“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of
them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake
you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)
Controlling your breathing can be very helpful stressful
situations. A time-honored technique, called
Tactical Breathing helps you manage stress reactions on the spot. In this post I want to introduce you to the
tool that helps firefighters race into burning buildings, police officers face
armed resistance, and soldiers fight in close combat. Definitely high-stress, high-risk situations.
“Your breathing should flow gracefully, like a river, like a water
snake crossing the water, and not like a chain of rugged mountains or the
gallop of a horse. To master our breath is to be in control of our bodies and
minds. Each time we find ourselves dispersed and find it difficult to gain
control of ourselves by different means, the method of watching the breath
should always be used.” –Thich Nhat Hanh, “The
Miracle of Mindfulness”
Tactical breathing was discovered by many ancient cultures and is
incorporated in various forms into many martial arts systems. As practiced by modern police and military, it
allows you to rapidly regain control of your body during critical situations.
Our day-to-day stress may be less dramatic, but it’s real, it’s
ours, and the distress can be intense. Tactical
breathing can help you handle high pressure situations like test-taking,
flying, job interviews, driving in bad weather or traffic, playing sports, and
(for women) giving birth. In fact, a study
done in May of 2007 found that, “Paying attention to breathing significantly
reduced respiratory rate and decreased tidal volume instability, and that
shallow breathing made all groups more anxious than the other breathing
methods.” [1]
It is critical that we understand our body’s reactions to an
attack. There are many mental and
physical functions which occur at the subconscious level. While our bodies will respond in ways that we
may not be able to control initially, with training we can anticipate and
mitigate unhelpful responses and successfully respond to a lethal threat.
Body functions, such as heart rate, body temperature, breathing,
blinking, and digesting are controlled by the autonomic nervous system (ANS). In most situations, you are unaware of the
workings of the ANS because it functions in an involuntary, reflexive manner. There are two responses you do
have control over, breathing and blinking. We can use breathing as a bridge back from the
panicked fight or flight to put ourselves in an ideal condition to
fight.
The automatic systems of the ANS are the sympathetic (SNS) and
parasympathetic (PNS) nervous systems. The
SNS stirs you to action when necessary and the PNS works to regain control and
establish a balance in your body. These
systems are associated with fight or flight, and rest and digest.
There are whole books written about these topics and I encourage
you to read some of them. Now that we know a little about how the body reacts,
let’s focus on our response to an attack. For generations, these autonomic
responses were associated with fear. A
heart rate of 115-145 bpm produces an optimum level of performance in fighting
skills. Complex motor skills, visual reaction time and cognitive reaction time
are all at their peak.
A fight or flight reaction combined with physical exertion
or injury can make the heart beat much faster than this optimal level. At higher heart rates, complex brain function
can shut down taking reason and training away when we need it most.
Realistic and stressful training can produce the same SNS response
as an attack. It should be noted that
merely raising the heart rate through exercise does not produce the complete
SNS response. You can protect yourself from
these reactions and learn to function effectively.
Now, let’s look at the process of Tactical Breathing:
1) Inhale through your nose, deeply, expanding your stomach for a
count of four – one, two,
three, four.
2) Hold that breath in for a count of four– one, two, three, four.
3) Slowly exhale through your mouth, completely, contracting your
stomach for a count of four--one, two, three, four.
4) Hold the empty breath for a count of four – one, two, three,
four.
This tactical breathing sequence is most effective if repeated
at least four times.
Through controlled breathing, you get more air
into your lungs and more oxygen out to your body and brain. High levels
of oxygen in your blood stream lower the body’s demand for blood, which lowers
heart rate. The breaths have to be deep,
abdominal breaths where you expand your stomach like a balloon, pause at the
top of the breath, then exhale, counting to four with each step.
Tactical breathing can be used anytime you
feel stress. It will put you back in
control and make you the smartest and strongest fighter you can be.
Be safe!
[1] Conrad,
A., Müller, A., Doberenz, S. et al. Psychophysiological Effects of Breathing
Instructions for Stress Management. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 32, 89–98
(2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-007-9034-x
Integrity Security Consulting
Russ Sharrock
405-762-2471 |
integrityseccon@hotmail.com
I have developed and made available to anyone interested, for FREE, a series of Security & safety forms that can
be printed for your use:
1) A Safety & Security Risk Assessment Form
2) Church Security Plan Template
3) Church Emergency Plan Template
4) A General Fire Safety Checklist
5) A Bomb Threat Checklist
6) A Bomb Threat Distance Chart: Includes various types
of explosive devises and to be
referred to in an event
of a bomb threat evacuation. These are minimum distances to evacuate
away from the area of
explosion.
7) Facility Lockdown Checklist
8) Child Protection Covenant
9) Church Emergency Management Checklist
These MS Word documents can be adapted as necessary to fit your
church size and needs. I will be adding new forms as time allows.
For a copy of any of these FREE
forms, or if you have any questions, contact me and let me know what your needs
are.
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