Once seen as a somewhat esoteric ‘out-there’ practice, breathwork is now becoming increasingly mainstream. Fuelled by the success of books such as James Nestor’s ‘Breath’ and Patrick McKeown’s ‘The Oxygen Advantage’ breathing practises now sit at the heart of many athletic training programs and holistic wellness regimes.
However, long before it became fashionable, breath manipulation (or pranayama) was a central component of yoga practice. Indeed, yogis have expertly harnessed the power of the breath for 1000s of years and many descriptions of the physical, mental and ‘energetic’ effects of these pranayama techniques align to modern scientific understanding of the body, brain and nervous system.
So here are 5 reasons why you should also be investing more time practising breathing exercises…also do check out my 4 week online breathwork + pranayama immersion in which we’ll dive into the magic of the breath in much greater detail.
1. It helps us to manage our response to stress
The breath can provide us with a number of very simple ‘hacks’ to rebalance our nervous system and bring us back to centre when we’re feeling stressed out.
Nasal breathing, softening the inhalation, lengthening the exhalation, humming, retentions - all of these techniques (when applied correctly) can help to stimulate our rest and digest response and counter the effects of feeling overwhelmed or anxious.
You can find 3 simple tips for breathing in ways designed to aid stress management in this blog post.
2. It can improve athletic performance
By improving breathing mechanics and our tolerance to carbon dioxide, we’re able to strengthen respiratory muscles, deliver oxygen more efficiently to muscles and even increase the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood…all of which will have a significant impact on athletic performance.
I dive into the science of how and why this works in much further detail here - and also outline a number of breathing techniques for improving sporting performance.
3. It can help to improve flexibility and mobility
When we breathe in ways designed to stimulate parasympathetic rest and digest response it relaxes the body and decreases muscle tone…which will then help us to find a greater sense of ease when taking deep stretches.
We can also apply specific breathing techniques when exploring twists, side bends, forward folds and back bends to help us to access greater ranges of movement.
One very simple technique that can help us to work deeper into twists is to inhale into the side of the ribcage that you’re twisting towards and then exhale to the opposite side of the body (e.g. if you’re twisting to the right inhale to the right side of the ribcage and exhale to the left).
This will ‘open up’ the ribs on the leading side of the body (i.e. the right side) and ‘close’ the ribs on the left side - both of which helps us to find a greater degree of rotation. Give it a go and see how you get on…you might find you’re able to access a significantly deeper twist.
4. It improves immune system function, sleep and overall well-being
Most of us spend a great deal of our lives feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated and this can lead to a number of dysfunctional breathing patterns that further chronically stress our system.
Conscious breathing techniques that stimulate a shift into parasympathetic nervous system ‘rest and digest’ response can therefore provide a much needed energetic counterpoint to the stresses and strains of life, with many proven benefits:
Improved sleep
Improved mental health and wellbeing
Improved immune system response
Enhanced memory and cognitive abilities
Lower blood pressure
Improved Heart Rate Variability (a key indicator of nervous system health)
Improved ability to recover from the exertions of exercise
5. It improves focus and attention
The breath sits at the heart of many meditation practices, providing an ‘anchor point’ for our awareness and attention and shifting our focus away from rumination about the past or anxiety about the future (we can only ever breathe in the present!).
Indeed, by harnessing the power of attention in this way we can actually ‘remould’ the shape of our brains (neuroplasticity) and neuroscience research has measured a number of profound effects of these practices including changes in brainwave activity that encourage a ‘relaxed’ state of mind, promote a positive mental attitude, improve creativity and memory function and increase mental resilience.
So there we have 5 compelling reasons to commit to a regular conscious breathing practice. And if you’re curious about breathwork and pranayama and you’d like to learn more then definitely do check out my 4 week online immersion.
We’ll dive into both the theory and practice of breathing exercises, providing you with a solid foundation from which to continue to explore and deepen your practice. You can find out more here, or to book your space, simply drop me an email.