How Breathwork Can Drastically Improve Your Life
We speak to four breathwork practitioners to learn why your breath matters
Looking for a way to overhaul your life for the better? Believe it or not, it has a lot to do with how you choose to inhale and exhale.
Breathing may be an automatic function of being, but so many of us are doing it wrong, ignorant of the power that it holds over our mind, body, and spirit. To put it in context, if you’ve ever attended a yoga class where pranayama (the practice of breath control) was part of the session and emerged with increased mental clarity, you’ve experienced the benefits of a breathwork practice.
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What is breathwork?
“Breathwork is any type of breathing exercise or breathing technique sequences done with conscious effort,” shared Niraj Naik, founder of SOMA Breath, a unique combination of breathing techniques guided by the rhythm of the music. “By intentionally changing the breathing pattern, a breathwork practitioner can experience many physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits.”
Before you laugh off the idea of learning how to breathe, there’s an entire universe of guided breathing exercises to explore. Some are as simple as bringing awareness to your breath and the thoughts that accompany it, while more complex breathwork tools like circular and rebirthing can be a powerful bridge to connect with the subconscious mind and past traumas.
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More physical forms, like facilitated breathing focuses on fixing physical ailments, while yogic breathing techniques are used to help those suffering from PTSD. Another enormous advantage? Unlike some other forms of therapy (e.g. behavioral talk therapy) which can take time to see changes, breathwork brings results almost immediately.
“What impressed me about breathwork was the relatively fast access the practice can give people to a higher, expanded state, all with the breath, completely healthy and without risk,” shares Peter Nathaniel Lee, an Australia-based breathwork teacher.
M. R. Jab from Movement & Sports Medicine Centre agrees and points to the crucial linkage between breathwork and adopting a more conscious approach to life: “When one practises regular breathwork to a point that you don’t need a reminder to be mindful of it, you start to just be in the moment of whatever you do. You have less of your external surroundings disturbing the internal surrounding. Mental health is how our physical body improves, [there’s the saying that] “where the mind goes, the body follows” and regular breathwork changes your day-to-day experiences.”
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On a deeper level, anecdotally, breathwork practices add a boost of wellness to your life. “People who practise breathwork regularly develop vitality in their body. You can see even after one hour how beautiful people look compared to before, shiny eyes, glowing skin, but more than that, is the development of being comfortable in the uncomfortable. Familiar with uncertainty,” says Jab.
So before you brush off breathwork as just another passing wellness fad, read on and find out more about this powerful and therapeutic practice, and which technique appeals to you most.
Diagnosed with stress-related depression and a chronic inflammatory bowel disease in 2010, Niraj began studying the ancient Indian practices of Ayurveda and Pranayama, Yoga and Meditation to find a solution. Combined with visits to a sauna, breathwork and meditation, he began to slowly heal himself, eventually “forming the curriculum of SOMA Breath, a system that combines evidence-based ancient breathwork with modern science, dance, and music”.
His approach: Think of SOMA Breath as a combination of Pranayama techniques, rhythmic music, guided meditation, and visualisation techniques.
What to expect: “The key to SOMA Breath is “breathing in beats” and allowing the rhythm of the music to guide you,” shares Niraj. In practice, SOMA breath uses numerous breathing techniques and puts them in the correct order for maximum therapeutic effect, simultaneously combining it with music designed to “open your mind and heart”. He shares: “We are unable to avoid sources of stress, but through the ancient system of Pranayama, we can take measures to reduce the harmful effects of stress and anxiety.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOlwfAkvuNM&t=2s
A typical session involves: Rooted in the practice of Pranayama, one technique of SOMA Breath is the Savitri Pranayama and Slow Rechaka which has powerful relaxation effects for the body and mind.
1. Sit comfortably with your back straight, in an upright position.
2. Inhale fully through the nose into your diaphragm for 4 seconds, filling your lungs with air. Place your hand on your abdomen to ensure that it rises before your chest.
3. Without using any force, exhale fully through the mouth for 8 seconds.
4. When you have exhaled, breathe in fully again, with no force. Create a continuous and smooth rhythm.
5. Repeat this 20-30 times.
6. Then take a full inhale, purse your lips gently, allowing the air to escape from your mouth as slowly as if you were breathing out through a thin straw. Do a body scan to make sure that you are not tensing any of your muscles whilst exhaling.
