September 2019

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Is breathing autonomic?

No, that question didn’t occur to me out of the blue! It popped into my head as I was listening to a podcast discussing the medical benefits of slow and deep breathing.

According to the dictionary, autonomic means “acting or occurring involuntarily” and refers to the autonomic nervous system which controls our “smooth and cardiac muscle and glandular tissues and governs involuntary actions (such as secretion and peristalsis).”

God created our nervous system in such a way that it works without our awareness or authority. Our heart beats whether we tell it to or not. It doesn’t ask for our permission or depend on our memory. Thank God! The control we can exert over the autonomic nervous system is minimal, if it exists at all.

So is breathing autonomic? Most of the time, I’m unaware of breathing; I have no clue how many breaths I take in a day. Or an hour. Or even a minute. In light of this, I’d have to answer “yes” to the question. The Lord set up my pulmonary system and it works fine without my conscious input.

Except that this isn’t the full story. To a significant extent, we can regulate or change our breathing. No less an authority than the American Lung Association lists five tips to help us breathe better. And if you prefer video, psychologist Belisa Vranich has a TEDx talk that will show you how to breathe. Everything’s on the internet!

(Both the ALA and Dr. Vranich stress breathing with the belly rather than with the upper chest. Hope that helps!)

I’m no medical professional, but it looks to me like breathing is both autonomic and manageable. It reminds me of our life in Christ. To illustrate these complementary principles, Jesus told a parable about seeds:

“He also said, ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸All by itself the soil produces grain–first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.’” – Mark 4:26-29

I highlighted them to emphasize how they function as a pair within God’s kingdom. A person sows seeds and they grow by themselves. Farmers can’t force seeds to sprout but seeds don’t plant themselves. A successful harvest requires both factors.

The Greek verb translated “scatters” is ballo and it refers to the act of throwing something. (It’s easy to remember because you can see the English word “ball” there. Think of throwing a ball!) It’s the farmer’s job to put the seeds in the ground; if he doesn’t do that, he has no reason to expect a crop.

But a gardener can only do so much. He can’t make the seeds grow; he doesn’t even understand how they take root and blossom. All he sees is that the dirt produces crops “all by itself.” This phrase derives from a single Greek word, automatos. Looks familiar, doesn’t it? That’s right, the development of the crops is automatic! The process runs on its own, provided the farmer plants something.

In this little parable, Jesus taught us that life under His Father’s rule involves the twin aspects of our commitment and divine intervention. When we take the time to invest ourselves in habits, attitudes, desires, and goals that matter, the Holy Spirit performs a work in us that exceeds our comprehension. What we do seems mundane, like a farmer planting sowing seeds. But God promises us an abundant harvest, even if we don’t know how He can deliver.

So take a breath and as you do, realize that this act is both automatic and conscious. In a similar way, so is your growth as a disciple of Jesus.