Just One Breath

Let’s slow down for a few minutes, sit comfortably, roll your shoulders back, sit with a straight and neutral spine. Now take a few slow, deep breaths through your nose. Feel your chest rising and falling, feel yourself releasing any tension that you find, be it a frown, a clenched jaw, tight shoulders, all the way down to your feet…release. If you feel adventurous… instead of breathing into your chest, breathe deeply into your belly, feel it expand and contract with each inhalation and exhalation. Continue for as long as you need. This simple exercise can take mere seconds, up to hours, it’s up to you to determine the length of time. Of course the longer you practice, the more benefits you experience.

In this blog we will cover the basics of breathwork and its benefits to have you try it out at least once in the next week.

Isn’t Breathwork Just Breathing?

Breathing just happens so why should I spend excess time or energy on it? Well similar to most things in life, there is a way to survive, to do the basics and make it to another day but there is also a way to heal, to thrive with a bit more effort or focus. The definition of breathwork according to Merriam-Webster is simply: “conscious, controlled breathing done especially for relaxation, meditation, or therapeutic purposes.” As simple as it is, how many of us can say that we focus on our breath or how we breathe? 

The practice and history of conscious breathing or breathwork go back thousands of years with roots in many ancient cultures and traditions, such as pranayama (yogic breathing), shamanic practices, qi-gong, tai chai, and more. In these practices, the breath is associated with spirituality, heath and life force. Breathwork is increasingly incorporated into medical therapeutic practices to help individuals with mental health, illness, stress, and more. 

Some of the benefits of breathwork are discussed below:

Stress Reduction: Through conscious, slow breathing, your calming nervous system (parasympathetic nervous system) is engaged and the fight or flight stressors in the body that are trying to keep you ‘safe’ from real or (mostly) perceived threats are reduced. 

Mood Regulation: You get a nice mood boost as a result of calming down and being more present. “If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future.” - Lao Tzu. Breathwork is one of those techniques that can help bring you into the present moment and reduce feelings of anxiety or depression.

Relaxation/Calmness: US Navy Seals use various breathing techniques as a sleeping hack or to remain calm in stressful situations. These techniques aren’t just limited to military personnel though we can appreciate that even in very stressful situations something as simple as breathing can provide amazing benefits.

Improved Respiratory Function: Breathwork can improve lung capacity, strengthen respiratory muscles and reduce your respiratory rate.

These are just some of the highlights but breathwork techniques can also increase pain tolerance, focus, athletic performance and more!

Now that the what and why have been covered, let’s review the how. There are many breathing techniques out there, I will highlight some of the better-known and easy-to-practice ones:

1. Diaphragmatic breathing (aka belly-breathing)

   1. Overview: This simple technique was used in the introduction to this blog where you breathe into your belly instead of your chest.

   2. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXjlR4mXxSk&t=52s  

2. Box breathing 

   1. Overview: A box has four sides (obviously) with the top representing a long, slow inhalation, the side counts as a hold, the bottom is an exhalation.

   2. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7uQXDkxEtM

3. 4-7-8 breathing

   1. Overview: 4-7-8 breathing has been trending on social media as a quick sleep hack. The technique is to inhale for a count of 4 (into the belly ideally), hold your breath for a count of seven and then exhale for a count of eight, repeating until you feel ready for sleep or actually fall asleep.

   2. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dv-ldGLnIY 

I have been practicing breathwork for over a decade in various forms with the goal of finding core techniques to increase overall well-being. I use it to prep for the day with a 30-minute practice that helps me stay centered, focused, energized, motivated, healthy and generally happy. My practices are a combination of alpha meditation, wim hof breathing, and diaphragmatic breathing though I use the other breathing techniques covered on an as-needed basis as well. I also believe that breathwork will help all of us live happier, healthier lives no matter our age, background or place in the world.

Though barely scratching the surface, I hope this was a valuable and insightful overview that piqued your interest and motivated you to try it out and take just one conscious breath. If you’d like to know more, happy to share!