9 Benefits of Breathworks

If you're wondering why people from all over the world is picking up an ancient practice now making its way to mainstream, it's because of the benefits of a regular breathwork practice. Changing your breathing pattern can mean better physical & mental health. Breathwork such as alternate nostril breathing can be used to help with relaxation, stress management, overall wellbeing, focus, & even chronic pain. We list out 9 top health benefits of practising breathing techniques so that you won't get left behind! 
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What Is Breathwork?

Breathwork benefits not only the physical, but also the mental aspects of our being. It is done so by improving our breathing capabilities to increase self awareness, reduce stress, improve lymphatic system, promotes inner peace, deepen spiritual well being, used for personal growth, release trauma(physical), decrease gut inflammation, reduce stress, & even gain deeper relationship with yourself in totality. Yes! These can be achieved just by even one breathwork session! In different classes, you will be taken through to increase carbon dioxide, sometimes only to increase oxygen, or even work through past trauma, or even work on unprocessed emotions that holds negative emotions attached to it. Breathwork helps with PTSD(post traumatic stress disorder), & even pain management. All, through manipulating the breathing patterns, consciously.

Benefit #1 Relaxation & Blood Pressure:

Many people have trouble sleeping at night and often times are plagued with insomnia. In time, this becomes a big problem as it starts interfering with your daily routine. Deep breathing has been shown to be one of the most potent techniques for helping people fall asleep faster & stay asleep longer. This is especially true if you struggle with sleep apnea or other sleep disorders.  There are multiple breathwork techniques that helps lower blood pressure & improving blood circulation(blood flow) before sleep. Most people with shallow breathing , find themselves harder to sleep & once students learn how to practice breathwork, it's reported by our clients that they have a more restful night's sleep. Shallow breathing not only increases muscle tone, & this may cause you to feel exhausted aeasily s your muscles may cause constriction of your blood vessels which increases blood pressure(we're pretty sure this doesn't help you sleep faster).

Benefit #2 Stress Management & Breathing Exercises

Stress is a natural part of life and it's something we must learn to deal with rather than run from. However, too much stress release toxins known as cortisol & can be quite harmful & even deadly long term. Deep breathing such as alternate nostril breathing has been proven to be one of the most effective ways to lower your overall stress level in your body. When you practice alternate nostril breathing before, during & after a stressful situation, it calms down your sympathetic nervous system which helps you cope better with that particular situation. When you are chronically stressed, your body will eventually get "used" to this stress & your stress hormones will remain high even when there is no actual stress present. In fact, your body will actually begin to “harden” to the presence of stress. This is when you might start getting sick more often or develop health problems. Practicing breathwork help flush out stress hormones from your body and allows your body to repair, restore itself naturally, & keeps you at the present moment.

Benefit #3 Weight Loss & Deep Breathing

Did you know that nearly 90% of all the illnesses and disease in America is caused by an unhealthy lifestyle? This includes being overweight or obese. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of developing type-2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, arthritis, and many other diseases. When you are stressed, your body tends to store fat for survival which makes it extremely hard to lose weight. On the other hand, deep breathing flushes out the stress hormones such as cortisol, which is the stress hormone from your body & causes your body to burn off excess fat from an increased amount of oxygenation of your cells.
In this case, diaphragmatic breathing is the perfect “fat-burning” exercise.  There are many ways to do diaphragmatic breathing exercises. The easiest way is to place your hand over your belly button & inhale slowly through your nose while counting to four & allow your belly to be "filled up" as you inhale.

