Breathing is behavior.
Breathing is behavior, a unique behavior that regulates body
chemistry, pH.
Few people, lay or professional, know that (1) breathing
directly regulates body chemistry, including pH, electrolyte balance, blood
flow, hemoglobin chemistry, and kidney function, and that (2) breathing is a
behavior subject to the same principles of learning as any other behavior,
including the role of motivation, emotion, attention, perception, and
memory. Bringing together these two
simple facts means bringing together the biological and behavioral sciences in
profoundly practical ways relevant to the lives of millions. It changes the way that we think about
ourselves and our physiology.
Breathing is a
unique behavior. It points to the in
inseparability of physiology and behavior, where breathing plays a key role
both in homeostasis from a biological perspective and in self-regulation from a
behavioral perspective. Breathing
behavior plays both obvious and subtle roles in the regulation of health and
performance. The following
considerations attest to its special place in mediating “unexplained symptoms,”
placebo effects, and the “effects of stress:”
● Breathing is a “perpetual” behavior. It emerges at all times in all places.
● Breathing is necessarily woven into
virtually all behavioral topographies.
● Breathing is a trigger for emotions,
memories, thoughts, physical symptoms, senses of self,
and even personality.
● Breathing is a gateway that sets stages,
creates backdrops of meaning, establishes contexts, and changes states.
● Breathing is controlled centrally and
peripherally, and ultimately involves every cell in the body.
● Breathing is voluntary and involuntary,
conscious and unconscious.
● Breathing is critical to homeostasis:
acid-base balance, electrolyte balance, and delivery of oxygen and glucose.
● Breathing is vital to social behaviors such
as verbal communication.
● Breathing is reflexive in nature, although
complex in its relationship with the environment and other behaviors.
Behavioral analysis
and behavior modification are the foundation of CapnoLearningä, the service that we provide our clients. Behavioral
analysis is about our partnership in your exploration of how you learned to
breathe the way that you do, and in your discovery of how the effects of your
unconscious habits may be influencing your health and performance. Behavior
modification is about our partnership in your efforts to make changes in
your breathing behavior consistent with your objectives to improve health and
performance.
Copyrighted by
Behavioral Physiology Institute,