The Breathing Process

Q: I have heard that Yogis, Maharishis and  other spiritual people can hold their breath forever. Is this true?

Krishna: Kumbhaka is the retention of the breath in the yoga practice of pranayama. It has two types, accompanied (by breathing) whether after inhalation  or after exhalation, and, the ultimate aim, unaccompanied. That state is kevala kumbhaka, the complete suspension of the breath for as long as the practitioner wishes (4).

Kevala Kumbhaka, when inhalation and exhalation can be suspended at will, is the extreme stage of Kumbhaka "parallel with the state of Samadhi", or union with the divine, the last of the eight limbs of Yoga, attained only by continuous long term pranayama and kumbhaka exercises. The 18th century Joga Pradipaka states that the highest breath control, which it defines as inhaling to a count (mātrā) of 8, holding to a count of 19, and exhaling to a count of 9, confers liberation and Samadhi (4).

This is not "forever".

"Forever" is a controversial word. Let me explain  why.

People say certain practices increase your 'will power'. Yes, to a certain extent. But a biological system has its limits. It cannot be kept in certain states 'forever' and not face the consequences. 

Because holding your breath is not just about air. It's also about gas exchange.

Gas exchange is the process of swapping oxygen and carbon dioxide between your lungs and your blood.

Oxygen is the fuel that your cells need to function. Carbon dioxide is the waste product that your cells produce from metabolism.

When you continue with your normal breathing, which was  adapted by your living body through millions and millions of years of evolution, gas exchange happens  smoothly and automatically and your body functions normally.

You inhale fresh air that contains oxygen and exhale stale air that contains carbon dioxide.

Your blood carries oxygen to your cells and carries carbon dioxide away from them.

But when you hold your breath, gas exchange gets messed up.

You stop bringing in new oxygen and getting rid of old carbon dioxide.

Your blood starts to run low on oxygen and high on carbon dioxide.

This causes two problems: hypoxia and hypercapnia. Hypoxia is when your blood doesn't have enough oxygen for your cells. Hypercapnia is when your blood has too much carbon dioxide for your cells.

Both of these conditions are bad for your system and can damage your organs, especially your brain.

When you have hypoxia or hypercapnia, you don't really feel them directly. But you do feel a strong urge to breathe.

This urge is not triggered by low oxygen levels, but by high carbon dioxide levels.

You see, your brain has a special area called the respiratory center. This area monitors the amount of carbon dioxide in your blood and sends signals to your muscles to breathe.

When your carbon dioxide level rises above a certain threshold, the respiratory center tells you to breathe, no matter what.

That's why you can't hold your breath for too long even if you have air inside you. Your system doesn't care about the air in your lungs. It cares about the gas in your blood.

So briefly, your lungs are the pair of spongy, pinkish-gray organs in your chest. 

When you inhale (breathe in), air enters your lungs, and oxygen from that air moves to your blood. At the same time, carbon dioxide, a waste gas, moves from your blood to the lungs and is exhaled (breathed out). This process, called gas exchange, is essential to life. 

The lungs are the centerpiece of your respiratory system. Your respiratory system also includes the trachea (windpipe), muscles of the chest wall and diaphragm, blood vessels, and other tissues. All of these parts make breathing and gas exchange possible. Your brain controls your breathing rate (how fast or slow you breathe), by sensing your body’s need to get oxygen and also get rid of carbon dioxide. 

The average person, without any training,  can hold their breath for about 30–90 seconds. However, this time can increase or decrease due to factors like smoking, underlying health conditions, and breath training. The length of time a person can hold their breath voluntarily typically ranges from 30 to 90 seconds (2). 

At first, a person may feel a burning sensation in their lungs. If they hold their breath long enough, the muscles in their diaphragm will begin to contract to try to force breathing, which can cause pain.

If an individual does not resume their usual breathing pattern, they will lose consciousness, and if they are in a safe location, the body should automatically begin to breathe and start to get the oxygen it needs.

Should a person not be in a safe location, such as underwater, it is at this time that drowning may occur.

Fainting is a temporary loss of consciousness. It happens when there isn't enough blood going to the brain because of a drop in blood pressure.

