In various ways, every living thing on Earth needs to breathe. We rely on breathing for survival, but did you know how you breathe can also impact how you think, feel, and connect with yourself?
Consider how you breathe when you feel different emotions. When you are relaxed, your breathing may be slow and deep. When you are upset, your breathing may be short and shallow. By using breathwork, you can influence how you feel and think immediately.
However, the benefits of breathwork aren’t limited to mental and emotional processes. Practicing mindfulness through breathwork may also influence our physical and spiritual well-being.
This article explores the various benefits of breathwork, who might benefit from breathwork, and how you can enhance your mind-body practices through the art of breathing.
Breathwork can positively impact overall wellness's mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects.
Breathing is one of the most necessary biological functions. When you practice breathwork as a wellness exercise, you enhance a normal function to feel refreshed and energized.
Breathwork is easy to practice, can be done anywhere, and is beneficial for anyone at any age and in any condition. Since breathwork exercises the musculature involved in breathing, the more you practice, the stronger and more natural your breathing will be.
The benefits of breathwork may be immediate, such as taking in a few deep breaths to relieve stress, or they could be long-term. You can use breathwork as a mindful wellness practice by itself or couple it with other mindfulness practices like yoga or meditation.
Body & Brain Yoga and Tai Chi is on a mission to help people live healthier and happier lives. Through our holistic fitness classes, you can experience a blend of wellness practices such as yoga, Tai Chi, meditation, and breathwork to improve your mind-body connection and feel healthier and happier each day.
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For strong and healthy lungs, breathing is a breeze.
When you breathe in, your diaphragm does 80% of the work, filling your lungs with oxygen during inhalation and exhausting waste gas during exhalation.
Consider your lungs like a spring door, opening to let air in and closing to push air out. Over time, our lungs can lose their springiness. Stale air can build up, leaving less room for the diaphragm to expand and contract. If the diaphragm cannot work fully, the body uses other muscles (like the neck, back, and chest) for breathing.
By practicing breathwork, you may be able to strengthen your lungs and diaphragm.
Research shows that daily 15-minute breathing training for just two weeks may significantly increase the volume of used air you exhale in one second so you can take deeper and stronger breaths.
Our brains rely on oxygenated blood to function. Taking deep breaths allows more oxygen to enter the bloodstream and can help increase mental awareness.
For example, one study examined the effects of yoga breathing on attention and anxiety in pre-teen children. The study divided 61 children into three groups, with two groups practicing different styles of yoga breathing exercises and the third group not practicing yoga breathing (the control group). The children practicing either of the two different breathing exercises showed measurably increased attention and focus compared to the control group.
Deep and controlled breathing activates the autonomic nervous system and increases oxygen to the brain and vital tissues, allowing the brain and organs to function optimally. If you’re feeling sluggish at any point throughout the day, take 10 minutes to practice breathwork for a boost of energy.
Practicing slow, deep breaths before bed may help initiate a relaxation response to help you fall asleep faster.
Slow, deep breathing can activate the parasympathetic side of the autonomic nervous system. Parasympathetic responses control homeostasis, digestion, healing, and rest. Digestion and rest are the automatic physical reactions that happen when your body and mind feel calm and safe.
The military has recognized breathwork as a tool to help regain composure and reduce stress. Reportedly, practicing slow, deep breathing exercises over time may help correct sympathetic (“fight or flight”) overarousal, which may be responsible for stress-related insomnia.
Slow, deep breathing has also been found to produce melatonin, a hormone responsible for sleep regulation.
Research suggests that breathwork practices such as resistive breathing, a strength training technique involving a device that creates resistance as the user inhales and exhales, may help increase inflammatory responses responsible for fighting off foreign pathogens.
Breathwork may also help activate lung defenses against viruses. A 2014 study split 24 participants into two groups. One group participated in a cyclical breathwork technique followed by a cold plunge. The other group did not participate and was used as the control. Both groups were then exposed to a toxin that caused flu-like symptoms.
As a result, the group that performed the breathwork technique experienced significantly fewer symptoms than their control group counterparts.
Did you know that the benefits of breathwork may also help you digest food better?
Research has found that some deep breathing exercises may help improve digestive functions by increasing enzyme action and helping the body clear out metabolic waste.
Studies show that breathing affects several areas of the brain, including those linked to emotion.
Agitation, stress, irritation, and other negative emotions may affect your breathing.
Stress causes the body to produce shallow, short, quick breaths that increase heart rate and blood pressure. As a result, the body produces stress hormones, and lactic acid builds up in the muscles, causing tension.
Psychiatric research and clinical practices have shown that breathwork may have a profound impact and diagnostic improvement of symptoms caused by anxiety, depression, trauma, addiction, obsessions, compulsions, and inattention.
Certain breathing techniques may be especially effective at reducing stress.
Breathwork is a useful tool that may improve your emotional state when feeling stressed, anxious, or depressed. If you regularly practice breathwork, you may find yourself automatically using breathing techniques to boost your mood in the face of adversity.
One longitudinal study found that breathwork helped U.S. veterans improve their management of PTSD symptoms.
Anyone can benefit from breathwork. We all need to take a minute to breathe once in a while. Why not use that time to breathe intentionally?
Though the benefits of breathwork may be immediate, routine breathwork practice can help you strengthen your breathwork ability and access long-term benefits.
You can start your breathwork routine by practicing for ten minutes one to three times a week and then increasing the frequency daily. If you want to use breathwork to begin your day fully energized, you can practice in the morning. If you want to use breathwork to improve your sleep, you might do it before bed. You could practice breathwork after lunch to help you digest and check in with yourself before moving on with the rest of your day.
Some people have breathing routines that involve practicing breathing exercises more than once a day. Breathwork is best used when needed.
Breathwork is the foundation of mind-body practices. It affects every aspect of our well-being. The ability to control your breath and use it to accumulate and clear your energies is a vital tool for wellness and well-being.
Body & Brain Yoga and Tai Chi instructors can help you unlock the potential of mindfulness practices like breathwork. Our unique system of breathing postures can help increase the transformative power and depth of your mind-body practices.
Are you looking to get the most out of your breathwork? Brain & Body Yoga and Tai Chi has over 20 years of experience helping individuals access the limitless benefit of breathwork.
With locations worldwide, we can help you devise a breathwork routine and improve your technique. Can’t find a class near you? We have online classes any day of the week.
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We welcome you to join a community of like-minded individuals embarking on a journey of connection and self-discovery.
Breathe vital life energy into your routine with breathwork techniques at a Body & Brain Yoga and Tai Chi center near you.