How Breathing And Music
Affect Blood Pressure

What Do Your Breathing, Listening To Music, Exercising, Blood Pressure Medications, A Good Diet And Even Viagra Have In Common?

No, this isn't a bad joke... The answer is that they each boost production of nitric oxide, a hidden link to lower blood pressure and vibrant health.

Nitric oxide (chemical symbol: NO) is not a laughing matter (that's its cousin, nitrous oxide). It's an invisible gas produced by our cells with a lifespan of less than a minute and effects that last a lifetime.

Leading health publications have branded nitric oxide "The New Hero Of Human Biology" for its many vital roles it plays in our health.

NO helps us live longer and healthier by constantly repairing our cells and fighting infection and tumors. As a neurotransmitter in the brain it affects our thoughts and feelings...

But it's the effect of nitric oxide on our circulation that's our main interest here...

Circulation is the foundation of good health...

• Nitric oxide helps to regulate blood flow by opening and constricting blood vessels. High levels of NO can increase blood flow by up to 200%...

• Nitric oxide is antiatherogenic, meaning it helps prevent the build-up of plaque and other harmful materials in our arteries, the primary cause of heart disease...

• And most importantly for this discussion, nitric oxide plays a major role in regulating blood pressure by signalling blood vessels to expand or contract!

• Good circulation adds vitality to all aspects of life. By increasing blood flow nitric oxide helps men produce erections and increases stimulation in both men and women. As a matter of fact, Viagra and its cohorts actually work by raising nitric oxide levels!

Relaxation alone is not a solution...

The effects of slow breathing to open blood vessels was once thought to be caused by deep relaxation. Of course relaxation is an important factor but it effects tend to be temporary.

Scientists studying slow breathing now know that the effects of nitric oxide along with other aspects of blood chemistry are much more powerful.

Nobel-Prize Winning Discoveries

Nitric oxide in the body was only recently discovered by a group of doctors trying to identify the agent responsible for relaxing blood vessels. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology of Medicine in 1998 for their ground-breaking discovery.

We've done a lot of work to show that one does not have to take prescription drugs to be effective in treating cardiovascular disease. One can just engage in natural sorts of things -- dietary supplements, exercise, diets that are low in fat, and so on. All of these things increase or enhance nitric acid production in the body and the more nitric oxide that is produced, the more protection you have against cardiovascular disease."

Louis Ignarro, M.D.
1998 Nobel Prize Winner in Physiology of Medicine

How does slow breathing increase nitric oxide levels?

The highest concentrations of nitric oxide are found in the nasal passages. Inhaling slowly through the nose is the most effective natural way to capture this "stray" nitric oxide and inject it into the bloodstream through the lungs.

Tests show that inhaling slowly in this way helps your lungs go from 97 to 100% oxygen saturation. And it allows very rich sources of nitric oxide to be fuel injected into your system. This leads to 10-15% higher oxidation of the blood.

Naturally, inhaling slowly through the nose is an important part of the BreathEasy System.

"Inhaling deeply brings a chemical called nitric oxide from the back of your nose and your sinuses into your lungs. This short-lived gas dilates the air passages in your lungs and does the same to the blood vessels."

Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Vice Chair & Professor of Surgery

As you'll recall from the previous page, listening to music also stimulates nitric oxide production, which along with slow breathing takes a double-barreled blast at high blood pressure...

The connection between listening to music and nitric oxide was revealed at the 2008 ASH convention (American Socity of Hypertension).

The work by the Center for Preventive Cardiology at Maryland University may be the first to have actually measured the effects of music in the body. It showed that listening to music was able to expand blood vessels by an average of 26%.

Of course, expanding blood vessels obviously reduces blood pressure but it also helps to prevent the build up of blood clots and the dangerous type of cholesterol, LDL. As a matter of fact, tudy participants showed significant reductions in both blood pressure and LDL levels.

Micheal Miller, the leader of the Maryland study explains:

We were looking for cheaper, non-pharmacological aids to help us improve our patients’ heart health, and we think this is the prescription.

