My unintentional journey with breathwork started almost two decades ago. I’d returned to a town I loved to start my Masters degree and saw an advert for local Tai-Chi classes. After leaving a stressful job in the city, I was ready to embrace my new found freedom, so decided to sign up.
Tai-Chi taught me to get out of my head and into my body. It was the first time I’d learned to synchronise the breath with movement and I was amazed at how calm and clear I felt after each class.
Regain focus
My breathwork journey continued when I discovered a meditation class was being held just around the corner from my flat. Monks from the local Buddhist centre ran the classes and I was curious to find out more. Much to the surprise of my naive self, they looked just like you and me. Yet they had a sense of unshakeable calmness about them. And being around them made me feel peaceful.
The meditation classes taught me that I’m a private meditator, I struggle to meditate in groups. I’d love to be one of those people who can sit with others and meditate but it’s just not me.
More importantly, meditation taught me to use my breath as a focal point. And that no matter what is going on around me (or inside me), I can return to my breath and regroup.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I was having a gradual education in breathwork. Although I didn’t see the connection until recently, I used the tools I’d learned to support me throughout life’s challenges – chronic pain, nerve wracking appointments and emotional turbulence.
Breathe to Heal
In more recent years, I stumbled upon a fabulous Ted Talk by Max Strom. Breathe to Heal made me realise how breathwork can positively impact our emotional and physical state. By nurturing our internal world, we can positively impact our external world.
Think about it, if we’re disconnected, stressed or exhausted, then we have no time to pause and see the bigger picture.
But if we can use breathwork as a daily reset, then we approach our lives from a place of clarity, so are more likely to see the options and solutions that surround us.
Isn’t that a huge return for a small time commitment?
Just Breathe
I’ve just finished reading Just Breathe by Dan Brule. It’s an amazing book on breathwork which crystalised what I’d already experienced, but it also taught me so much more.
One of the key messages that resonated with me was:
If you need to control yourself – your mind, body, emotions, posture or behaviour – then start by getting control of your breathing.
This hit me hard… As someone who has spent so much time focusing on my outer world i.e.paying off my mortgage, working towards financial security, developing side hustles, maintaining a healthy body, learning new skills and spending time with my family, I hadn’t consciously looked inward.
I’d made external changes hoping for an internal impact. Yet this one sentence turned my whole life-theory inside out.
Although breathwork had been an ongoing part of my journey, I hadn’t intentionally used it to help me create the life I wanted.
If all of this is seeming a bit ‘out there’, let me assure you there is some science behind these claims.
Specific breathing practices can reduce the activity of the sympathetic nervous system (which kicks in when we’re under stress) and increases the activity of the opposite function, the parasympathetic nervous system.
The parasympathetic nervous system triggers our natural rest, restore and repair functions as well as our digestion. So I’m beginning to wonder if incorporating breathwork would increase the impact of those things I’m already doing…
Would it compliment my healthy diet and workout routines by helping me get more from them? Will it help me feel more energised and inspired as I work on my side hustles? Will I feel happier and calmer?
I’m not sure but I’m willing to give it a go. For such a small time investment, even if I just have more clarity of thought, then it’s worth it.
Change your breath, change your life
Another quote from Dan Brule that hit me hard was:
Breathwork changes something on a deep, primal level. If you can’t change it then don’t be surprised if you struggle to change anything else in your life.
And it’s true. If we can’t set the intention to spend 10-20 minutes a day focusing on our breath, then do we really have the discipline to stick with anything else we want to do?
Not only that, but what opportunities are we missing out on by being in a state of constant distraction? We need to reclaim our attention and reclaim our lives.
Brule refers to breathwork as free medicine. Which is a pretty amazing claim. But it makes sense when you consider that the breath can help with so many issues including:
- pain and fatigue
- insomnia
- stress and anxiety
It can also:
- improve focus and concentration
- boost creativity
- improve our intuition or spiritual connection
Some of these changes may be subtle but others may be profound.
I know from my own experiences of chronic stomach pain many years ago, that if I could focus on breathing deeply and slowly for 10 minutes, the pain would reduce or sometimes even disappear. Yet this was a pain that high-strength painkillers wouldn’t touch.
A simple breathwork practice
Just Breathe has a 21 day breath awareness practice which takes you through a different activity each day. However, if you want to experiment with breathwork then try this simple practice for 10-20 minutes each day:
- Watch your breath
- Remind yourself that you are only observing it, you’re not ‘doing’ anything. Don’t try to change it.
- Notice where you feel the breath – is it in a specific part of your body? Do you experience any sensations?
- If your mind starts to wander (it will) then return your attention to the breath
Commit to practicing this for 30 days and see what changes you notice.
As a bonus, if you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed, stressed or in any heightened state during the day, then return to this activity for 1-2 minutes.
Optimize your life
Whatever your goals in life, whether they’re financial, physical, emotional or spiritual, developing a breathwork practice could help you optimize them.
Even if you don’t notice any huge changes, by taking the time to focus on your inner world, you’ll become more aware of your outer world and be less likely to succomb to the destination myth.
If we only have one life, then I want to be as present as I can be on every step of my journey. I want to approach it from a place of calm and clarity and enjoy it to the full. If 20 minutes a day can help me to do that, then I’m happy to trade my mindless scrolling, worrying or procrastination in return.
And in a world that’s obsessed with being switched on, surely we can take 20 minutes to switch off.
So if you feel drawn to experimenting with breathwork then give it a go, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Please note: I’m not a medical professional or breathwork practitioner. Please take responsibility for your own health if you decide to try this practice and if in doubt, always chaeck with your GP first.
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Image courtesy of Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash.