What is breathwork?
Interest in breathwork has been growing in recent years. More practitioners and trainings are popping up, the practise and its benefits are explored in the media, the NHS recommends breathwork for stress management and a film about Wim Hof is even in the works. But what is breathwork? And why might we like to “work” at doing something so fundamental?
Photo credit: Jeremy Bishop via Unsplash
At its most foundational level, breathwork is simply breathing with intention. Paying attention to the breath, breath awareness is the simplest form of breathwork and a meditative practise. Breath control is altering the breath in some way to elicit a particular response. For example, the technique known as “box breathing” incorporates balanced inhales, exhales and breath holds in order to calm anxiety.
A 2020 randomised controlled trial study by Yale illustrated in Harvard Business Review which compared a breathwork technique with a mindfulness based technique and a programme based around emotional awareness and regulation found that breathwork participants experienced:
“the greatest mental health, social connectedness, positive emotions, stress levels, depression, and mindfulness benefits.”
Another randomised controlled trial study by the University of Arizona compared breathwork to more conventional, cognitive strategies for stress-management (in other words, how to change your thoughts about stress). Whilst both techniques were rated similarly by participants and they both produced significant increases in social connectedness, the breathwork technique:
“was more beneficial in terms of immediate impact on stress, mood, and conscientiousness, and these effects were even stronger when measured three months later.”
There are hundreds of different kinds of breathwork
You might be familiar with yogic breaths like Ujjayi breath, nadi shodhana pranayama (alternate nostril breathing) or kapalabahti (breath of fire). If you aren’t familiar with yoga, you might be aware that when a person has a panic attack, a way to help resolve this is to alter the breath by slowing and deepening the breath.
Different breathwork techniques have different functions
Some breath techniques are intended to activate the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system where rest and digest happens (producing a grounding, calming effect). Others activate the sympathetic branch of the ANS, energising and revving the system up. Moving between the two states naturally happens day to day and is thought to increase heart rate variability, a measure of cardiovascular health (whereas chronically existing in a sympathetic-activated state lowers HRV and has a negative impact on heart health). There are functional breath practises to encourage optimal health, such as techniques which benefit asthma sufferers, as well as techniques to encourage relaxation and body awareness.
Access five simple breathwork techniques here
What are the origins of breathwork?
Breathwork’s origins are rooted in ancient Chinese, Indian, and Japanese traditions which have existed for thousands of years. There are a variety of breath-based meditations in ancient traditions including Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, Christianity, Shamanism, and various martial arts.
Modern methods of breathwork which emphasise breath control are most closely derived from pranayama, the fourth limb of the eight limbs of yoga. Pranayama is an amalgamation of two Sanskrit words: prana, life force, and ayama, which means control. Similarly, in Taoism qi (chi) refers to life force, though literally, the word means "breath", “air" or "gas”.
Pranayama is mentioned in early texts such as the Bhagavad Gita, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and Hatha Yoga Pradipika and originates from around the sixth and fifth centuries BC.
“When the breath is irregular, the mind wavers; when the breath is steady, so is the mind. To attain steadiness, the yogi should restrain his breath.”
- Hatha Yoga Pradipika
If we think of breath as life force, as ancient traditions did, being aware of or altering your breath is being aware of or altering life force.
Breathwork comes to the West
Modern breathwork techniques commonly practised in the Western world were introduced in the 1960s and 70s by a variety of practitioners, such as Stanislav and Christina Grof and Leonard Orr. The Grofs technique, Holotropic Breathing, was created as a way to experience altered states of consciousness without having to partake in the hallucinogenic drugs which had been made illegal by the 70s. Readers intrigued by this information, might be interested to read Annie Ridout’s experience of breathwork: It felt like I’d taken ecstasy but I was totally sober. Since then, many breathwork schools and practitioners have sprung up with different methodologies and focuses.
What are the benefits to practising breathwork?
If we look to the perspective of the ancient traditions from which modern breathwork is derived, the potential benefits are many. Our breath and the way in which we breathe is connected to every bodily system: immune, nervous, lymphatic, hormonal, cardiovascular, and digestive systems. Breath is the driving force of the body. Without it, nothing works.
Modern science is beginning to explore the direct benefits of breathwork and see some potential for stress and anxiety reduction, heart health and emotional regulation. It’s an exciting time for the exploration and development of this practise.
From my own practise and experience as a participant and a facilitator, a regular breathwork practise seems to benefit participants in the following ways:
calms and reduces mental chatter
reduces stress and anxiety
helps you access a deep state of rest
gently uncovers and integrates buried emotions
a way to connect with yourself on a deeper level
regulates your nervous system
allows you to be responsive instead of reactive
What type of breathwork do I facilitate?
The type of breathwork I tend to focus on is my own adaptation of a breath control technique called conscious connected breathing, which encourages participants to tune into the body and breathe more deeply and intensely. This can lead to different effects, like changes in temperature, tingling in the body, and changes in awareness. It's deeply relaxing.
I also teach “everyday” techniques, which can be practised in short stints at home, at work or anywhere else where a shift in state is needed. When practised little and often, these practises can quickly result in a person experiencing reduced stress and anxiety which is why I often incorporate these in longer term coaching work.
What makes my approach to breathwork different?
My own experience of practising and facilitating breathwork coupled with my understanding of chronic anxiety, neurodivergence and trauma has led me to adapt the method considerably from the way in which I was trained to facilitate. This is because CCB can be activating to a person with significant unprocessed trauma and many people aren’t aware that they are affected by trauma, anxiety or indeed, that they are neurodivergent. Hence my approach to breathwork is refined and significantly gentler (and arguably, safer) than a conventional practitioner of this form of breath.
What to expect in a breathwork session
The basic outline of a session is to start with an explanation of the technique and demonstration of how it’s done, we practise together and you can ask any questions you might have. You’ll be guided into a reclined position (or seated if lying down is not possible), taken through a relaxation/meditation, followed by practising the breath technique accompanied by music for 30-45 minutes. You'll have my guidance throughout and time at the end to process, come back to the space, discuss the experience and ensure you know what to do in terms of after care.
What previous participants have said about breathwork sessions with me
“Unfogged my brain like no other meditation I’ve tried” - Chloe Taylor
“What a profound and powerful experience” - Ruth Thomson
“An incredible experience… like nothing I’ve experienced before” – Rebecca Mackay Miller
“I felt awakened, it was such a treat!” – Heather Jeffries
Keen to give it a try? Enquire about a session here.