Benefit #4 Better Overall Health

Did you know that 80% of all illnesses are caused by environmental factors? This means that controlling the environment around you is one of the most important things you can do for your overall health? Controlling the environment around you includes controlling the air you breathe. When you are stressed, your body produces more toxic chemicals called free radicals. Free radicals are bad news for your body as they damage healthy cells & can even lead to cancer. Unquestionably, the best way to prevent and combat free radicals in your body is to increase your antioxidant intake. Antioxidants are vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that work with your body's own natural anti-oxidants to help your immune system, your organs, and your DNA repair themselves. One easier way would be to manipulate your breathing to allow higher concentrations of nitric oxide in your body to help you combat free radicals if you want to go natural. Stressed out people often times have a hard time staying healthy. They are more prone to infections, colds and the common cold, heart problems, high blood pressure, arthritis and many other health conditions. Deep breathing has a very positive effect on your immune system and promotes better overall wellbeing. It lowers your levels of the stress hormone cortisol and raises your level of the "feel good" neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin is responsible for your body's natural "reward" feeling & your overall sense of well being. 
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Benefit #5 Better Mental Performance

A good way to improve your mental performance is to increase the amount of oxygen you intake. More oxygen in your blood increases the amount of oxygen available to every cell in your body. This increases your energy level, focus, concentration, and memory. It also helps you make smarter decisions because you have increased levels of oxygen in your brain. Therefore, by controlling your environment and allowing more oxygen into your body through deep breathing exercises, you will experience a significant increase in your mental performance.

Benefit #6 Focus

Studies show that people who have better focus tend to be more successful than those who do not. If you struggle with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), then deep breathing can help you gain better focus and concentration. Deep breathing increases oxygen flow to your brain which improves your memory and increases your mental alertness. Those with ADD or ADHD tend to have a more difficult time regulating their breathing compared to normal people. Deep breathing helps them to relax & let go of unnecessary thoughts so they can pay more attention to the task at hand. By practicing deep breathing before a test, before giving a presentation, or when you need to multi-task, it allows your mind & body to become more relaxed which improves your performance.

Benefit #7 Energy

Energy is one of those things that everybody wants more of, right? Well, deep breathing does increase your energy levels as it gets your adrenal glands & your thyroid gland working at full-tilt boogie. When you have more energy, you feel less tired and more motivated to take on the world. This is especially important for people who have low energy due to chronic stress. Deep breathing such as diaphragmatic breathing can actually help restore your adrenal gland function when it has been compromised by stress. Practicing breathwork can give your adrenals a much needed "pick-me-up"! 
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Benefit #8 COPD

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Also known as Emphysema, Chronic Bronchitis & Adult Respiratory Disease, COPD is the 4th leading cause of death in the United States. It's a progressive disease that gets worse over time. COPD affects the lungs and airways to the point where they no longer function properly. Common symptoms include shortness of breath, chronic cough and sputum production (sometimes up to 24 hours per day). COPD also causes frequent colds and flus because it weakens your immune system. These infections often become chronic and are very difficult to treat. As a result, bacteria and viruses often build up in your lungs which can lead to further lung damage. Breathing exercises such a diaphragmatic breathing helps train the diaphragm to get stronger & help you to use oxygen more efficiently. The immune systems weaken which makes it easy for them to catch colds and other respiratory infections. Breathing exercises also help to keep your blood pressure down. High blood pressure or hypertension is common in people with COPD and can cause additional heart problems. One of the biggest mistakes a person with COPD can make is to stop doing activities that he used to enjoy.
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Benefits #9 Deeper Self Connection:

Benefits of breathwork extends itself to the more subtle aspects of our being, & people whom have had regular breathwork practice are known to have higher awareness of things around them. Consciously, breathwork creates a deep sense of self awareness & the environment both internally, & externally. Breathwork sessions such a breath focused yoga or rebirthing breathwork session helps increase sensory and motor neurons by heightening the senses with subtle breathwork practices, & it tremendously improves mental health of practitioners which helps deepen their spiritual practices.

There you have it. 9 benefits of breathwork to start considering doing regular breathing exercises. It's important to reiterate that these are simple, easy-to-implement techniques that can be used by anyone to instantly increase your quality of life. There is no reason why you should not do breathing exercises. You see, when you learn how to do deep breathing exercises, you don't just learn a new set of skills. By manipulating your breathing to increase the amount of oxygen in your body, you will experience an increase in your concentration, focus, memory, & energy levels. All of this will occur without you even realising it!  These are just a few of the amazing health benefits of practicing slow breathing.
Become a breathwork practitioner, come join us in the next class.