think of these last 20 +/- years of continuous partial attention as a sort of "inhale," and what's to come as a balancing "exhale." Video games have pulled us in so much that we nearly leave our bodies and "inhabit" the computer when playing them. Games like the Wii (TM), keep us in our bodies while playing. I think as games continue to evolve, we'll see games that have both an "inhale" and "exhale" experience and that support us in inhabiting our bodies to a greater degree (and may even be controlled by our bodies -- by heart rate, pulse, breathing, etc.).