10 BENEFITS OF BREATHWORK
Ever wonder what this new craze is about breathwork and why anyone would want to do it?
For me, breathwork has been the missing link for my healing journey and deeper connection to my true self. It has healed so much from my past without me even needing to go into it. Our minds are always busy and often my “monkey mind” would get carried away, however breathwork has allowed me to slow down the monkey and allow deep reflection. I hope you enjoy reading about these benefits, and questions please reach out.
1. REDUCES STRESS, ANXIETY AND GRIEF, DEPRESSION AND ANGER
In today’s modern world, there are very few of us who haven’t experienced some form of anxiety or stress. Breathwork provides us with a very safe way to address the feelings of anxiety, grief and anger so that these emotions don’t take over our personal or professional lives. How we breathe is often a result of how we feel. When we feel stressed or anxious our breathing is short and fast, enforcing the anxiety and making us tired. However, long, deep breaths into the belly helps us to feel calm, centered and balanced because it elicits a response in the parasympathetic nervous system which takes us out of the stress response or fight or flight. By activating the parasympathetic, you lower your heart rate and your blood pressure and allow you to rest and feel a sense of calm.
So we now know that the breath positively affects the nervous system but it goes beyond that! Changing your breath actually also changes your brainwaves! Neuroscientists have found a direct correlation between an increase of alpha brain waves and reduced symptoms of depression. Breathwork is an effective way to shift your brainwaves, thereby decreasing negative thought patterns, stress and depression levels.
2. INCREASE YOUR ENERGY LEVELS AND BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM
Breathwork increases your oxygen carrying capacity in your blood which leads to overall increased energy levels and improved stamina. With this increased energy the body can use this to boost your immune system or give you needed energy for a good night's sleep. It also allows you to push your physical workouts to a new level because you’re flooding the body with oxygen.
3. INCREASE SELF-AWARENESS, PRESENCE, HAPPINESS AND JOY
During a breathwork journey, we are breathing in and out of the mouth, which creates a shift in consciousness and we experience deep presence and self-awareness by giving ourselves space to go within. In this expanded state, our brain waves slow down from the thinking and doing state to a more relaxed state of being, the Theta brainwave. People often describe feelings of happiness and joy in this state of being in the present moment, no longer bound by the past or the future.
4. INCREASE SELF-LOVE
It’s so common for many of us to struggle with fully loving ourselves. Feelings of unworthiness or not being enough often get stuck in our head. What breathwork does so beautifully and effortlessly is allows us to shift out of our mind and intellect and into our body, by switching from nostril breathing to mouth breathing. Even though increased self-love is hard to measure scientifically, it is one of the most direct felt experiences of breathwork. When you are fully in the experience of the breathwork journey and every cell in your body is vibrating, it is hard not to feel that deeper connection with yourself. This is the beginning of the process of self-love through fostering a deeper relationship with yourself.
5. IMPROVE SLEEP
With all the time we spend on our phones, social media, our coffee and sugar intake (all of which are stimulants), on top of the low grade stress and anxiety we carry each day, there are many factors negatively impacting our sleep. Thankfully, the deep breathing we practice in breathwork helps to calm the nervous system, which reduces the effects of stress, allowing you to get a good night’s sleep. Along with quieting the mind, which breathwork does so well and allows you to fall asleep faster and more deeply.
6 RELEASE TRAUMA AND FEAR STUCK IN THE BODY
If we store away unprocessed negative emotions, fear and trauma in our physical body these become energetic blocks and can manifest in the body as dis-ease and become toxic causing illness and disease. Talk therapy often helps to identify these fears and traumas, but isn’t always able to shift them from the body. These blocked emotions can be in the body since childroom and hold us back from living the life we want. Breathwork is an incredibly powerful tool to help unblock, shift and release fear, traumas, limiting beliefs and negative emotions without having to go into the story.
7. HELP REDUCE PAIN
If you have chronic pain, you are likely to have tried to distance yourself from the pain in the body in an effort to ignore the pain. But by distancing yourself from the pain, you’re actually distancing yourself from your body’s innate ability to heal itself. To actually help you jumpstart the healing process, breathwork effortlessly reconnects you back to your body. Another added bonus, is that breathing deeply releases endorphins, which reduces sensitivity to pain and boosts pleasure, resulting in overall wellbeing. It also helps reduce pain because of the changes in the acidity level of the body. Breathwork reduces the stress hormone, cortisol, which reduces the feeling of pain. Deep belly breathing has a very therapeutic effect on chronic pain because it relaxes the muscles which otherwise tense up as a result of pain and in turn further aggravate the pain itself.
8. RELEASE TOXINS FROM THE BODY
Deep breathing helps to detoxify your body, increases your lung efficiency and promotes a healthy heart. Breathing expels over 50% of the toxins stored in your body. The main toxin expelled through the breath is carbon dioxide. Through the practice of deep rhythmic breathing you’re diaphragm is expanding which relaxes the body and massage your lymphatic system which eliminates toxins. This allows the cells to take in more oxygen-rich blood. Your physical workout routine will benefit also from the improved oxygen capacity.
9. IMPROVE DIGESTION
With the increased blood flow, breathwork can help the digestive process and improve intestinal activity. Additionally, breathwork creates a positive feedback loop by reducing stress, which in turn reduces the cortisol levels in your body and then reduces gut inflammation. On an emotional level, because you’re reducing your overall stress and anxiety levels when you practice breathwork, you set yourself up to make better food choices, and thus are more likely to make healthier choices that don’t trigger digestive problems.
10. EXPLORE ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS, CONSCIOUSLY
Breathwork creates a powerful space for self-exploration, spiritual awakening and a deeper connection to yourself, others and the universe. A breathwork experience can even be psychedelic, and can help you connect to your soul (higher self or source) in a completely safe and legal way. It is not uncommon to experience a deep sense of connection, oneness, bliss and a feeling of safety and surrender. Breathwork also impacts the way our consciousness and subconscious mind interact, allowing our creativity to be accessed in new and deeper ways, providing greater insights and inspiration which gives us more direct access to the present moment. Breathwork can also help release stored and stuck energy in our bodies to be released, leaving a sense of lightness and healing.
Contact me to book a private one-on-one breathwork session tailored to your needs.
