Breathwork and Physical Health: Improving Respiration, Circulation, and Overall Well-Being

There is now plenty of evidence to support that engaging in breathing exercises can have tangible, and both immediate and lasting benefits to your physical health and well-being.

We'll explore how incorporating a breathwork practice into your daily routine can provide positive effects and improvement to aspects of your physical health including reducing blood pressure, increasing oxygen rich blood circulation, releasing toxins and offering improved pain management, while simultaneously reducing stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms.

To understand how physical health conditions are affected by breathwork techniques, it's important to remember the interconnection between mental and physical health.

If you're feeling intimidated by the idea of starting a breathwork practice, there's no need to be!

The breathing exercises we'll be touching on here are generally accessible to everyone, whether you're a seasoned practitioner or a beginner who has never done a controlled breathing exercise before.

With that said, when starting a new practice that may impact your health, it's always important to consider any medical contraindications that may arise for you.

If you have any hesitations or concerns, we recommend connecting with a medical professional who has experience with breathwork techniques for therapeutic purposes.

The Ways in Which Breathwork May Improve Physical Health and Well-Being

Strengthening Respiratory Muscle Function

Breathwork techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing or deep, abdominal breathing, focus on engaging the diaphragm.

The diaphragm is a muscle, and like any muscle, it can be strengthened through consistent exercise - in this case, "strength-training" the diaphragmatic muscles includes engaging in long, slow deep breathing.

Other muscles involved in respiratory function include intercostal muscles, and accessory breathing muscles, all of which can be further strengthened through deep breathing techniques. This type of breathing allows for a fuller expansion of the lungs, while increasing lung capacity.

Expansion of Lung Tissue

Through consistent practice, breathwork techniques can help expand lung tissue and increase it's elasticity. This expansion allows the lungs to take in more air, increasing their overall capacity.

Improved oxygen exchange

When engaging in long, slow deep breathing exercises, you are optimizing oxygen exchange in the blood.

This means that more oxygen is absorbed into the bloodstream and more carbon dioxide is expelled, resulting in improved lung function and increased lung capacity.

Alleviating breathing restrictions

Certain breathwork techniques, such as alternate nostril breathing, can help clear nasal passages and reduce breathing restrictions. B

By improving airflow, breathwork enables the lungs to expand fully, utilizing them to their fullest capacity.

Lowered Blood Pressure and Improved Circulation

Engaging in slow deep breathing exercises also has the ability to activate your parasympathetic nervous system, a branch of the autonomic nervous system that is responsible for the rest and digest response.

When the parasympathetic nervous system is engaged, the heart rate slows and blood pressure is reduced, allowing for the vascular system to heal, recover and function optimally.

Improved Respiratory Function

By breathing deeply and fully, you can increase the amount of oxygen that is delivered to your body's tissues and and organs. This can lead to a reduction in blood pressure and and improve circulation.

High blood pressure can increase the possibility of heart disease, strokes and kidney failure, among other such maladies that decrease quality of life.

Improved Digestion & REDUCED INFLAMMATION

Breathing techniques that engage the parasympathetic nervous system, reduce stress and anxiety levels, allowing the digestive system to function in a way that reduces inflammation and the symptoms of chronic digestive conditions such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

When the body can properly digest food, it can absorb nutrients fully and nourish the body in a way that provides adequate and sustaining energy.

While inflammation is the bodies natural way to combat injury and illness, chronic inflammation can put stress on the organs of the body, contributing to heart disease risk.

Reduction in Chronic Pain

Deep abdominal breathing exercises, alternate nostril breathing and other such breathing exercises engage the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing the kind of sustained stress and acute trauma that can lead to long-term, chronic pain conditions.

Increased Energy Levels - Enhanced Physical and Athletic Performance

By improving circulation and respiratory function, breathing exercises can improve cardiovascular health, increasing overall energy levels and conditioning the body for improved physical and athletic performance.

