What the hell is Breathwork anyway?!

My name is Felipe Torres, I am a 30 years old medical doctor, born in Brazil and living in Portugal for the past 17 years.

For a while now I’ve been growing more and more interested in the therapeutic potential of an ancient, tremendously effective, truly inclusive, and very inexpensive Medicine — the Breath.

So for the last 3 years I’ve been really diving deep into the scientific literature to understand exactly what our best scientists, journalists, researchers, and clinical practitioners know about our breathing and how we can control our bodies’ functions, our mind’s states of consciousness and be able to achieve the paramount superpower of a skill that is Self-Regulation.

In fact, I’ve got so interested in this topic that I became a Breathing Coach so I can teach you how to breathe functionally and take back control of your physical and mental health. If you want to check out my work you can click here

Have you ever stumbled upon a foreign movie without subtitles? Your ears pick up fragments, familiar sounds, maybe even a word or two, but grasping the entire conversation? Forget it.

Now imagine that film as the dialogue between your body and your mind.

The elusive language? Your Breath.

It starts like learning any new language: word for word, you get bits and pieces initially, feeling almost in the dark. But as you immerse yourself in the practice, the words start to make sense, you get to put some sentences together and eventually, you’re deep in the conversation.

The breath, in all its simplicity, is the most intricate language your body and mind speak with each other. A rushed, shallow breath might mean anxiety, while a deep, belly-driven one? Profound calm. This isn’t just about mindfulness; it’s about decoding real-time feedback from your very being.

Here’s the coolest part: not only can you learn to interpret, but by changing your breathing pattern intentionally, you can also control and direct this dialogue.

Suddenly, you’re not just a listener — you’re a creator, an artist crafting every inhale and exhale. A Captain, shutting off auto-pilot and assuming control of your emotions!

Ready to harness the superpower of self-regulation? Dive in, and trust me, it will be the most enlightening conversation you’ve ever had!

A Brief Story of Breathwork

Breathwork, or as I define it for my clients, intentionally changing your breathing pattern for a particular desired outcome, has a rich history that spans thousands of years, dozens of cultures and has been deeply intertwined with spiritual traditions, physical wellness, and psychological resilience.

The “science” of breathwork as we know it begins in the mystical traditions of ancient India. As defined by the Legendary Sutras of Patanjali, Yoga has 8 different “limbs” or paths to get the practitioner to achieve “liberation”.

You probably know one of them by now, especially because Instagram is full of half-naked women bending their bodies into oblivion and trying to become a human pretzel… Jokes aside, one of the 8 limbs you may know is the ASANA, or postures.

Less known and practiced on social media, is another limb called PRANAYAMA:

It can be understood as either ‘prana-yama’ which would mean ‘breath — control’ or ‘breath restraint’, or it could be understood as ‘prana-ayama’ which would translate as ‘freedom of breath’, ‘breath expansion’ or ‘breath liberation’.

Each way of breathing will change our state of being, but it’s up to us as to whether we perceive this as ‘controlling’ the way we feel or ‘freeing’ ourselves from the habitual way our mind may usually be.

As we move towards East Asia, breathwork became instrumental in Zen and Buddhist practices. Masters such as Thich Nhat Hanh have taught mindful breathing as a path to attain clarity and enlightenment. The Zen philosophy of focusing the mind on the breath offered practitioners a tool to achieve tranquility amidst the chaos of existence.

Breathwork’s influence spread beyond Asia, as well. It found its place in Middle Eastern Sufi traditions and the Shamanistic practices of African and American indigenous cultures. These ancient societies used breathwork for healing and spiritual experiences. For example, Sufis like Rumi wrote about conscious breath control in their mystical poetry, while indigenous shamans used it during healing rituals to enter trance states and communicate with the spirit world.

Only Breath

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu
Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion

or cultural system. I am not from the East
or the West, not out of the ocean or up

from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not
composed of elements at all. I do not exist,

am not an entity in this world or in the next,
did not descend from Adam and Eve or any

origin story. My place is placeless, a trace
of the traceless. Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved, have seen the two
worlds as one and that one call to and know,

first, last, outer, inner, only that
breath breathing human being.

