Benefits of Breathwork

Elle Orchard
Apr 23
2 min read

If a person was to live 80 years they would take (on average) 620 million breaths, how insane is that?! Many of us take our breath for granted but we rely on it to exist so the quality of your breath matters and I believe we should really be paying more attention to how we breathe.

I’m sure all of us at some point, have found ourselves rushing around with a to do list as long as our arm, feeling stressed and unable to have one clear thought from start to finish, honestly we’ve all been there. Perhaps you’ve told someone exactly how stressed you are and they responded ‘take a breath’ and even just that one deep and intentional breath can offer you a touch more clarity? That feeling of calm is what caused me to fall head over heels IN LOVE with breathwork. Living in an anxious mind can be totally exhausting and feels to me like running in one huge circle constantly trying to chase my tale but when I started to use breathwork to come out of my mind and back to my body I realised I had unlocked something magic.

Now, I’m not claiming that it will solve all your worries but what I do know is slowing down and deepening our breath activates a relaxation response which promotes a deep sense of calm. However I do think it’s important to note that breathwork isn’t only used for relaxation and has a ton of other benefits, I’ll list a few of my favourite techniques and benefits below..

Box breathing – Inhale for 4, Hold for 4, Exhale for 4, Hold for 4 and Repeat

Use in moments of stress/overwhelm, the repetitive rhythm makes it easy to follow and a great one to start with, I often use this when I first wake up in the morning if I’m feeling anxious or before bed to melt away any stress.

Nadi Shodhana – Alternate Nostril Breathing

Use to enhance concentration, if I find I’m jumping from thought to thought and need to recentre, this is my go to. This breath may take a couple of attempts to get the hang of but once you’ve got it, it’s super straight forward! Follow my guided youtube tutorial below..

Consciously Connected Breath – Inhaling and exhaling in a steady rhythm with no pause between

Use when in need of an emotional release, I find this can feel a little confronting but would really encourage you to stick with it! It’s always interesting for me to explore what comes up during and after practising, have a journal handy so you can note down any thoughts.

These are just a few options but of course there are so many and it may take a bit of trial and error to find what works for you. Breathwork has been key in my journey to reducing anxiety and I absolutely love watching how even just a 5 – 10 minute session positively impacts my students! If you’re interested in learning more ‘Breath’ by James Nestor is a fascinating book and I would highly recommend it!

Let me know how you get on with practising these techniques!