Can you slow down how fast you breathe?

Powerpuppies

I'm watching an episode of Bones involving people being buried alive. It got me wondering whether one could change how long one could survive in such a situation by breathing slowly and deeply or something. My google-fu wasn't up to the task of finding out... anyone know?

DirtyDirtyVagrant

I know you can slow your breathing down through meditation, but I'm not sure that your oxygen intake can be significantly affected. It would have to remain at a certain level just to keep your body going.

Through meditation and breathing techniques (Yoga), you might be able to slow your breathing by as much as 30%.

Edit: You know what. Just look into Yoga.

TL DR

I think the way to go about it would be to make an effort to cease any unnecessary movement, try to calm yourself, and concentrate on slowing your heart rate. Try it. The first slow breath may end with a twinge of alarm, but as you relax it gets easier.

Gandalf_the_Crazed

There was an article some time back about a Chinese man who was buried... in a mining accident, I think? He survived on the air trapped in his hard hat, or something like that, using meditation techniques to reduce his oxygen intake needs.

I can't find the article, though, so maybe that didn't really happen.

Zombiemambo

Gandalf_the_Crazed wrote: »

There was an article some time back about a Chinese man who was buried... in a mining accident, I think? He survived on the air trapped in his hard hat, or something like that, using meditation techniques to reduce his oxygen intake needs.

I can't find the article, though, so maybe that didn't really happen.

supposedly Shaolin Monks can control their heart rate through meditation

supposedly.

TL DR

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Gandalf_the_Crazed wrote: »

There was an article some time back about a Chinese man who was buried... in a mining accident, I think? He survived on the air trapped in his hard hat, or something like that, using meditation techniques to reduce his oxygen intake needs.

I can't find the article, though, so maybe that didn't really happen.

supposedly Shaolin Monks can control their heart rate through meditation

supposedly.

Are you saying that you can't, at least to a degree?

Randall_Flagg

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Gandalf_the_Crazed wrote: »

There was an article some time back about a Chinese man who was buried... in a mining accident, I think? He survived on the air trapped in his hard hat, or something like that, using meditation techniques to reduce his oxygen intake needs.

I can't find the article, though, so maybe that didn't really happen.

supposedly Shaolin Monks can control their heart rate through meditation

supposedly.

There's no "supposedly" about it

hardcore buddhist monks are able to do a lot of amazing things with their bodies; some of them take years to learn (raising their body temperature way up, or actually reversing the action of peristalsis so their digestive system will push digested food back through it), but slowing your heart rate is definitely not one of them

all you need to do is take slow, deep breaths at regular intervals and think calming thoughts, and you can slow your metabolism

Raiden333

Well, if you have access to cold water there's always Diving Reflex induced bradycardia, though that's more holding breath vs. slowing it.

We did some tests on this in junior high, testing heartrates and time holding breath normally vs. with your face submerged in icewater. Pretty amazing results, if I recall correctly I doubled my time.

Shogun

Sing while holding your breath. Obviously you are singing in your head, but it will help regulate your heart beat and slow it down depending on which song you pick.

Zombiemambo

Randall_Flagg wrote: »

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Gandalf_the_Crazed wrote: »

There was an article some time back about a Chinese man who was buried... in a mining accident, I think? He survived on the air trapped in his hard hat, or something like that, using meditation techniques to reduce his oxygen intake needs.

I can't find the article, though, so maybe that didn't really happen.

supposedly Shaolin Monks can control their heart rate through meditation

supposedly.

There's no "supposedly" about it

hardcore buddhist monks are able to do a lot of amazing things with their bodies; some of them take years to learn (raising their body temperature way up, or actually reversing the action of peristalsis so their digestive system will push digested food back through it), but slowing your heart rate is definitely not one of them

all you need to do is take slow, deep breaths at regular intervals and think calming thoughts, and you can slow your metabolism

I just wanted to stress that it's possible, because there are a lot of legends surrounding Shaolin monks and I didn't want to go around telling anyone something that ain't true.

Thanatos

Randall_Flagg wrote: »

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Gandalf_the_Crazed wrote: »

There was an article some time back about a Chinese man who was buried... in a mining accident, I think? He survived on the air trapped in his hard hat, or something like that, using meditation techniques to reduce his oxygen intake needs.

I can't find the article, though, so maybe that didn't really happen.

supposedly Shaolin Monks can control their heart rate through meditation

supposedly.