A person can practice breath-holding to increase their lung capacity, and there are training guidelines to help individuals learn to hold their breath for longer periods. Training usually takes several months.

People may use these training techniques for advanced military training, free diving, swimming, or other recreational activities.

The current world record for breath holding, using a technique  is 24 minutes and 37 seconds. This is held by Budimir Šobat — a professional breath hold diver (1).

Most professional free divers must train for years before reaching that state. And how do they achieve such feats? 

Researchers have performed extensive physiologic measures on these professional divers to figure out how they can hold their breath for so long. One thing is certain: oxygen is important. In respect to the breath hold of almost 25 minutes by Šobat, it was accomplished by pre-breathing 100 per cent oxygen prior to holding the breath. Keep in mind the ratio of oxygen that we normally breathe in the atmosphere is 21 per cent. 

The world record for a non-oxygen-assisted breath hold is 11:35 minutes by Stéphane Mifsud. For women it is 9:02 minutes, held by Natalia Molchanova. These are people who have trained for many years, and are the top professional apneists (apnea means temporarily stopped breathing).

These divers pre-breathe with 100 per cent oxygen before holding their breath.  Also most likely they hyperventilate (breathed faster and deeper than normal) on the 100 per cent oxygen.

The most important signal to breathe comes from clusters of specialized cells in your brain and neck called chemoreceptors. These chemoreceptors respond to the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) and, to a lesser extent, the level of oxygen (O2) in your blood (yes, CO2 is more important in this case).

There are also signals from the brain stem itself (central controller) and lungs (pulmonary stretch receptors), but they are generally less important in relation to the topic at hand. Accordingly, the rate and depth of breathing is primarily controlled by these chemoreceptors that maintain the optimal level of blood O2 and CO2.

During a breath hold, the level of blood CO2 rises, and the O2 declines. The initial increase in the urge to breathe — let’s say 30 seconds into the breath hold — primarily comes from the rising CO2. At a particular threshold, the chemoreceptors also respond to the declining O2, at which point the drive to breathe increases dramatically.

Eventually, the urge to breathe intensifies to the point that the diaphragm (the primary respiratory muscle) contracts involuntarily — referred to as an involuntary breathing movement. This is the point at which the untrained breath holder will typically break and begin to breathe again (around three minutes if motivated and oxygen-unassisted).

However, with prior O2 inhalation, the onset of involuntary breathing movements is dramatically delayed. There is no longer any signal from O2 sensing. With about 15 minutes of prior 100 per cent O2 inhalation, a breath hold can be extended to nearly 20 minutes and the blood oxygen will still be higher than normal.

Still, even with 100 per cent O2, CO2 (the primary stimulus for breathing) rises during the breath hold. However, fortunately for the oxygen-assisted breath holder, elevated blood O2 blunts the chemoreceptor response to CO2. The combined effect of an absent O2 response, and a dampened CO2 response, allows someone to hold their breath for much longer.

Another trick is hyperventilating prior to breath holding. This will lower the initial blood CO2 levels. This lengthens the time before CO2 creeps above normal.

It’s important to note that hyperventilation before breath holding without prior 100 per cent O2 is dangerous in freediving because it increases the risk for shallow water blackout.

Even as far back as 1959, researchers demonstrated in seven untrained volunteers that breathing 100 per cent O2 prior to a breath hold resulted in maximum breath hold durations of six to 14 minutes. 

 According to the Journal of Applied Physiology, some additional risks of holding your breath for long include:

• increase in blood pressure
• increased risk of brain damage
• loss of coordination
• reduced heart rate
• increase in blood sugar levels

When we hold our breath for long durations, oxygen levels decrease and carbon dioxide accumulates in the body. That changes the concentration of free hydrogen ions, which makes these cells more excitable, leading to abnormal functions (3).

How do you control these several things normally and physiology of your system if you hold your breath for long and forever? Think about that!

Footnotes:

1. https://theconversation.com/the-science-of-holding-your-breath-how-....

2. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-long-can-the-average-....

3. https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/blog/what-happens#:~:text=Doing%20so%....

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbhaka#Historical_purpose