Senobi Breathing Method for Weight Loss and Asthma

The star of the TV show “The Doctor OZ Show”, Dr. Mehmet Oz stated, “If you want to be healthy and live to 100, do Qigong.” What is Qigong? The answer can be found in (1).

Qigong has been shown to be effective in more tha
200 diseases, including cancer. Many forms of require long periods of study. However, the following simple, abdominal breathing, called the Senobi method requires little study and can be applied almost instantly.

Studies have shown that this Senobi breathing techniques aids with weight loss (2) and can also aid to lessen the use of asthma rescue medication (3).

The Senobi Breathing Method can be done sitting or standing. The hands are extended above the head with the palms upward. (the fingers are intertwined or not). Lean back and arch the neck backwards. Using abdominal breathing, inhale for 5 seconds and then exhale for 5 seconds. Repeat this breathing cycle 6 times. This is done before every meal.

The study (2) found significant losses in body fat after 1 month of regular practice. Using various measures researchers found substantial up-regulation of sympathetic nerve activity and increased urinary hormone secretion after 1 min of the Senobi breathing method. They did not find these results in the non-obese control group.

Psychological factors can also be involved in obesity such as: stress, depression, poor food choices, not realizing the discrepancy between calorie intake and calories burned by activity, etc. Practicing additional abdominal breathing for relaxation and stress relief and reflecting on the food you eat may lead to additional weight loss.

The researchers in (3) used heart rate variability measurements to determine levels of parasympathetic (rest and digest) nerve dominance. Higher levels of parasympathetic control are thought to lead to asthma symptoms as the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) is in control of opening the airway passages.
Asthmatic patients were asked to engage in the Senobi breathing exercise regularly for 1 month. At the conclusion of this month the majority of patients showed a decrease in use of their inhalers and showed an increase in expiratory volume. Senobi breathing is thought to activate the sympathetic nervous system thus opening airway passages.

Hopefully, these two applications of Senobi breathing will sway readers to consider the fact that strenuous exercise is not necessary for health improvement and arouse their curiosity to explore Qigong for longevity and combating many diseases.

Non-strenuous Qigong for health requires little flexibility and coordination. Qigong is easier to learn tha
Yoga, Tai Chi or Pilates. It can be practiced lying, sitting or standing. Hence, it is the ideal activity for seniors, the physically challenged and chronically ill. .

References

1. Eisen, M. What is Qigong? http://martyeisen.wordpress.com/2010/05/10/what-is-qigong/
2. Sato, K. et al. The "Senobi" breathing exercise is recommended as first line treatment for obesity. Biomed. Res., (4):259-62, 2010..

Abstractr
Neuroadrenergic abnormalities, including a predominant activity of parasympathetic nerve and blunted
hormone secretion, are recognized in the overweight patients. This study aimed to examine whether the "Senobi" breathing method, a stretch-breathing exercise that we have developed, could activate or recover sympathetic nervous system activity that leads to the loss of body weight. Forty pre-menopausal women, aged 40 to 50 years, participated in this study. Twenty were healthy and the other 20 were overweight (body mass index>25 and body fat>30%). Sympathetic nerve activity was assessed using equipment that analyzes cardiac-beat variation, and several urinary hormone levels were examined before and 30 min after performing the "Senobi" breathing exercise. The average proportion of sympathetic nerve among healthy women during daytime hours (10:00 AM to 12:00 PM) was 62.6%±2.6%. On the other hand, that of overweight women was 33.5%±0.4%. After 1 min of the "Senobi" breathing, substantial up-regulation of sympathetic nerve activity and increased urinary hormone secretion were observed in the overweight women but not in the healthy controls. Moreover, after repeating the exercise for a month, the obese patients showed significant loss of body fat. The "Senobi" breathing exercise was found to be effective.
3. Sato, K., et al. "Senobi" stretch ameliorates asthma symptoms by restoring autonomic nervous system balance. J. Investig. Med. 58(8):968-70, 2010.

Abstractr
The number of asthmatic patients is increasing in Japan. It is conceivable that changes in lifestyle (e.g, - lack of exercise and high-energy diet) may be associated with this phenomenon. The resulting factor seems to be altered activity of autonomic nervous system of these patients. When this activity was estimated by the measurement of heart rate variability, asthmatic patients (n = 11) showed a tendency for parasympathetic nerve dominance in comparison with healthy controls (n = 10). We recommend the patients engage in the "Senobi" stretch exercise, which involves stretching the arms and body upward while standing. After 1 month of regularly performing this exercise, most patients showed a decrease in the frequency of asthma rescue medication use. They also showed a recovery of forced expiratory volume in 1 second. These results suggest that the Senobi stretch is a useful exercise for asthmatic patients to perform to achieve a desirable improvement in symptoms.