There's no "supposedly" about it

hardcore buddhist monks are able to do a lot of amazing things with their bodies; some of them take years to learn (raising their body temperature way up, or actually reversing the action of peristalsis so their digestive system will push digested food back through it), but slowing your heart rate is definitely not one of them

all you need to do is take slow, deep breaths at regular intervals and think calming thoughts, and you can slow your metabolism

You can absolutely control your heart rate through meditation. If you're freaking out, your heart rate shoots up. If you take a couple of moments to relax, it goes down. This isn't, like, magic, here, people. It's science and shiznit. Anyone can do this; it's not like you need special training or something. Can you stop it? Hell no. Can you make yourself agitated to speed it up, or calm yourself in order to slow it down? Absolutely.

I would assume you could slow your oxygen consumption by relaxing. Presumably, the body uses up more air while it is excited (just like every other thing it needs, I would think).

Charles Kinbote

Thanatos wrote: »

Randall_Flagg wrote: »

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Gandalf_the_Crazed wrote: »

There was an article some time back about a Chinese man who was buried... in a mining accident, I think? He survived on the air trapped in his hard hat, or something like that, using meditation techniques to reduce his oxygen intake needs.

I can't find the article, though, so maybe that didn't really happen.

supposedly Shaolin Monks can control their heart rate through meditation

supposedly.

There's no "supposedly" about it

hardcore buddhist monks are able to do a lot of amazing things with their bodies; some of them take years to learn (raising their body temperature way up, or actually reversing the action of peristalsis so their digestive system will push digested food back through it), but slowing your heart rate is definitely not one of them

all you need to do is take slow, deep breaths at regular intervals and think calming thoughts, and you can slow your metabolism

You can absolutely control your heart rate through meditation. If you're freaking out, your heart rate shoots up. If you take a couple of moments to relax, it goes down. This isn't, like, magic, here, people. It's science and shiznit. Anyone can do this; it's not like you need special training or something. Can you stop it? Hell no. Can you make yourself agitated to speed it up, or calm yourself in order to slow it down? Absolutely.

I would assume you could slow your oxygen consumption by relaxing. Presumably, the body uses up more air while it is excited (just like every other thing it needs, I would think).

That's what he's saying. There are a lot of amazing things meditation can lead to; changing heart rate isn't one of them. It is, in fact, a pretty mundane act, especially compared to changing the temperature of your body through willpower alone.

Reservoir Angel

Yeah. What does it for me is just focusing only on your breathing. Conciously think "breathe in" and "breathe out" as you breath and you'll find that your rate of breathing slows down. Not a lot, but it does. you still wouldn't be able to survive being buried alive for any long period of time.

I'd Fuck Chuck Lidell Up

Thanatos wrote: »

Randall_Flagg wrote: »

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Gandalf_the_Crazed wrote: »

There was an article some time back about a Chinese man who was buried... in a mining accident, I think? He survived on the air trapped in his hard hat, or something like that, using meditation techniques to reduce his oxygen intake needs.

I can't find the article, though, so maybe that didn't really happen.

supposedly Shaolin Monks can control their heart rate through meditation

supposedly.

There's no "supposedly" about it

hardcore buddhist monks are able to do a lot of amazing things with their bodies; some of them take years to learn (raising their body temperature way up, or actually reversing the action of peristalsis so their digestive system will push digested food back through it), but slowing your heart rate is definitely not one of them

all you need to do is take slow, deep breaths at regular intervals and think calming thoughts, and you can slow your metabolism

You can absolutely control your heart rate through meditation. If you're freaking out, your heart rate shoots up. If you take a couple of moments to relax, it goes down. This isn't, like, magic, here, people. It's science and shiznit. Anyone can do this; it's not like you need special training or something. Can you stop it? Hell no. Can you make yourself agitated to speed it up, or calm yourself in order to slow it down? Absolutely.

I would assume you could slow your oxygen consumption by relaxing. Presumably, the body uses up more air while it is excited (just like every other thing it needs, I would think).

actually I've heard of snipers learning to slow their heart rate by a lot wherein some are able to get it to take a long pause (stop it long enough to get a shot off) could be myth but they certainly slow it

Echo

I'd Fuck Chuck Lidell Up wrote: »

actually I've heard of snipers learning to slow their heart rate by a lot wherein some are able to get it to take a long pause (stop it long enough to get a shot off) could be myth but they certainly slow it

Well. At least they fire between heartbeats, because even that tiny vibration has an effect on their aim.

BrotherVoodoo

Regular and continuous cardiovascular exercise would help you prepare for doing such a thing in the future...