7. During the exhalation, visualise an ocean wave of relaxation, cascading down the front of your body, from the crown of your head to the tips if your toes
8. Continue breathing and visualising in this way for 5-10 minutes per day. The longer you continue, the more your blood pressure and heart rate will drop and the deeper into a state of relaxation you will plunge.
What you should know: The roots of SOMA Breath is a culmination of the work Niraj has done with the likes of “super yogi” Wim Hoff – whom he recorded a soundtrack with – and training with Dr Prakash Malshe, the author of “The Medical Understanding of Yoga” to understand the medical application of yoga and the science behind Pranayama techniques.
Learn more: Niraj recommends Yogi Ramachakara’s The Science Of Breath published in 1903 which covers how and why rhythmic breathing is the secret to attaining physical, spiritual, and even psychic mastery according to the master yogis in India. Also, there’s a wide range of resources found at www.somabreath.com.
Where to go: SOMA Breath hosts virtual classes, and also offers free SOMA Breath Masterclass.
A desire to seek financial freedom led Gladys to her first group rebirthing breathwork session in 2017. Little did she realise that it would change her life and empower her to “break free from past conditioning” to live a life with minimal limitations.
Her approach: Rebirthing breathwork, also known as conscious connected breathing or cyclical breath.
What to expect: For beginners, Gladys focuses on mouth rebirthing, which involves breathing in and out through the mouth and into the chest. While this sounds simple, the practice requires consciously “keeping the focus on inhalation and relaxing on exhalation with no pause in between breaths”. A one-hour session may see up to two to three cycles of release, which Gladys points out can “bring on symptoms that range from physical (feeling energy run through the body muscle tightness, extreme cases experience vomiting), emotional (feelings of sadness, anger, joy, despair) and mental (memories may surface of childhood/past relationships)”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI_4CoUimw8
A typical session involves: Breathwork can be used solely as a self-releasing tool, but to get the most out of it, Gladys recommends pairing it with self-introspection. Hence, at the start/end of every session, the breather (or breathers) is invited to examine their current mental state before and after. “For example, if a person feels stressed at work and comes for a session, he can breathe and release the stress through rebirthing breathwork and leave the session feeling good,” shares Gladys. “Days, weeks, or months later, the stress will return as the root cause of the stress has yet to be addressed. If he is willing go through the inquiry, he may discover the reason he feels stressed at work (for instance, he may feel he’s not good enough) and then he can decide if he wants to keep the belief and status quo, or to create a new belief and change.”
What you should know: Gladys advises beginners not to do rebirthing breathwork on their own as it could “release a deep traumatic memory buried within the subconscious without one’s knowledge” which an experienced re-birther/breath worker can help bring back into balance if it occurs.
Learn more: Three books she recommends include Rebirthing and Breathwork: A Powerful Technique for Personal Transformation by Catherine Dowling, Rebirthing in the New Age by Leonard Orr and Sondra Ray, and Breathing Into A New Life by John Stamoulos.
Where to go: Gladys runs a weekly pay-as-you-wish rebirthing breathwork session on Saturdays. Occasionally she holds a three-day Rebirthing Breathwork eRetreat, which is currently being conducted via Zoom. Physical classes are presently available only as a private session. For more information, go to www.dawnofgaia.com or www.facebook.com/dawnofgaia.
Dealing with chronic asthma and nasal congestion issues led this sports trainer-cum-yoga teacher to explore the art of manipulating one’s breath. His own experience – a heightened sense of taste, a clearer mind that responded vs. reacted – reinforced the belief that regular breathwork effectively changes your day-to-day experiences and ultimately functions as a “form of meditation with [your] eyes open” and can help anyone (healthy or otherwise) feel better.
His approach: Jab embraces a broad spectrum of breathwork techniques including facilitated breathing, which he conducts personally. MSMC also runs a 30-day Breathworks programme.
What to expect: Aside from deep diaphragmatic breathing (belly breathing), he employs different modalities including Zen breathing, box breathing, and triangle breathing to “help slow the nervous system down and achieve a resting state (for the mind and body) and facilitate proper oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange from the lungs to the bloodstream”. More active techniques like purging or slurps are employed in the earlier stages of a session to awaken the nervous system with the end goal of “shaking your body and allowing it to settle both consciously, and subconsciously”.
