The Science of Breathing ~ Caryn Hibbert
The Healing Circle of Breath, Scent & Nature for Body, Mind & Planet
Imagine you are standing in a wild meadow, a place filled with long grasses, flowers and herbs, their delicate fragrance filling the air creating a scent that embodies that place, your mind takes a mental note.
Enveloped in these healing botanicals, you naturally take a slow deep breath, drinking in the scent of nature. A sense of peace and contentment floods through your body, a quietening of both body and mind, instilling a sense of calm, & focus.
Switching off the body’s stress response has profound effects on our wellbeing and understanding this gives you a powerful tool for life, enabling you to harness the body’s innate and powerful ability to heal itself.
It is the immersion in nature, scent and conscious, deep breathing that together trigger this phenomenal wellbeing response and in turn, inspires a deeper connection to the natural world.
It is true that those who engage in nature are more likely to take action to protect it, preserve wild spaces and consolidate the understanding that in nurturing nature we nurture ourselves.
A deep breath
Enriched with healing botanical essential oils that create a scent rooted in wild spaces, our Bertioli breathing products promote deep breathing, helping you to switch off the body’s stress response and in doing so, harness the myriad of wellbeing effects on both body and mind.
The effects of conscious diaphragmatic breathing, scent and nature on our wellbeing are profound, empowering and well-established in scientific principles – switching off your stress response and harnessing your body’s innate ability to heal itself.
What it can help to do:
INSTILLS CALM AND QUIETENS BOTH BODY AND MIND
LOWERS LEVELS OF CORTISOL & THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF CHRONIC STRESS ON THE BODY
HELPS WITH FOCUS FOR POSITIVE THOUGHT AND ACTIONS
REDUCES ANXIETY, ELEVATES MOOD & AIDS RESTFUL SLEEP
REDUCES HEART RATE AND BLOOD PRESSURE
AIDS DIGESTION & DETOXIFICATION
PROMOTES RESPIRATORY HEALTH
HELPS TO BUILD CORE BODY STREGNTH
BOOSTS IMMUNITY AND REDUCES INFLAMMATION
The Science - The How & Why it Works
Our body’s systems are vital for life function without the need for conscious effort; they happen automatically through the autonomic nervous system which controls our heartbeat, blood flow, breathing, digestion and in turn our emotions.
Neural signals in response to our environment start in the limbic area of the brain, which is closely linked to memory and emotion and uniquely our sense of smell, and cascade through the sympathetic or parasympathetic neural networks that constitute the autonomic nervous system maintaining balance and equilibrium in both body and mind.
-
The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for our stress response otherwise known as “flight-or-fight’. It evolved as a survival mechanism enabling us to react quickly to dangerous situations, and triggers a cascade of the stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol that make the heart pound, the breath quicken, muscles tense, shoulders and fists rise, jaw clenches, eyes widen and the mouth goes dry (as blood is diverted from the gastro-intestinal tract) we feel anxious, terrified, scared and ready to face danger.
-
The parasympathetic nervous system otherwise known as ‘rest and digest’ slows us down, instilling calm and focus of both body and mind. This happens when we feel safe, our heart rate and blood pressure lowers, anxiety is reduced, blood is diverted to the abdominal organs, the liver, kidneys, spleen, and intestines improving digestion and boosting immunity as well as elevating our mood. The vagus nerve (or pneumogastric nerve) is part of the parasympathetic nervous system and is the neural interface between the heart, lungs and digestive tract. The vagus nerve also innervates the diaphragm, the muscle that sits between the chest and the abdomen.
These two complimentary and opposing neural networks that constitute the autonomic nervous system cannot work at the same time, it is either one or the other, maintaining balance between body, mind and environment.
Sometimes this balance is disrupted.
Although the ‘flight or fight’ response is vital for life, keeping us safe in times of real danger, problems arise when it is triggered inappropriately. This is beyond our conscious control and means that everyday challenges often lead to permanently elevated levels of cortisol. This chronic, low grade stress response is extremely detrimental to our health, leading to high blood pressure, anxiety and depression, poor sleep, irritable bowel, poor digestion and can contribute to obesity, reduced immunity and more.
We are only beginning to understand how these systems react with the third part of the autonomic nervous system, the enteric nervous system which governs the gastrointestinal tract. It acts independently of the para sympathetic and sympathetic systems but can be influenced by them. It is also called the second brain as it developed from neural crest cells and as well as controlling the motor function of the gut, it also controls secretion of the gastrointestinal enzymes. These enzymes communicate through neurons very similar to the central nervous system with neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, hormones that effect our mood and sense of wellbeing.
This understanding of the power of breath to heal our bodies forms the inspiration behind the creation of the Bertioli breathing & bathing collection, founded on the four key pillars of breath, scent, nature & simplicity.
