Whole-Body Breathing: A Bridge Between APUS and Tekoha

Series: Breathing, Body, Consciousness, and the Shifting of the Tensional Selves (Eus Tensionais)

Introduction — Brain Bee (first-person consciousness)

When I observe my breathing with attention, I notice something curious:
it never happens in only one place.

As I inhale, my chest moves, but my abdomen responds too.
My posture adjusts without me commanding it.
Something shifts inside—weight, comfort, silence.

I’m not just pulling air in.
I’m reorganizing as a whole.

Breathing doesn’t choose one system.
It moves through all of them.

Breathing is not a cutout of the body

It’s common to talk about breathing as if it were an isolated process:
“chest breathing,”
“belly breathing,”
“breathing to relax.”

These categories help explain, but they do not describe the reality of a living body.
In the real organism, breathing:

• recruits postural muscles,

• changes intra-abdominal pressure,

• influences venous return,

• adjusts metabolism,

• modulates cardiac rhythm.

Breathing does not belong to one system.
It stitches systems together.

APUS and Tekoha: two territories, one continuous flow

APUS (extended proprioception) refers to:

• posture,

• bodily axis,

• relationship with gravity,

• position in space.

Tekoha (extended interoception) involves:

• viscera,

• internal circulation,

• pH,

• microbiota,

• metabolic states.

These two territories do not function separately.
Breathing is the shared flow that keeps them in dialogue.

To breathe is also to position

Each inhale reorganizes APUS:

• the spine adjusts,

• the rib cage expands,

• the center of mass shifts slightly.

Even at rest, the body repositions itself with every respiratory cycle.

When breathing loses amplitude or variability:

• posture becomes fixed,

• the axis stiffens,

• APUS narrows.

The body stops exploring spatial possibilities.

To breathe is also to regulate the viscera

At the same time, breathing:

• “massages” organs,

• changes internal pressures,

• modulates visceral circulation,

• influences digestion and metabolism.

Constrained breathing:

• reduces visceral mobility,

• alters perfusion,

• impoverishes interoceptive signaling.

Breathing that regains variability:

• restores internal movement,

• expands visceral dialogue,

• reorganizes Tekoha.

Metabolism follows respiratory rhythm

Metabolism is not only chemical.
It is rhythm-dependent.

States of building (higher mTOR activity):

• tend toward more constrained breathing,

• higher postural tone,

• less pause.

States of reorganization:

• expand exhalation,

• reduce rigidity,

• increase variability.

Breathing does not “create” metabolism,
but it sustains it over time.

The heart: a marker between inside and outside

The heart responds immediately to breathing.
Each respiratory cycle:

• shifts vagal tone,

• modifies heart rate,

• adjusts beat-to-beat variability.

In this way, the heart acts as a dynamic bridge between:

• posture (APUS),

• viscera (Tekoha),

• metabolism,

• consciousness.

There is no “neutral” breathing.
Every breath organizes the heart.

When we fragment breathing, the body suffers

In many contexts, we train the body to:

• breathe without moving,

• move without feeling,

• feel without positioning.

This fragmentation creates internal conflicts:

• rigid posture with tense viscera,

• short breathing under high metabolic demand,

• a heart with insufficient variability.

The problem is not technique.
It is the loss of whole-body breathing.

Whole-body breathing and the shifting of the Tensional Selves

Each Tensional Self:

• occupies a postural territory,

• sustains a visceral state,

• maintains a compatible breathing rhythm.

When breathing returns to moving through the whole body:

• the Self loses rigidity,

• new possibilities emerge,

• shifting becomes possible.

Breathing doesn’t force change.
It removes the blockage.

Recognizing whole-body breathing

No correction. Just observe:

• Does my breath reach my whole body?

• Does my posture change with the air?

• Do I feel internal movement—or only effort?

• Does my heart respond with variability?

When these dimensions align,
APUS and Tekoha begin to speak to each other again.

Closing

Breathing is not only gas exchange.
It is organizing the body as a whole.

Whole-body breathing is the living link between:

• posture and viscera,

• metabolism and rhythm,

• action and fruition.

When it fragments, the body divides.
When it integrates, the body recognizes itself.

This text is part of the series Breathing, Body, Consciousness, and the Shifting of the Tensional Selves (Eus Tensionais), where different aspects of the same living system are approached from complementary angles.

References (post-2020)

Vlemincx, E., et al. (2020). Respiratory Patterns and Bodily Self-Regulation. Biological Psychology.
→ Discusses breathing as a global organizer of bodily self-regulation.

Grassmann, M., et al. (2021). Respiration and Interoceptive Integration. Frontiers in Neuroscience.
→ Shows how breathing integrates broad visceral and bodily signals.

Porges, S. W. (2021). Polyvagal Theory: A Science of Safety. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience.
→ Grounds breathing as a central modulator of autonomic and bodily state.

Zaccaro, A., et al. (2022). How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
→ Reviews systemic effects of breathing across multiple physiological domains.

Telles, S., et al. (2021). Yoga Breathing and Autonomic Balance. Journal of Clinical Medicine.
→ Demonstrates integration between posture, breathing, and visceral regulation.

Kim, H. G., et al. (2021). Respiration–Heart Rate Coupling and Autonomic Regulation. Frontiers in Neuroscience.
→ Highlights the heart as a dynamic link between breathing and bodily systems.

Forte, G., et al. (2022). Heart Rate Variability, Interoception and Bodily Awareness. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.
→ Relates whole-body breathing, HRV, and integrated bodily awareness.

Davenport, P. W., & Vovk, A. (2020). Cortical and Subcortical Influences on Breathing. Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology.
→ Explores how breathing traverses central and peripheral levels of the body.