Breathwork
We all know how to breathe – we do it all the time and most people do not give it a second thought.
But there is more to breathing than just staying alive. Poor breathing patterns can develop for a multitude of reasons including emotional stress and physical injury, and if they become established they can lead to a number of low-level underlying health issues.
If we start to think about how we breathe, there are perhaps three key aspects to work towards:
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Breathing through the nose
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Using the diaphragm
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Breathing more lightly
Once we start to breathe well again it can make a real difference to our feeling of health and sense of well-being, and can positively influence our fitness levels.
Breathwork has been a very personal journey for me. In 2013 I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) – scarring in the lungs with unknown cause, typically an autoimmune condition. Through diet and lifestyle changes, thankfully the scarring does not seem to have progressed, but it has left me with impaired lung function.
We tend to think of breathing as taking in life-giving oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide as the waste product, but this is not the whole story. For example, the presence of carbon dioxide (CO2) is essential to enable oxygen to pass from the blood to our tissues. Low tolerance to CO2, often as a result of poor breathing patterns, can create a sense air hunger, and feeling out of breath can happen more easily. This may create a vicious circle because we might then breathe harder, expelling more CO2.
Through my yoga practice I was already aware of how breath work can really help to calm the mind and reduce stress levels, but study and practice of particular techniques has given me improved tolerance of CO2 and a general feeling of improved fitness and wellbeing.
On top of my personal study, I have also completed a 60 hour Yoga Alliance endorsed course on breathwork techniques and exploration which I incorporate in my therapy and yoga teaching.