Understanding Breathwork: an ancient practice for modern times

How are you breathing right now?

Don’t change it in any way

Just observe and think about it for a minute

Are you breathing through your nose?

Are you taking shallow breaths?

Is there any tension in your body as you breathe?

These may seem like trivial questions, but they can tell you a lot about how much energy you have, how much stress you are under, or even what your emotional state is. Breathwork involves many different breathing techniques of which many are centered around deep diaphragmatic breathing which enhances your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. For centuries, cultures worldwide have implemented breathwork to calm the mind, regulate the body’'s energy, and focus on the present moment. The Latin word for a breath, 'spiritus', is not only the origin of the word SPIRIT, but also the likes of CONSPIRE (literally a 'breathing together'), PERSPIRE (literally 'breathing through'), and INSPIRE (to have an idea literally 'breathed' into you). But most people are not conscious about breathing in general or the way they breathe themselves, and the impact it can have on their health and wellbeing. In the last few years, breathwork has ‘exploded’, there have been advances in the scientific research on the benefits of breathing and more people have become breathwork experts in many different breathing techniques.

I was introduced to Breathwork in 2010 during a one-day workshop on transformational breathing. It was so impactful for me, that I decided I wanted to learn more about it, and I signed up for a one-week personal transformational breath retreat where I experienced the amazing benefits and powerful effects of deep diaphragmatic conscious connected breathing. This retreat really changed my life as I decided I wanted to become a facilitator and teach others how they can improve and optimize their breathing. As is said in the breathing space: “The way you breathe is the way you live your life”. We all have different breathing patterns and the way we breathe has evolved from our dealings with parents, siblings, teachers, friends, situations, and experiences we encounter mostly in childhood years. When we experience a great deal of stress we tend to breathe faster and more in the upper chest which sends a signal to our brain that there is danger, causing our diaphragm to breathe even faster. When this happens for a prolonged period, our bodies get used to always being in this mode and a new breathing pattern has been established. This is just one example of how our usually perfect breathing patterns at birth change over time, and we never actually realize this.

The way we breathe has a huge effect on our nervous system, our blood pressure, our acidity of the blood, on oxygen intake, our athletic performance, muscle tension and pain, digestive issues, sleep disruptions, impaired posture and much more. Next to the physical effects, the way we breathe also has an impact on our mental/emotional health. It can increase stress and anxiety, create emotional instability with feelings of restlessness, irritability and mood swings, panic attacks, and depression and it can reduce an individual’s resilience. In addition, it can also affect our ability to follow our heart and gut when making decisions or to feel confident and strong-minded.

As it is with doing sports and exercising, we can influence our bodies and minds with our breathing. We can make it deeper, more flowing, with more or less volume and more or less inhales and exhales per minute, using our mouth or nose, we can breathe light or heavy, we can breathe low or high, etc. It is one of the few biological functions that we can actively influence, and I am trained to assist and guide you in doing so.

During a breathing session, I create a safe space for you where I will first establish your breathing pattern and guide you with a specific breathing technique together with acupressure, sound, and affirmations to an active, open, full, and flowing breath. This takes about 35 minutes, and you then go into a deep meditative state where you will experience your own insights and thoughts that come up that usually have something to do with what it is that you would like to change in your life. You can experience emotional releases and moments of being in an altered state of consciousness during the session. Everyone who comes out of the session usually feels lighter, and more relaxed, and generally has received an insight about themselves that can prompt them to make certain life changes. They also report back with better sleep, that they feel more focused and so much more. I tend to give homework to clients to start doing breathing exercises daily in order to open up their breathing system on a more consistent basis.

I do one-on-one sessions where the client has my full attention during the session and where coaching is included. I also do group sessions where you breathe together in a group. Group breathing strengthens the energy of the breath for the individuals and can be very beneficial as well. If you are with a few friends and would like to try it out you are welcome to book a space, in Morningside where I am based. In addition, I have developed a 6-week program with personalized breathing exercises every week that I do with clients who are ready to commit, who want to optimize their breathing and who want to take control of their health. Please check our my website at www.balancematters.life for more information and my Instagram page @balance_matters2024. Let me help you to become more in tune with your breathing in the new year.

At this moment I am expanding on my breathing knowledge through a course by Oxygen Advantage to become a Functional Breathing Instructor. This is all about Functional and Dysfunctional breathing and how to make your breathing more efficient from an oxygen/CO2 balance point of view. Very interesting stuff for runners and other endurance sports. Once I have this qualification, you can expect to hear more from me about how your breath impacts your running and how you can make your running more efficient.

Keep running and…. keep breathing 

Ingrid

Breathwork Practitioner and Coach (ACC)