Using the 2-6 Breath to Relieve Stress

by Karina Grant

Why is Each Quantum-Touch Breathing Technique Unique?

Did you know that just 2 minutes of breathing with a longer exhale regulates fight or flight stress?

A study from the International Journal of Psychophysiology showed that longer exhales help to lower stress levels and improve our cognitive abilities – even after 2 minutes.

What is vagal tone?

Research shows that stimulating the vagus nerve acts as a natural anti-inflammatory and tranquilliser and calms the nervous system. People have differing vagal levels. The stronger your vagus activity, the more quickly you relax after stress. The strength of your vagus activity is called vagal tone. Reduced vagal tone contributes to inflammation, higher stress levels, and stress hormones.

The good news is we strengthen our vagal tone in Quantum-Touch all the time!

We can strengthen our vagal tone and trigger the relaxation response by simply focusing on the ratio of our inhales and exhales, and deliberately extending our exhales. This takes us into a state of “rest and digest” and away from “fight or flight.”

Round of applause for the 2 – 6 breath…

Any breath where you have a longer exhale than inhale will have a very calming effect on our nervous system and will inspire a state of calm. If you do this over a longer period of time then this will feel very relaxing.

This is why the 2 – 6 breath is a favourite amongst those who practice Quantum-Touch. It is reassuring to know that this is having a scientifically evidenced effect on your well-being.

Each of the Quantum-Touch breathing techniques has its own significance and unique physiological benefits.

Breathing fully and intaking more oxygen can be very energising and also increase the oxygen in the brain and in our cells. It can also slow the heartbeat down which is useful if it feels like its racing. It also helps to support posture and lower blood pressure.

When we are stressed we often tend to breathe in a shallow way, and when we are relaxed our breathing tends to become deeper and more diaphragmatic.

In Quantum-Touch we use 5 specific breaths to stimulate a different response in the body. Some of the breaths are slower and some are quicker.

Many different practices use different breathing techniques to produce different physiological effects, including in the other modality that I teach.

In Quantum-Touch we keep our breathing very regulated in a specific way and then when we feel like we need more of an energy boost there are several choices of different breaths that will do that. After we have used an energy-boosting breath we always return back to the techniques that feel calming and regulating.

The combination of these different breaths is both calming and invigorating. From a Quantum-Touch perspective, this opens the door to having a high-energy healing response.