One of the most frequent questions I receive is, “Where do I start with breathwork?”
People know how powerful the breath can be but they’re generally confused.
What if I can’t breathe well through my nose?
Should I do some sort of breathwork before training? What about after training?
What about breath holds?
Should I take big or small breaths between intervals?
Should my belly stick out when I breathe in?
How do I breathe while running?
The questions are many.
The problem is, the answer is very often, “it depends”. This leads to confusion. When we’re confused, we’ll often opt out and do nothing rather than try to wade through the confusion.
First, a quick look at my history with breathing.
I was a lifelong mouth breather. I didn’t realise this until longtime friend and former colleague Brian MacKenzie suggested I read The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown. Much of what Patrick covered in this great book connected many dots for me,
Allergies – check
Underdeveloped jaw – check
Crowded teeth – check
Bags under the eyes – check
Snoring – check
Repeated Sinus infections – check
Poor breath hold ability – check
All very attractive sounding qualities, right!?
These things came about through my lifelong habit of mouth-breathing. Only I didn’t know it.
Knowing a little about breathing would have saved a fortune on orthodontic treatment, surgeries and allergy medications. I may have also performed much better in many areas of life.
What follows are some steps to getting started with breathwork explained via my breathwork journey. It’s my hope, by sharing this, it will give you some idea of how to get started with breathwork in your life.
My journey, like many others, started with awareness.
I developed an awareness, through reading and study, of correct breathing. Then, by tuning into how I was presently breathing and doing a few tests and exercises, I knew I was doing it all wrong.
The next step for me was nasal breathing; breathing through my nose in everyday life, while training and even while sleeping.
A couple of the surgeries I mentioned earlier were to my sinuses. One included “correction” of a deviated septum. I typed “correction” as I still have a bit of a deviated septum and one of my nostrils collapses on strong inhales.
To improve breathing through my nose, funnily enough, I breathe through my nose. As much as I possibly can. And, I do a couple of things to reinforce the habit – I tape my mouth for sleep, including daytime naps and I often tape my mouth while training so I can’t get in any sneaking mouth breaths when the going gets tough.
While I still catch myself mouth breathing from time to time, I’m a lot more alert to it now and correct myself as soon as I realise.
While nasal breathing is a big part of breathing mechanics, I also became aware I was holding a lot of tension in my upper back and neck. This was often exacerbated by breathing into my chest. There’s that awareness thing again.
When we breathe shallowly – into the chest, we don’t use the diaphragm as much as we could. We tend to overuse our secondary breathing muscles, like the scalenes – these start in the neck and go down around our collarbone area. Sore neck and tight shoulders, anyone?
Because of this, I’ve done plenty of work on HOW I breathe; ensuring my lower ribs are the first things to move and are expanding 360°.
Give this exercise a crack to bring an awareness to, and improve, your breathing mechanics.
You don’t get better at the things you avoid. You have to do the work.
For me, this meant a daily breath practice was the next thing I implemented.
What breath practice or protocol, of the many hundreds, you utilise doesn’t matter. What matters is you put something in place you can do daily. Make it a habit. Morning or evening. Before or after training. Between the office and home.
It doesn’t have to be complex or long, 5–10 minutes is great. Do something. This will give you insight and awareness into how practices or protocols affect you.
For example, I find anything with an exhale breath hold can sometimes feel stressful for me. Protocols with an exhale hold tend to up-regulate me; increase my arousal. Conversely, anything with an even-paced inhale and exhale like the 5/5 Circle Breathing exercise, an inhale hold, like an Apnea protocol, or a lengthened exhale, like Exhale-Focused breathing have the opposite effect.
For up-regulation (in the morning or before training) I have often use this protocol.
In summary, here are my 4 tips for getting started with breathwork,
Awareness
Be aware of how you are breathing and how your breath may be affecting you and your performance.
Nasal Breathing
Breathe through your nose as much as you can. The only time you should be using your mouth is when operating at a very high intensity. And only then, on purpose.
Mechanics
Can you inhale and exhale fully without restriction? If not, identify where you’re feeling the restriction and address the issue. Is it a mobility issue like a stiff thoracic spine? Is it structural like a deviated septum? Can you feel your lower ribs expanding 360° on an inhale?
Daily Practice
Have a daily breath practice, at least initially – something you can fit into your everyday life.
Take notice of how your breath is affecting your body, your performance and your mental state. Make adjustments as necessary. Your body is an advanced piece of equipment, it will let you know. But, you have to tune in.
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can implement breath work into your life and reap the many benefits to health and performance, reach out, I’d be happy to help.