There are a lot of new-age wellness techniques touted that make even the least cynical among us roll our eyes – yes, we’re looking at you jade eggs. But on the flip-side, in times of unprecedented uncertainty, there are useful, yet often overlooked approaches that deserve more of the limelight. Breathwork is one of them.
Take one big inhale that expands in your belly. Hold it. Now exhale deeply.
Congratulations, you've just engaged in breathwork, an ancient practice that's quickly gaining popularity. If you're thinking, "Wait, I've been inhaling and exhaling continuously since the day I was born. Does that mean I've been practicing breathwork this whole time?" the answer is, unfortunately, no.
Breathing may seem pretty intuitive — breathe in, breathe out, continue until, well, death. An increasing amount of people are hyping up a more involved form of the practice. They claim that breathwork — breathing with intention and with certain rhythms — can help blood pressure, digestion, stress, and even mental health. Research on breathwork, however, reveals that while there's definitely some benefits to breathing therapy, it's a long way from a cure-all.
During the episode, we dive deep into the psychology AND the biomechanics of breathing, how that applies to performance, information on her BREATHE class and new book Breathing for Warriors that will hit the shelves.
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“Breathe in,” says Poppy Jamie, a 27-year-old doe-eyed former TV personality who is regularly spotted alongside Suki Waterhouse and Cara Delevingne. An odd request, but nevertheless, I inhale. “You’re not doing it right!” the Brit squeals giddily, pointing out that I’m raising my shoulders rather than expanding my stomach.
As founder of The Breathing Class™, Dr. Belisa has taught and lectured nationwide on topics related to dysfunctional breathing patterns and stress. Unique in its straightforward approach, The Breathing Class™ addresses both physical and psychological problems related to oxygenation that is out of balance, and teaching people to breathe in an anatomically congruous way that maximizes balanced inhales and exhales.
Are you doing anything right now? Of course you’re not—you’re reading wellness articles on the Internet. Why don’t you take a moment out of your rigorous afternoon of self-improvement and indulge in a long, deep breath? Inhale for six whole seconds, expel that air, and record, very specifically, what your body is doing while this is happening.
Now we do it up to 20 times a minute, around 30,000 a day... so you would assume that we would be experts at it by now... but think again - according to Dr Belisa Vranich, breathing is something we could all improve on. The correct breathing by an athlete can give the 0.1% increase in performance; the possible difference between gold and silver.
Dr. Belisa Vranich is the Director of Breathing Science at the Ash Center for Comprehensive Medicine in New York City. Dr. Belisa began her career as a clinical psychologist with the intention of having a long-standing therapy practice. As she explored different methods of reducing stress, Dr. Belisa developed an interest in yoga breathing and martial arts-based breathing techniques.
