What is breathwork and how to reduce stress

Sal Jefferies: 00:00:11

Welcome to Mindset, mood and Movement, a systemic approach to human

2

: 00:00:15

behavior, performance, and wellbeing.

3

: 00:00:18

How psychological, emotional, and

physical health are all connected.

4

: 00:00:23

In this episode, I'll be sharing

my knowledge and experience to help

5

: 00:00:26

you overcome a challenge that you

might be facing in life health.

6

: 00:00:30

All work.

7

: 00:00:34

What is breathwork and why does

it help with stress and anxiety?

8

: 00:00:39

Simply put, the conscious

manipulation of breathing.

9

: 00:00:43

Can help affect a change in our

body, in our mind and in our state.

10

: 00:00:49

So it's a very fundamental skill.

11

: 00:00:51

It's a very human skill.

12

: 00:00:53

It's a physiological skill and

it's one that is, of course,

13

: 00:00:57

starting to become more and more,

uh, aware in, in today's world.

14

: 00:01:02

And it's fascinating.

15

: 00:01:04

So you may have some knowledge

on this and you may know nothing.

16

: 00:01:06

So I'm going to take

this from the basics out.

17

: 00:01:09

To give you a little bit of

background, my introduction to

18

: 00:01:12

conscious breathing started many

years ago when I did yoga practice.

19

: 00:01:17

And for those of us who've done

a yoga class, you'll be guided

20

: 00:01:19

by the teacher about always

paying attention to the breath.

21

: 00:01:22

There's a certain cadence to the breath.

22

: 00:01:24

And I, I just thought, well,

that's what we do here.

23

: 00:01:27

It was in that practice that I started

to learn that I was changing how I

24

: 00:01:31

felt and that I could use this type

of yoga breathing as it were at

25

: 00:01:36

the time to help me feel different.

26

: 00:01:38

to help me relax, to

help me clear my mind.

27

: 00:01:41

And I've done yoga for many, many years.

28

: 00:01:44

And in the more recent years, I've got

interested in the scientific side of it.

29

: 00:01:48

I trained with Patrick McKeown

at the Oxygen Advantage, and he's

30

: 00:01:52

a real proponent in the field.

31

: 00:01:53

And there's many other people.

32

: 00:01:55

Wim Hof, of course, is a

famous person that people know.

33

: 00:01:58

There's Brian McKenzie in America.

34

: 00:02:00

There's people doing some good

stuff around this and adding

35

: 00:02:03

lots of layers of science, sport.

36

: 00:02:05

And how the whole mind body system works.

37

: 00:02:08

But today I wanted to give you a little

intro and to talk about one particular

38

: 00:02:12

nuance, which is about dealing with

stress and maybe anxiety as well.

39

: 00:02:17

It's a big one.

40

: 00:02:18

It, you know, it seems to be

ubiquitous in our culture.

41

: 00:02:20

There are so many pressures.

42

: 00:02:21

There are so many things we have to do.

43

: 00:02:23

And to feel stressed or anxious.

44

: 00:02:27

And we can perhaps interchange those

terms is, it's not a nice thing.

45

: 00:02:30

And actually it's deeply

unhealthy and often Unnecessary.

46

: 00:02:35

How we use the breath can be one of the

key things to learn that you can do to

47

: 00:02:43

control or let's say mediate your state.

48

: 00:02:46

So let's, let's give you

a little bit of context.

49

: 00:02:49

Breath work is often thought of as

downregulation, so to relax, and that's

50

: 00:02:54

true, we can downregulate, which is

what we're going to talk about today,

51

: 00:02:58

but you can go the other way, you can

go upregulation, so if you're feeling

52

: 00:03:02

sleepy and heavy, you can change the

breath pattern to lift your energy,

53

: 00:03:06

the steady state breathing, to keep

you in a flow state, absolute focus,

54

: 00:03:10

which I love that, particularly steady

state breathing, , in the waking day.

55

: 00:03:14

And then I would say there is

breath pattern, an understanding

56

: 00:03:18

that it connects you to your body.

57

: 00:03:20

It connects to movement, , and

it connects to exercise.

58

: 00:03:23

So if you're doing something like heavy

weight training, , running, long distance

59

: 00:03:26

zone two, all the different forms of

exercise, the breath is always happening

60

: 00:03:31

and it can be a big part of that.

61

: 00:03:33

So it's a big field.

62

: 00:03:34

Let's zone in on stress.