-Rumi
( from The Essential Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks)

In the 1960s and 1970s, breathwork witnessed a renaissance in Western cultures, driven by the holistic and New Age movements. This period gave birth to modern forms of breathwork, each with its unique approach to using breath for self-exploration and therapeutic healing. While Buteyko’s method originated in Soviet Russia as a response to respiratory challenges, the West had its own trailblazers. Notably, Dr. Stanislav Grof, a visionary psychiatrist and co-founder of Transpersonal Psychology, introduced “Holotropic Breathwork.” His technique aimed to induce altered states of consciousness through intentional breathing, uncovering the mind’s hidden depths. Leonard Orr, another significant figure from this era, proposed “Rebirthing Breathwork” as a healing modality that could help resolve suppressed traumas and promote personal growth. well-being.

Fast forward to the 21st Century, Wim Hof, famously known as “The Iceman,” holds 4 different Guinness World Records for feats of extreme endurance in cold conditions. His remarkable achievements have drawn attention to the Wim Hof Method, a holistic approach that involves controlled breathing, cold exposure, and meditation, emphasizing its potential benefits for overall well-being and physiological control.

Today, the scientific community is increasingly interested in breathwork’s potential benefits. Multiple research studies have highlighted its role in managing stress, improving respiratory and cardiovascular functions, boosting immunity, and enhancing emotional well-being.

Throughout this article, I will reference some scientific texts with recent studies that emphasize the importance of breathwork for a healthy and happy life.

From ancient yogic traditions to modern self-improvement and self-regulating techniques, breathwork’s journey reflects our continuous quest for inner balance, health, and a deeper understanding of the human experience.

The Power of Breathwork

From the yogis of ancient India practicing pranayama to Zen masters like Thich Nhat Hanh teaching mindful breathing, breathwork has been a cornerstone of numerous cultural and spiritual traditions across the globe.

But breathwork is not just about spirituality. Modern science is catching up with what our ancestors instinctively knew: that our breath is a powerful tool for physical and mental health.

We’ve discovered that breathwork can improve respiratory and cardiovascular functions, boost immunity, manage stress, and even aid emotional well-being.

As I’ve mentioned before, your breath acts as a language connecting your brain and body in an ongoing dialogue. Master this language, and you’ll find yourself engaging in a conversation with your Autonomic Nervous System, the behind-the-scenes conductor of your bodily functions. Imagine feeling anxious about your finals — that might mean your Sympathetic “Fight or Flight” is turning on. Imagine you woke up this morning feeling a little drowsy or you just ate a big meal and you’re fighting to stay awake during that boring meeting at work — that’s your Parasympathetic “Rest & Digest” response kicking in.

Now imagine changing the way you’re breathing and no longer feeling that anxiety before the exam, or raising some much-needed energy to endure the boring meeting. Sounds pretty cool, right?

Let’s discuss some of the scientific evidence behind breathwork.

In his 1897 book, “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals,” Darwin explores the idea that our mental state can directly impact our heart, and vice versa. To break it down, when you’re super hyped or stressed (or super depressed), your heart feels it. This then sends feedback to your brain, which might stir up more emotions, and this loop continues, creating a domino or rather pinball effect between your heart and brain.

It’s like your heart and brain are BFFs who are constantly influencing each other

When you change your breathing patterns, you influence your autonomic nervous system, which controls functions like heart rate, digestion, and respiratory rate. This can lead to physiological changes that help manage stress, improve physical performance, and boost overall health. Multiple research studies have shown these benefits, making breathwork a promising tool for holistic health management.

