In recent times, ‘Breathwork’ has become an increasingly fashionable health approach. Several podcasts and articles clamor to feature Wim Hoff with his breathing and cold water immersion techniques. Yet, for many cultures, the power and use of breathing techniques have been around for thousands of years.

For instance, ten years ago during my yoga teacher training, I learned the principles of prana, the techniques of alternate nostril breathing, as well as (what seemed strange at the time) Kapalabhati breathing, which all have origins that go back thousands of years.

On a daily basis, my current work involves guiding patients with chronic lung conditions through simple breathing techniques to reduce anxiety and instill calm. Even so, while returning to regular yoga practice at home, I still required a prompt from my partner to remind me to breathe.

Sure, I may have focused heavily on safe hand positioning to reduce any discomfort to my healing shoulder. However, by softening my intense focus on poses and shifting attention to my breath, I was able to move and enjoy the benefits of my practice significantly.

Focusing on breath is a great introduction to meditation or mindfulness too. Adding a further layer of focus on breath during movement or touch is what I will explore further in the next post. For now though, try the following – and note you can do this anywhere ;

Inhale through your nose while counting to three in your head.

Then breathe out through your mouth as if blowing through a straw or with lips partially closed, while counting to three in your head.

Repeat.

Now repeat again but count to four (in your head) as you breathe out.

Repeat two more times.

Finally, repeat two to three times …but see if you can count to five or maybe six as you breathe out.

Reflect on how you feel & do leave comment below if you found it useful.

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