A typical session involves: Sessions start by bringing a practitioner’s awareness to his/her breath to make the appropriate changes. “Understanding what you are doing is an essential part of the session… only then can you make real change,” he explains. Further, into the session, practitioners learn to manipulate one’s breath and to turn on/off one’s nervous system. For facilitated breathing classes, clients are sometimes moved into different spaces and positions “to help with the anatomical function of the ribs and the breathing process”. This “compensational pattern” can take the form of a slouched forward posture which “[a body] needs to come out of the position to promote elasticity”.
What you should know: Breathwork sessions can be gateways for individuals to “emotionally purge” if they’re “able to connect the breath with their whole being” but with it comes some physical reactions. Whatever individuals are experiencing (e.g. laughing, crying), students are encouraged to let it go: “Some may feel tingling sensations which is a normal association with breathwork as the body is getting into an alkalised zone of having higher oxygen level, and less carbon dioxide,” explains Jab. “When a body has too little carbon dioxide, it can cause tetany, involuntary muscle contractions – e.g. a hand coming together looking like a lobster claw – this is not due to the body having low mineral content but a result of an irregular breathing cycle.”
Learn more: For a start, check out Sundar Subramanian’s TED Talk and his website. Also, Science of Breath by Swami Rama, Mind Your Breathing: The Yogi’s Handbook with 37 Pranayama, PranaScience: Decoding Yoga Breathing.
Where to go: Movement & Sports Medicine Centre (MSMC) runs regular breathing practices both outdoors (Sentosa) and indoors (at the MSMC studio) for groups, couples and corporate clients. They can be reached via Whatsapp at +65 87693235 or check their website for more information.
A traumatic experience involving an attempt to save a drowning victim led Peter to discover breathwork and its powerful ability to release blocked energy and other stresses stored deep in the body: “Breathwork enables people to process and release their emotions and trauma, and embody themselves in a conscious way.”
His approach: A practitioner who believes “the breath leads the way”, he tailors breathwork sessions to a client’s needs, allowing the breathwork to “expand and contract” from there.
What to expect: Breathwork sessions vary, but a mainstay is the use of circular breath exercises to open up the body and mind. For Peter, he adds meditation as a preparatory step before getting his client to lay down while he observes his/her breathing pattern. “We can read in the body, and how the breath moves, indications of patterning, and past trauma the person might carry,” shares Peter. “These signals enable us to help guide the person to release anything that needs releasing, but also to empower their breath, and by extension their life. This is a self-healing process, and the practitioner’s role is to enable that self-healing to take place. Not to interfere, nor lead.”
A typical session involves: While breathwork sounds like a passive form of therapy, in reality, it’s an active form of release. “The breathwork session involves deep and fast circular breathing from a prone position with music playing,” he elaborates. To put it in perspective, he describes the experience as akin to going for a fast run for over an hour. “Imagine the amount of oxygen you utilise to generate energy in the body, now imagine if you generated that much oxygen and energy, whilst laying down in a relaxed position. That energy is what moves around the body, and what we work with during the breath therapy sessions.”
What you should know: As a form of self-release, Peter describes breathwork as a “fantastic teacher” regarding our emotions. “During the breath exercises, people typically experience and increase a variety of sensations, as the oxygen moves around the body,” shares Peter. “We focus on bringing a sense of greater aliveness to the body. As that energy moves around the body, the breather will notice areas in their body where there is a blockage (experienced through tension or even pain). By breathing into these areas, and with guidance from a practitioner, the individual may (and often) experience visions relating to past trauma or memory. By breathing through that experience, rather than avoiding or denying it, the pain, tension and sensation will change and clear. In this way people can heal themselves, it is remarkable work.”
Learn more: Peter points to Breath of Bliss by Christabel Zamor’s in-person retreats and online classes as “amazing training for healing through inspiration and raising energy”. Other resources he recommends include Anthony Abbagnano’s Alchemy of Breath academy and Dana and Asharn’s Clarity of Breathwork.
Where to go: Currently based in the Sunshine Coast, remote sessions can be booked via Zoom or Skype at peternlee@icloud.com. A typical 90-minute session costs US$120 (S$161), with a recommended minimum of three sessions.
This article first appeared in Her World