Reduction in trauma responses, anxiety and depressive symptoms

Chronic stress can exacerbate both depression and anxiety - what some medical professionals call "two sides of the same coin" - and prolonged states of both depression and anxiety can put stress on the everyday functions of the body, in addition to increasing the susceptibility of addictive behaviours that may result in negative physical conditions.

Breathwork techniques can be used as an effective tool to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, reducing the possibility of sustained stress on the body's overall function and performance.

Increases Immune System Function

It may seem obvious by now that reducing stress levels through relaxation techniques such as breathwork can have a marked improvement on overall well-being, including immune system function, allowing you to better fight off viral infections and diseases.

It is less about "boosting" the immune system, and more about improving the condition of the overall body and mind, so that the immune system can do what it was meant to do to protect you and your body from "attack".

It's also important to remember that any breathwork technique is not a "magic bullet"; while it is a powerful practice, it must be considered in conjunction with diet, exercise and other relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, sound healing and so on.

How To Incorporate a Breathwork Practice Into Your Daily Routine

Remember, you can start slow and easy. Incorporating 2-5 minutes of breathing per day is a great way to begin a practice.

Give yourself a sustainable goal of deep, abdominal breathing for as many minutes per day as you can fit in; maybe from there, consider adding an extra minute per day as you go. If you miss a day, it's ok - just pick it back up where you left off.

Kindness and compassion for yourself is key always, and especially when you are kicking off a new routine.

Breathwork Techniques To Get You Started

Diaphragmatic Breathing or Deep Abdominal Breathing

1. Begin by lying on your back in a comfortable position. You may wish to prop up your knees by placing a pillow or bolster underneath them for added comfort, and to reduce strain on your lower back. If your environment feels safe enough for you to gently close your eyes, you're welcome to do so here but it is not necessary.

2. Once you’re settled, place one hand gently on your abdomen. The abdomen is located just below the diaphragm and just above the groin region. 

3. Take a deep breath, inhaling through the nose and observing where your breath is coming from. You may notice that your automatic inhalation comes from the upper chest. However, the point of this exercise is to become conscious of the breath by moving the inhalation into the abdomen, or the belly. In order for the relaxation reflex to kick in, instead of taking short shallow breaths as one might be used to, instead focus on taking long, deep breaths.

4. Inhale slow and deep, to a count of five, through the nose and into the belly, feeling the belly rise up, with little to no expansion into the upper chest. 

5. Exhale through the nose, to a count of five, feeling the belly sink towards the floor.

6. Repeat 5 – 10 cycles. Once completed, gently observe the felt sensations in the body, with as little intellectual analysis as possible.

Alternate Nostril Breathing Technique

This breathing exercise engages the connection between the nostrils and the nervous system, providing benefit by bringing equilibrium to the hemispheres of the brain, regulating body temperature, and improving respiratory circulation.

How To Do It

1. Find a comfortable seated position, with the spine tall but not rigid and shoulders relaxed away from the ears. You may wish to sit on the edge of a cushion on the floor with legs in a form that feels comfortable and supportive, or in a chair with a supported back. If your environment feels safe enough for you to gently close your eyes, you're welcome to do so here but it is not necessary.

2. Allow your left hand to rest in your lap or on your left knee. Bring your right hand up to your face.

3. With your right hand in front of your face, easily rest your middle finger and index finger in the space between your eyebrows. We will be using the ring finger and thumb

4. Close your eyes gently, take a deep inhale through both nostrils, and then exhale through both nostrils.

5. Close your RIGHT nostril with your thumb and inhale gently through the LEFT nostril. 

6. Close the LEFT nostril with the ring finger and exhale through the RIGHT nostril. 

7. With the LEFT nostril closed, inhale through the RIGHT nostril.

8. Close the RIGHT nostril and exhale through the LEFT nostril.

9. Repeat this cycle 5-10 times, doing your best to keep the length of your inhale and exhale consistent and completing each cycle of breath on the left nostril. Gently observe the felt sensations in the body.