The (Many) Benefits of Breathwork

The holiday season is in full swing, and while it is beautiful and magical in a lot of ways, it can also bring on a lot of stress, fatigue, and even sorrow. Read on for a simple practice that can help you better manage. 

Breathing…it’s such an automatic part of life that we don’t often think about it, or it can even be a joke when we forget other things, at least we keep breathing! But do we really? Sure, we breathe enough to keep oxygen in our bloodstream, but our breath often reflects our state of being, and can be shallow or we may even hold it for periods of time without realizing it.

So what is breathwork? It’s exactly what it sounds like; it’s a conscious practice of breathing in different patterns in order to influence our nervous and other systems. Our bodies are much more interconnected than we realize, and breathing is intimately tied into the function of other parts of our body beyond the respiratory system. If you’ve practiced yoga, then you’ve practiced pranayama, or breathwork.

Breathwork is beneficial to our nervous system. In therapy and yoga, we primarily use it to calm the nervous system by decreasing sympathetic nervous system activation (our fight/flight/freeze response to threats or perceived threats). We often get stuck in this pattern when we have chronic pain, trauma, or other prolonged stress in our lives. Breathwork activates the parasympathetic nervous system (our rest and digest response when we feel safe, calm, and relaxed). Dovetailing off this benefit, breathwork can decrease bladder urgency, meaning it can reduce frequent trips to the bathroom and even leaking with urge!

Breathwork also benefits our cardiovascular system by decreasing heart rate, and increasing heart rate variability which is an indicator of health, vitality, and adaptability.

Breathwork benefits our musculoskeletal system as well. It increases ribcage expansion which improves posture, breathing patterns, and stiffness in tissues throughout the trunk. It increases expansion through the abdomen which can reduce tension in soft tissue after abdominal surgeries. It is vital to coordination of core muscles including the pelvic floor and abdominals, which is important for managing pressure in our abdomens during activity, reducing issues like incontinence, prolapse, and hernia. Breathwork also reduces muscle overactivity/tension in areas like the jaw, shoulders, and spine.

After pregnancy, it is important to retrain our bodies how to breathe, after we adapt to the changes that occur when we grow a human and all of our organs gets displaced by the uterus, the baby, and that amazing new organ, the placenta. We can't help but develop a shallow, chest-breathing pattern, and breathwork can help re-establish a normal, better coordinated, and more efficient pattern of breathing.

Finally, breathwork can reduce fatigue and improve energy, even during periods of stress and medical treatment like radiation. The benefits to all these systems can combine to improve sleep, and everything functions better when we get good quality sleep.

Here are some patterns you can try when you need a moment of calm and self-care during this season (in any position that's convenient):

Box Breathing

Inhale for 4 seconds.

Pause (hold) for 4 seconds.

Exhale for 4 seconds.

Pause (hold) for 4 seconds.

Repeat at least 3 times, or more until you feel relaxed.

Three-Part Breathing

Inhale slowly, first letting belly fill and expand (first 1/3), then allow ribs to expand to the sides and back (second 1/3), and last allow the chest and collarbones to rise (last 1/3).

Slowly exhale, reversing the order; chest and collarbones drop, then ribs, then belly.

Repeat 5-10 times.

Seashell Breathing

Hold your hand in front of your mouth like it’s a handheld mirror.

Exhale into your hand like you are fogging the mirror, then breathe the fog back in with the same audible breath.

Try this with your mouth closed, exhaling and inhaling through your nose.

The sound should be like the ocean when you put a seashell to your ear, or like Darth Vadar breathing.

Repeat 5-10 times.

4-7-8 Breathing

Inhale (preferably through your nose) for 4 seconds.

Pause (hold) for 7 seconds.

Exhale (through your lips like you’re blowing out a candle) for 8 seconds.

Repeat for 2-3 minutes or about 10 cycles of breath.

You may be surprised how spending less than a minute on breathing can completely change how you are feeling!

We work on incorporating breath into physical therapy and yoga sessions. Please reach out or schedule your free consultation if you have questions or are interested in practicing more!

Wishing you happy, healthy holidays!