Back in 2012, Lalande et al. noted that your breathing patterns can actually change if you’re constantly in stressful environments. It’s like your body’s reaction to stress is to hold your breath erratically or breathe less deeply, almost like you’re bracing yourself for impact. This kind of ‘shallow breathing’ isn’t great for our brain — shallow and erratic breathing can stimulate your Sympathetic nervous system. While this might heighten feelings of stress or even aggression, chronic engagement of this system can contribute to mood disturbances, including feelings of unease and, over time, possibly even depression. This could end up making you feel more depressed. Lalande says in the study “there is empirical support for yoga breathing-based interventions in treating depression, and meditation-based approaches demonstrate efficacy in the treatment of depression and anxiety.” (1)

In 2017, Ma et al., showed that diaphragmatic breathing “reduced the stress-related physiological response level in healthy volunteers” (2). Also, Russo et al., reviewed the physiology of “slow breathing” and showed that it “has a profound effect not only on respiration efficiency but also extending to cardiovascular function and autonomic function, where the effects are bidirectional” (3).

Now, you may not know any of the studies or scientists from the studies I just showed you, and I won’t hold it against you.

But if you’re living on Earth in 2023 and have access to the internet, you certainly know a guy called Andrew Huberman. He has an incredible podcast called Huberman Lab where he hosts mindblowing conversations with top scientists and very influential people in different fields of science, with the mission of bringing the everyday person closer to top-notch science and he does it all for free! We’re talking about a Neuroscientist and associate professor at Stanford University — the guy knows a thing or two… He and his colleagues have published a study with incredible implications (4).

Imagine doing a simple 5-minute daily breathing exercise that not only helps you feel less stressed but also boosts your mood. That’s exactly what this study found out!

The researchers had people do different breathing techniques or mindfulness meditation for a month, and they discovered that all these activities were great for reducing anxiety and boosting positive vibes (not the technical term, mind you).

But here’s the exciting bit: a technique called ‘physiological or cyclic sighing’ was the superstar of mood-boosters.

It even outperformed mindfulness meditation, in making people feel more positive and relaxed.

So, why does this matter? Well, this might be because when we intentionally control our breath using specific patterns, we influence something called the ‘vagus nerve’ — think of it as a super-highway of communication between your brain and the rest of your body.

Controlling your breath can literally change how your body responds to stress. Also, it turns out, controlled breathing can change how your brain regulates your mood and alertness. It’s like this: imagine you’re about to give a big presentation, and you feel like you’re running out of breath — that’s threatening, right? It can kick off a chain reaction where your brain will then tell your heart and your lungs to pick up the pace, stimulating the Sympathetic nervous system, activating that Fight or Flight response, making you feel even more anxious. But if you take control of your breath, you can flip the script and calm yourself down right then and there — Self-Regulate.

I’ll do you one better: Imagine having a pill box, each compartment holding different medications for specific outcomes — you might have a pill to lower blood pressure (slow, diaphragmatic breathing), a pill for improved focus and attention (coherent or box breathing), or even a sleeping pill when you really need to sleep and can’t stop overthinking (reduced breathing or 4–7–8 breathing).

There are many different patterns, exercises, and practices inside the ancient world of breathwork. They can become your own medication that you get to take whenever you need it. And the best part is that everyone can do it, there are much fewer side effects and IT’S 100% FREE!

Are you curious about the science and power of the amazing world of breathwork? Do you want to learn simple exercises you could be doing right now, that could boost your health, happiness, and resilience, as you read this very article?

CLICK HERE and take your first step toward mastering your body and mind!

References:

1. Lalande, L. et al. (2011) Breathwork: An additional treatment option for depression and anxiety? — journal of contemporary psychotherapy, SpringerLink. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10879-011-9180-6
2. Ma, X. et al. (2017) The effect of diaphragmatic breathing on attention, negative affect and stress in healthy adults, Frontiers. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874/full
3. Russo, M.A., Santarelli, D.M. and O’Rourke, D. (2017) The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human, European Respiratory Society. Available at: https://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/13/4/298
4. Balban, M.Y., Spiegel, D. and Huberman, A.D. (2023) Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal — Cell Reports Medicine. Available at: https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-3791(22)00474-8