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 why people practise it, to have you try it out at least once in the next week.

Safety first: these practices are for healthy adults. Stop if you feel dizzy or unwell, never practise breath-holding in water or while driving, and check with a health professional first if you have a medical condition, are pregnant or have any concerns.

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 other 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 chi, and more. In these practices, the breath is associated with spirituality, health and life force. Breathwork is increasingly explored in health and wellness settings.

Some of the benefits of breathwork are discussed below:

Settling: Slow, conscious breathing engages your calming (parasympathetic) nervous system, which many people find helps them ease out of “fight or flight”.

Presence: Many people find slow breathing helps them feel calmer and more present in the moment.

Relaxation and calm: US Navy SEALs use various breathing techniques as a sleeping hack or to remain calm in stressful situations. These techniques are not just for military personnel, though we can appreciate that even in very stressful situations something as simple as breathing can help.

Awareness: Breathing slowly through the diaphragm helps you notice how you normally breathe.

These are just a few of the reasons people practise breathwork.

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 (belly breathing)

This is the technique used in the introduction: breathe into your belly instead of your chest. Example video

2. Box breathing

A box has four equal sides: a slow inhale, a hold, a slow exhale and a hold, each for the same count. Example video

3. 4-7-8 breathing

This has been trending on social media as a quick wind-down technique. Inhale for a count of 4 (into the belly, ideally), hold for 7, then exhale for 8, repeating until you feel ready to rest. Example video

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 can be a helpful daily habit for many people, whatever their 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!