Breathwork draws from eastern practices like Tai Chi and yoga. If you’ve done breathing exercises in a yoga class, you’re already familiar with a bit of breathwork. Breathwork encompasses a broad range of whole-being therapeutic practices and exercises used to relieve mental, physical, and/or emotional tension.
The physical benefits of deep breathing are often immediate. By breathing deeply, you can activate your parasympathetic nervous system, and in turn, slow down your heart rate and lower your blood pressure, creating a feeling of calm. Modern research has shown that by controlling your breath you can regulate stress levels, improve mood, decrease fatigue, lower blood pressure, curb insomnia, increase your athletic performance and more!
When your body is operating under “fight-or-flight” response or stress, it releases a surge of hormones (such as cortisol and adrenaline) that causes your breathing to speed up, increases your pulse and blood pressure, and puts you in a state of hypervigilance. Deep breathing can help reverse this response and relax your body. In addition to reversing the physical stress response in your body, deep breathing can also help calm and slow down the emotional turbulence in your mind.
While in this state, you may be able to access buried emotions, grudges, and traumas, and ultimately release yourself from their grip on your mental state. Breathwork is often used to help those who have mental health issues and is seen as a way to calm and focus your mind. Some breathwork practices can move beyond your body and mind, and connect you with your true Self and the Universe. Many people who practice breathwork experience spiritual awakenings or attunements to their inner being.
Some common breathwork practices are pranayama, coherence breathing, 4-7-8 breath, and holotropic.
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