Is Breathwork Scientifically Proven?
Is Breathwork Scientifically Proven?
Imagine you’re having an extremely stressful day, and you find yourself up against the wall to the point where you just can’t catch a break let alone catch your breath. According to The American Institute of Stress, about 33% of humans experience stress, 77% of humans experience stress that causes their physical health to decline, 73% of humans experience stress that puts a strain on their mental health, and 48% of humans who experience stress have trouble with a good night sleep.
Stress is very common in people due to the imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. There are many outlets that can help with stress, and help you focus on living a more healthy and relaxing life. The systems around us are septic and not conducive to life, but we are responsible for our healing, as much as we are for tearing down these systems.
So, in-between destroying these virulent systems, how about engaging in a practice that will assist you in maintaining hope, and overcoming stress? That’s where breathwork comes in.
The most common questions about breathwork are:
● What is breathwork?
● Is breathwork scientifically proven?
● What are the scientific benefits of breathwork?
What is breathwork?
Simply spoken, breathwork is a general term used for any kind of regulated breathing practice. By taking active control of our breath, we get to manage the autonomic nervous system which allows us to reduce anxiety, enhance focus, improve depression, and a slew of other scientifically proven benefits. Most of these practices stem from India and are pranayama techniques, or variations thereof. We absolutely want to give credit to the history of these practices, even though we may not know where they originated specifically.
While practicing breathwork, we are harnessing the ability to improve our mental, physical, emotional, and even spiritual life allowing more autonomy and joy. The technique we use, in the right hands, is a powerful trauma integration technique and healing trauma is one of our main focuses.
Is breathwork scientifically proven?
The big question that everyone wants the answer to, is breathwork scientifically proven? The answer to that is, YES! Science has proven that people who practice breathwork techniques have shown major improvements in their mental, physical, emotional, and even their spiritual health.
If there is one thing we must remember, it is that breathing gives us direct control over the autonomic nervous system, and once we have managed to control our breathing through breathwork, we will begin to see changes in our health that allows us to better maintain a healthy functioning lifestyle.
Breathwork can ultimately help activate the parasympathetic nervous system allowing your body to efficiently respond to stress, giving your body the opportunity to suppress it. Once the signal is sent you will feel your body start to relax, which helps anxiety, pain, and stress levels decrease.
What are the scientific benefits of breathwork?
There are a wide variety of scientific benefits of breathwork, and all are scientifically proven. Some of the benefits are:
Lower stress and anxiety levels
Decreased pain levels
Help with focus
Help with sleep
Lower your blood pressure
Lower stress and anxiety levels
Breathwork has been scientifically proven to lower stress and anxiety levels. According to The National Library of Medicine, psychological research has determined that practicing all techniques of breathwork can ultimately become a no-pharmacological outlet that can reduce stress levels.
Decreased pain levels
Studies have shown that about 20% of U.S. adults experience chronic pain. It has been scientifically proven that people who experience any type of chronic pain and those who practice breathwork have seen a significant decrease in pain and discomfort according to Science Daily.
Help with focus
Breathwork has been found to boost the attention span of those who have major difficulties with focus and concentration. In an article on happiful.com, it is explained that, “by constantly focusing on your breath you stimulate the cerebral cortex.” The cerebral cortex is responsible for the way the brain functions. Breathwork can help stimulate growth in your brain cells allowing your brain to function in a more focused state.
Help with sleep
Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder worldwide. According to Healthline 30% of people experience short-term issues and 10% of people experience it chronically. Life can get a bit hectic at times and winding down can also become a struggle. Breathwork is scientifically proven to help calm and soothe the mind and body in order to help you relax at night to ensure a good night sleep.
Breathwork and meditative practices in general can have tremendous positive impacts in calming down, relaxing, and ultimately sleeping.
Lower your blood pressure
Breathwork has been scientifically proven to reduce your blood pressure levels. According to an article on Modern Heart and Vascular, diaphragmatic breathing is a specific breathwork technique that helps with blood pressure. Your diaphragm is what helps support respiration and practicing this technique can help you stimulate the vagus nerve and develop vagal tone.
In Conclusion
Stress in all forms can affect our everyday lifestyle causing us to experience mental, physical, emotional, and even spiritual health issues. Living under capitalisms can really put a huge strain on our bodies. There are many outlets that can help you manage stress. Breathwork is one of the many outlets that is scientifically proven to help reduce stress that may cause pain, insomnia, loss of focus and concentration, and even high blood pressure.
Breathwork is a technique in which you practice regulating the breath in order to provide a variety of proven benefits. This process helps with managing your stress and pain levels and it also helps you focus more on your breathing rather than your pain. It can be an extremely powerful tool for healing trauma as well.
Breathwork is scientifically proven to significantly improve your mental and physical well being allowing you to live a more calm and happy lifestyle. So, you know that extremely stressful day where you can’t seem to focus because your stress levels have risen causing pain throughout your body? Those days where breathing becomes difficult, and sometimes even overwhelming? Find your balance, stop for a second and practice your breathing. Once you're focused you’ll really cherish the magic of breathwork. Keep on breathing.
Sources:
The American Institute of Stress