My Breathwork Journey

• 1. Activates the Relaxation Response: A longer exhale than inhale stimulates the vagus nerve, which plays a crucial role in activating the parasympathetic nervous system. This helps lower your heart rate, calm the “fight-or-flight” response, and promote relaxation.
• 2. Encourages Diaphragmatic Breathing: Chest breathing is shallow, and it brings only minimal amount of oxygen into your lungs. Also, it doesn’t reach the lower part of the lungs that typically contains more blood due to gravity. Breathing through your diaphragm, however, reaches this lower part of the lungs, allowing more oxygen to diffuse to blood. Chest breathing might also cause neck and chest muscles to tighten and trigger a stress reflex. Diaphragmic breathing on the other hand lowers your heart rate and helps you calm down.
• 3. Supports Immune Health: Calm, intentional breathing sends a message to your brain that there are no dangers to run away from. It calms the nervous system and reduces the amount of stress hormones. Like mentioned before, a longer exhale activates the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve can also regulate inflammation, so that provides another link between the practice of breathwork and improved immune system.
• 4. Enhances Nasal Breathing: Breathing through your nose filters dust and allergens, humidifies the air, and can help regulate blood pressure more effectively than mouth breathing.

My Personal Experience with Breathwork

Since I was a child, I’ve always struggled with varying degrees of anxiety. Most of the time, I’ve experienced background anxiety to some extent. During the more stressful times in my life, the anxiety has grown and caused anxiety attacks. When I’m faced with a trigger that reminds me of a past stresser, my brain immediately recognizes a threat and jumps to a fight-or-flight response. My thoughts start revolving around the trigger, trying desperately to identify the threat and eliminate it. I get physical symptoms as well, such as headaches, difficulties with sleeping, loss of appetite to name a few.

I tried nearly everything to cope, from therapy to yoga to medication. Nothing seemed to stop the spiral once my anxiety took over.

Of course, while I was trying to find a solution, I got to know about breathwork quite early on. I tried a few techniques, but even they didn’t help at first. However, I kept experimenting until I found one that clicked. I learned to recognize the early signs of an anxiety attack and used breathwork to interrupt it. For the first time, I could physically feel my heart rate slowing, my body relaxing, and my mind regaining clarity. For the first time ever, I was able to interrupt an anxiety attack.

Breathwork didn’t cure my anxiety, but it gave me a powerful tool to manage it. Over time, it’s helped me retrain my brain to respond to triggers with calm instead of panic.

Breathing Techniques You Can Try

Here are a few beginner-friendly breathwork techniques. Always practice in a safe, comfortable environment and stop if you feel lightheaded or unwell. Experiment to find what resonates most with your body.

• 1. Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing
  • Sit or lie down with a straight back and relaxed shoulders.
  • Place one hand on your stomach to feel it expand as you inhale deeply through your nose.
  • Exhale slowly through your mouth, feeling your stomach contract.
• 2. The 4-7-8 Technique
  • Inhale through your nose for a count of 4.
  • Hold your breath for a count of 7.
  • Exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of 8.
• 3. The 3-4-5 Technique
  • Inhale for a count of 3.
  • Hold your breath for a count of 4.
  • Exhale slowly for a count of 5.
• 4. Backwards Breathing (Advanced – Proceed with Care)
  • Tense your abdominal muscles as you inhale and release them as you exhale.
  • Practice this technique in a safe environment and stop if you feel discomfort or dizziness.
• 5. The Technique That Worked for Me
  • Sit comfortably with your back straight and your shoulders down.
  • Breathe into your stomach.
  • Draw in three strong, rapid breaths without letting any air out. Your lungs should feel full.
  • Hold your breath for 2-3 seconds.
  • Breathe out through your teeth, letting out a hissing sound. Count at least to 5, emptying your lungs completely.