The Science Of Yogic Breathing | Sundar Balasubramanian | TEDxCharleston

Hi, I'm a cellular biologist trying to study ancient

science

using modern biological techniques. You might laugh if I ask you how many of you breathe. I certainly hope everyone does, but do we really pay attention to how we breathe? Do we know how to breathe? Regulate our

breathing

because regulated

breathing

has many health benefits. There are many ways to regulate breathing. Yogic breathing or pranayam is just one of them. If you could join me for a long hum, sit down and breathe deeply. Feel your belly. feel your chest and hum thank you, isn't it wonderful? Now that you have learned a

yogic

breathing technique and are one step closer to your Best Health, by the end of this talk I will convince you that

yogic

breathing is good for your health. from India from the state called Tamil Nadu we speak a language called Tamil Tamir is also an ancient culture and civilization we practice a natural medicine called sidda medicine I was born in a small town called Kaki my grandmothers were doctors we practice ASD medicine my grandmothers were also midwives, they helped young women to give birth and cared for their young babies.

Our grandparents were also doctors. When I was little, my father and my uncle taught me yoga as a child. I didn't like it, as did my children. Now, when I was in high school, my father sent me to one of my uncles' AIDS clinic. As soon as you enter the clinic you can smell the wonderful aroma of cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom and many herbs. It's a wonderful scent on the one hand. see the freshly squeezed leaf extract, on the other side you will see the boiling decoction of barks and roots. My uncle is a very wise man, he would take a patient's pulse and then ask him how long he has had this belly or how long it has been going on.

While he was bothering you with the pain in your chest, then he would give you those natural medicines. He was so fascinated by this. He was asking me what it is in these natural compounds that make them feel better. I vividly remember that a grandfather always visited us, he would talk about your breathing and he would just show the sky and then he would say I'm going to drink milk and then he would start inhaling. It seemed strange to me at the time and he asked me what is in the air that nourishes him. I wanted to understand the chemistry behind it.

I took my chemistry for my bachelor's degree. I was lucky enough to go to a university where I can do yoga meditation chanting and get a degree in chemistry. I later applied that chemistry to biological systems. I got my master's and doctorate in Biochemistry. this country to research cell biology all these years I have been carrying yoga with me during difficult times. I found a lot of relaxation in yoga. I was wondering what it is about yoga that changes me. How is it good for me? An important clue arrived. On one of my visits to India I bought this book called tandam written by Saint Thula several centuries ago.

There was a chapter that fascinated me. It was about yogic breathing. I found a song, poem, or Sutra about practicing yogic breathing. I decoded the meaning of this I devised a method to practice it after a while of practice one fine morning I discovered that there was more salivary stimulation. I was surprised, maybe it was just one day, but every time I practiced there was more salivary stimulation. I thought wow this is a great way for people with dry mouth conditions eg shogan syndrome, radiotherapy, aging etc, as a biochemist I also know that it has so many compounds that it is not just a digestive fluid, it has proteins, hormones, growth factors, etc., one of them was the growth of nerves.

The factor, as its name indicates, is a protein that helps nerve cells, neurons to grow, survive, resist stress and live longer, and nerve growth factor is reduced and found at low levels in patients with Alzheimer's, so nerow growth factor is administered as a therapeutic agent to those patients. I was thinking this could be a great way to treat or prevent Alzheimer's disease, so I went to an eminent scientist in this area. I told him my idea and he said: I like the idea. I trust you, but I want to verify that you are probably familiar. with the term trust and verify, so I went home, did the yogic breathing exercise, brought the sample to the lab, tested it, yes there was more nerve growth factor induction or maybe it's just me, so I called to my son who was 10 years old and then I asked him. to do the exercise and he looked at me and said you want me to spit in this tube well that's what parents do to kids he did the exercise and he gave me the sample and then I tried it yeah there was more nerve growth factor. in your sample i also conducted a clinical trial a group of people with controls a group of people who did the yogic breathing exercise now i have a name for the yogic breathing exercise trar pranayama, so the people who did the yogic breathing exercise they had more nerve growth factor is proof of principle, not just nerve growth factor, we later found 22 different proteins, growth factors, hormones and those that are involved in various conditions including cancer, immune response, stress and the pain.

We're so excited about this find that you might be wondering what's in the Spit, that's going to make me feel better. This is my proposal, so yogic breathing stimulates salivary secretion and saliva can transport the compounds or principles of saliva, growth factor or various other factors of saliva to the central nervous system. system through specific transport mechanisms or it can be absorbed into the bloodstream and available throughout the body or it can simply remain there in the oral cavity to help us fight germs. This is a fascinating idea that you can change your behavior or you can practice. something that will change the components and allow you to feel better physically and mentally.

I am now taking this to the community for cancer patients, senior citizens, mental health patients, students and even school children in India where yoga is not yet accessible, remember this is just one. poem from the book that contains 3000 poems there is a quantity of literature that is not yet transcribed from palm leaf manuscripts not yet translated into English my goal is to make a bridge with that ancient wisdom I want to end my story with one more tandam message by the way , this is me, my only photo from when I was little, don't you like the bow tie?

We all want to control our minds, but controlling the mind is not easy. The mind is very elusive, as Eastern philosophy says. The mind is a monkey. It's not a normal monkey It's a drunk monkey stung by a scorpion It's crazy We can't control it but Tuler says there's an easy way The mind can't travel on its own The mind needs a vehicle The mind is using a horse That horse is your breath so if you want to control the mind, the rider, you have to control the vehicle, the horse, the breath, so controlling the mind is possible by controlling the breath, therefore, whether you sing, hum or practice sophisticated techniques of yogic breathing, take care of your breathing, it will improve your health, thank you wam.