Michael Miller
Center for Preventive Cardiology
Maryland University

Again, you can access this report in my Clinical Trials page.

As for the "right" type of music to lower blood pressure the first criteria is that it's enjoyable. Beyond this there's a wide range of suitable music but, whatever the type, it must be relaxing and of a slow tempo. Slowing the heart and expanding blood vessles are results of relaxation.

Countless studies serve to prove (if any is needed!) that fast, vibrant music raises heart rate and blood pressure while slow, soothing music slows the heart and lowers blood pressure. So  the healthiest plan might be to start the day on rock-n-roll and finish it with Mozart.

Producing nitric oxide is not the only benefit of listening to music... because there's more to relaxation than just, er, relaxing!

Nobody is saying that relaxation is not important to slow breathing. After all, it's an important part of the system and guarantees good results: the more relaxed you are, the greater the benefits.

"Breathe For Better Blood Pressure"

"Slow breathing signals the brain," says Joseph Marek, M.D., a cardiologist and hypertension specialist. "Muscles around blood vessels relax and blood flows more easily."

Prevention Magazine
February 2005

Slow breathing relaxes major muscles and tissues deep in the diaphragm in a way that no amount of simple relaxation can do...

In this way, gentle, slow breathing acts like a natural safety valve to relax muscle tension, especially in the chest area, allowing constricted blood vessels to open and relieve pressure on the heart.

It literally takes a load off your chest!

Relaxation, after all, does play a major role in slow breathing and this is where BreatheEasy with its ultra-relaxing music has the major advantage...

Yet there is still more going on behind our breathing...

Breathing has a powerful effect on our blood chemistry

"Slow, deep breathing does relax and dilate blood vessels temporarily, but that's not enough to explain a lasting drop in blood pressure..."

David Anderson, M.D.
National Institutes of Health

Dr. Anderson is a leading supporter and researcher of slow breathing. He explains that we tend to breathe quickly and shallowly, especially under stress (which seems to be a lot of the time nowadays!).

Many times we even hold our breath without being aware of it. This "inhibitory breathing", as Dr. Anderson calls it, contributes significantly to hypertension and other stress-related diseases.

It does this by destabilizing the levels of gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitric oxide, making our blood more acidic.

(Blood acidity is getting a lot of attention lately; some scientists even claim that this is the true cause of heart disease, not cholesterol and plaque build-up.)

But one thing everyone agrees on is that unbalanced blood chemistry due to erratic breathing makes the kidneys less efficient at pumping out sodium, which in turn raises blood pressure.

Breathing is as much a chemical process as it is mechanical...

Breathing can be roughly compared to the work of a carburetor; it not only supplies the fuel but mixes the gas and air in the right balance. In a similar way, breathing regulates the level of gases in the blood.

According to Dr. Anderson, slow breathing acts to rebalance our blood chemistry thus relieving hypertension.

Dr. Anderson is currently conducting the largest ever study on slow breathing, sponsored by the National Institute on Aging. The results will be published on this website as soon as they are available.

The "Second Heart" Phenomenon

The diaphragm is obviously involved in respiration but it also plays an important role in circulation...

When breathing abdominally (more correctly called "diaphragmatic breathing") the breath is drawn deeply toward the abdomen by expanding and contracting the diaphragm.

Many people are surprised to learn that the diaphragm is one of the body's largest and most powerful muscles. Its expansion and contraction forms a powerful membrane pump that circulates a surprising amount of blood, especially venous blood through the abdominal organs and up into the thorax.

In this way the diaphragm relieves some of the load on the heart, an action that has led to it sometimes being called the "second heart".

New discoveries about the effects of breathing and listening to music are still being discovered. Science is proving some of the ancient beliefs about the power of breathing, while testing and improving the techniques.

• Boost nitric oxide levels...

• Deep relaxation...

• Rebalanced blood chemistry...

• Diaphragmatic breathing to relieve the heart...

4 very good reasons to investigate slow breathing with music plus four great ways to avoid drugs...

Pharmaceutical companies spend billions looking for new ways to mimic these same processes that can be had safely and naturally through slow breathing and listening to music.