Breathing and Armor
by John Lawson © 1996, 2006
Breathing
is an essential
function, yet
few people breathe
adequately. Under the circumstances, it is not surprising that
there is little real agreement as to what good breathing is.
Physiology texts inform us of the names given to faulty
respiration. "Dyspnea," for example, is a term referring to a
condition of labored breathing. Exactly what is "labored
breathing," however, and how is such a condition identified? Principles of Anatomy and Physiology
(third edition), a standard college text by N. Tortora and G.
Anagnostakos, includes only one paragraph under the heading
"breathing" in the chapter on respiration. I believe this is
inadequate, based on my view that breathing problems are nearly
universal in contemporary culture. Just as Irwin Stone and Linus
Pauling argued that a condition of "sub-clinical" scurvy is a
common problem due to insufficient intake of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C),
I consider that a fairly generalized condition of "sub-clinical
hypoxia" (lack of oxygen) is characteristic of human metabolic
functioning under modern conditions of stress. The factor
responsible for this situation, on the immediate level, is a
significant degree of respiratory stasis (immobility,
sluggishness). Stated simply, most people do not breathe
adequately.
Without attempting to prove the above assertion, I
suggest that it can be demonstrated simply enough by requesting that
any adult individual, randomly selected, breathe deeply and regularly
for a matter of a few minutes. It will then be seen that the
individual either fails to breathe deeply (jaw clenched tightly, chest
immobile, back arched unnecessarily, abdomen stiff, expiration
incomplete, etc.) or deeper
than usual breathing will be discontinued due to feelings of discomfort
(tingling, anxiety, boredom, irritability, and so on). Why should
these difficulties present themselves in the context of such a
preeminently natural function as breathing? Before we can answer
that question, we must gain some understanding of what is meant by
"adequate respiration."
There are three types of breathing that can be
immediately singled out. The first is breathing in which
there is a clear problem of a clinical nature. Among such
conditions, the two which most readily come to mind are asthma
and emphysema. The latter condition is particularly devastating
because it represents an irreversible deterioration of the alveolar
walls of the lungs. Another type of breathing might be
called "functionally adequate" or "healthy" breathing. As I
have said, I believe this condition is rare. Between these two
extremes
of respiratory functioning - clinically disturbed and healthy - there
lies a vast territory of problematic breathing in which respiration is
less than optimal. It is this category of restricted and
disturbed respiratory functioning that we might call "average."
It is indicative of a state of chronically diminished well-being.
There is a saying that if a fish were a scientist
the last thing he would discover is water. In other words, we
tend
to take for granted that which is exceedingly common in our
experience. In terms of breathing, this is especially true
since the generally accepted criterion for adequate breathing is the
absence of respiratory pathology. This view, however, fails to
appreciate two important considerations. First, even in the
absence of specific pathology, improved breathing will tend to bring
about an improvement in overall functioning, a movement toward the
optimal end of the spectrum. Second, "sub-clinical" problems in
breathing may be (and I believe are) often related to clinical
disturbances in the functioning of the individual. This follows
from the central role of respiration in the metabolism and energy
economy of the person.
To return to our question - what is really adequate
breathing? - we may answer that healthy, relaxed breathing is deep and
full. This means that there are no chronic blocks to the
pulsatory waves that originate with each breath in the diaphragmatic
region and undulate headward and footward along the axis of the
body. Adequate breathing is both extensive (it is not restricted
in its expansive movement in either direction) and deep (it engages the
core of the body, reaching the vital organs). If one has learned
to breathe deeply, and if one has studied the functional process
carefully, it is possible to discern with considerable accuracy where
holding patterns are interfering with an individual's
respiration. The mechanism for such holding patterns is found in
habitual organismic tension and imbalance. Why do such holding
patterns exist? What is their function?
The basis for answering these questions was
provided
by Wilhelm Reich. Reich came out of the psychoanalytic tradition
and was interested in the emotional roots of human problems. In
contrast to the direction pursued by Freud, Reich related
difficulties in the emotional sphere directly to functional problems
on a bodily level. One key he hit upon in seeking to understand
problems in personal functioning was that difficulties on an emotional
level are reflected in disturbed breathing. The reason for such a
correlation is that inhibitions in respiration serve as a means of
deadening feeling. In Reich's view, for example, the classic
defense of repression is anchored in restricted respiration, which acts
to decrease or block the movement of emotional energy. The
blocking of
feeling, motility, and energy in the body is accomplished through
varying degrees of contraction in the different functional segments of
the organism. These functional blocks - involving the eyes, jaw,
throat, chest, diaphragm, abdomen, and pelvis -
vary in intensity according to the developmental stage of the person at
the
time they were established and to the severity of the factors provoking
them. The chief precipitating factor, analytic research shows, is
inadequate
response on the part of care givers to the needs of children. The
function of such blocking
is to create an armor that defends one from the experience of
threatening internal impulses (e.g., rage) and from external
dangers (e.g., parental hostility). In adulthood, the patterns of
armoring become congealed and solidified into a person's character
structure.
Reich's concept of armoring provides one of
the
cornerstones in the improved understanding of human functioning.
It ties together the psychological comprehension of the defenses with
structural anatomy and functional physiology. This linkage, as
Alexander Lowen has pointed out, is most obvious in the case of
emotional depression.* A person whose functioning is depressed
will feel depressed and will
exhibit a
depressed posture, especially a sunken chest (which may be masked by an
inflated pose). Most important, the person's breathing will be
restricted. What more direct and immediate way could there be to
dampen one's energies than to limit the supply of oxygen to the body's
tissues? By the same token, what more direct and immediate way
could there be to open one's system to the flow of life than to
breathe deeply and freely?
Reich's work laid the indispensable foundation
for a
more integrated approach to the task of furthering personal
growth. The good news is that much can be
accomplished in promoting our individual development by working to free
our breathing and stimulate more natural functioning. The "bad"
news, of course, is that the task is not easy. To think that
serious growth and change can be easy and quick, however - given the
complexities and difficulties of modern life - is naive. Such
naiveté must inevitably give way either to disillusion and
despair or to the struggle for genuine growth and enhanced
functioning. The latter alternative makes for a more satisfying
and meaningful life.
*
See Alexander Lowen. Depression
and the Body (Baltimore: Penguin books, 1972).