Therapeutic Breath
Breathing is the only one of our systems vital for life that we can directly control. Through conscious diaphragmatic breathing, we can, via the vagus nerve, switch on the parasympathetic nervous system consequently switching off the stress response and switching on our rest and digest.
When working as an obstetrician, Caryn noticed just how powerful breathing techniques could be as part of the tool kit for managing the pain and stress of labour.
It is also well-documented and used in the armed forces to help cope in moments of extreme stress such as injury or torture.
Therapeutic Scent
The sense of smell is closely linked with memory and emotion and gives scent the powerful and unique ability to influence the autonomic nervous system through the limbic area of the brain. This means it can augment the power of conscious diaphragmatic breathing through these unique neural pathways, as well as enhance the efficacy of the breath by providing focus for the mind.
Furthermore, research suggests that the single most important sense in our wellbeing response from immersion in nature is scent.
Our founding scent is emblematic of the wild water meadows at Thyme, where the essential oils from wild mints, grasses and flowers are released into the air as you brush past, creating an iconic and unforgettable memory. Our water meadow scent not only reminds and helps you to take a deep breath with soothing essential oils beneficial to respiratory health, it also provides focus for the mind, with a golden thread that immerses you in nature.
Water Meadow Scent
Our water meadow scent is created by carefully blending botanical essential oils. With water mint and apple blossom at its heart, it also includes the essential oils of chamomile, peppermint, rosemary & eucalyptus that encourage deep breathing provide focus for the mind and promote clarity of thought.
-
Mint is a medicinally important plant; the essential oils promote respiratory health & deep breathing. Both invigorating and relaxing, it is a sweet and gentle herb that has the ability to both invigorate and calm. It is a strong antioxidant with a cooling and analgesic quality that helps soothe, relax and elevate mood.
-
Menthol and methyl salicylate both bind with the bodies cold and opioid receptors conferring both a cooling and analgesic effect. These soothing essential oils have anti-inflammatory, and anti- microbial properties all beneficial to the respiratory tract, skin and the digestive tract. They are also known to enhance cognition, helping to focus the mind, enhancing memory, mood and motivation.
-
The essential oils of both water mint and peppermint (a naturally occurring hybrid between water mint and spearmint) in our water meadow scent remind and encourage you to take a deep breath. Research shows that it is the cooling sensation induced by menthol that makes breathing feel easier and in doing so focuses the mind on the breath, there is no actual change in upper airways resistance. Its antimicrobial anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties soothe and calms the respiratory tract.
-
When rubbed into the skin the mint essential oils have a cooling effect as they stimulate the cold and opioid receptors in the skin. This in turn leads to dilatation of the blood vessels in the skin that results in warming, soothing and a reduction in inflammation. Together with antimicrobial and anti-fungal properties they are beneficial to both the skin and the hair and scalp leaving you feeling fresh and clean.
-
The essential mint oils have a calming and anti-spasmodic effect on the digestive tract soothing irritable bowel and aiding digestion.
Therapeutic Nature
We are at a moment in time when our planet needs our help, with the destruction of wild spaces and loss of habitat being the greatest threat to nature.
It has long been established that spending time outside has a myriad of wellbeing effects. Our products are rooted in wild spaces and together with stories of their flora and fauna we hope to inspire a love of nature and consolidate an understanding that in nurturing nature we nurture ourselves.
Simplicity
Scents of nature in turn provide a deeper connection to and engagement with the natural world inspiring us to take action to protect and conserve it, empowered by the knowledge that in nurturing nature, we nurture ourselves.
Designed with minimal packaging and championing concentrated formulations, we aim to reduce our carbon footprint.
Luxurious and effective, our hair and body bars replace the polluting clutter of bathroom plastics and eliminate excess. A typical shampoo or conditioner bottle carries 85% water, demanding the use of plastic bottles and dramatically increasing the carbon footprint of transportation.
The extent of plastic pollution is far-reaching, and recent studies have revealed marine plastic pollution in 100% of marine turtles, 59% of whales, 36% of seals and 40% of seabird species examined. Plastic pollution can now be found on every beach in the world, from busy tourist beaches to uninhabited, tropical islands – nowhere is safe.
COVID-19
The healing power of breath, our sense of smell and the importance of our connection to nature have often been overlooked, their vital contribution to the wellbeing of both body and mind not fully appreciated. Nothing has highlighted their importance more than Covid-19. Our products, through the therapeutic power of breath, scent and nature help you to switch off the body’s stress response and so, well-established in scientific principle, engage the body’s innate ability to heal itself.
Breathing Balm
Available in 2 sizes - our 30ml pot is ideal for on the go, whilst the 100ml is perfect to have by your bed or in your bathroom.
Breathe: Any Time, Any Place
Nicole Croft, a yoga teacher and writer, takes us through three breathing rituals, using our Bertioli Breathing Balm.