63

: 00:03:35

Let's zone in anxiety.

64

: 00:03:36

And let's talk about

what we can do with this.

65

: 00:03:39

So the first thing is, is to

understand the distinction

66

: 00:03:41

between nasal and mouth breathing.

67

: 00:03:43

Now, um, if you're listening now,

I wonder how are you breathing?

68

: 00:03:47

Are you mouth breathing?

69

: 00:03:48

Are you nose breathing?

70

: 00:03:50

Do you even know?

71

: 00:03:51

And this is a big one

that I got caught up in.

72

: 00:03:54

In the yoga practice, it's

a lot about nasal breathing.

73

: 00:03:57

And of course, if you do a lot of

classes, you get disciplined in it.

74

: 00:04:01

But why it matters is, is fairly a

recent understanding in a scientific

75

: 00:04:05

context that when we breathe through

our nose, we release, , nitric oxide,

76

: 00:04:10

it's called, and it's a little gas which

permeates, it comes out the sinus area,

77

: 00:04:15

it goes into the breath, it goes into

the lungs, and It, it goes down into

78

: 00:04:20

the lungs and helps open everything up.

79

: 00:04:22

It's called a vasodilator,

which opens the veins.

80

: 00:04:25

It's a bronchial dilator.

81

: 00:04:27

So it opens up the, the

bronchioli and the lungs.

82

: 00:04:30

And essentially it's, it's also got,

83

: 00:04:32

,

and essentially it's also got a, an antibacterial and

84

: 00:04:35

antimicrobial function to it.

85

: 00:04:37

So nitric oxide has been often

cited as the miracle gas that's only

86

: 00:04:40

been found in more recent times.

87

: 00:04:42

If we nasal breathe, this gas

is distributed in the sinus area

88

: 00:04:46

and it goes down into the lungs.

89

: 00:04:47

We get all of the benefits, whether

you are looking to down regulate or

90

: 00:04:52

looking to be a more performing athlete.

91

: 00:04:56

Mouth breathing does not distribute this

because it's distributing the sinus.

92

: 00:04:59

So the first thing is, is to

know that the nasal breath is

93

: 00:05:02

fundamental for, this is one reason.

94

: 00:05:04

Secondly, nasal breath

is easier to control.

95

: 00:05:07

We can mouth breathe.

96

: 00:05:09

Deep and quick.

97

: 00:05:10

And the problem with that is we

can go into a big gulp of air

98

: 00:05:14

and there's a tendency to mouth

breathe and upper chest breathe.

99

: 00:05:18

Why this matters is because if your upper

chest breathing from via Biomechanical

100

: 00:05:24

point of view, you are only using

the upper parts of the lungs, which

101

: 00:05:28

are less, , able to, , do osmosis

and exchange the oxygen into the

102

: 00:05:31

bloodstream, which is the lower part.

103

: 00:05:34

But if you're chest breathing,

that's predominantly a sympathetic

104

: 00:05:37

nervous system response, i.

105

: 00:05:40

e.

106

: 00:05:40

it's a stress response.

107

: 00:05:42

If you gulp in a load of air

through your mouth and breathe into

108

: 00:05:45

your chest now, it pumps you up.

109

: 00:05:48

Now there's a place for that.

110

: 00:05:50

But if you are already stressed, if you're

already feeling quite anxious about the

111

: 00:05:55

things that's going on for you, we do

not want to be mouth and chest breathing.

112

: 00:05:58

It's, it's like adding petrol to a

fire whilst trying to put it out.

113

: 00:06:02

It's just going to make it worse.

114

: 00:06:04

And yeah, if you nasal breathe,

it's normally easier because of the

115

: 00:06:07

connections to get into the lower belly,

what we call a diaphragmatic breath.

116

: 00:06:13

So.

117

: 00:06:15

Biomechanics of this.

118

: 00:06:17

If you are nose breathing, there's

better control, there's nitric

119

: 00:06:20

oxide, and we are more, it's easier

to access the diaphragm to breathe.

120

: 00:06:24

And if you're mouth breathing,

there's more chance, you don't

121

: 00:06:27

get the nitric oxide, you're

likely to get chest breathing, and

122

: 00:06:31

the pace of the breath is fast.

123

: 00:06:33

Okay, so let's talk about, let's talk

about the frequency and resonance.

124

: 00:06:39

A lot of breaths are taken in a day.

125

: 00:06:41

It's something like 20, 000

breaths a day a person will take.

126

: 00:06:45

So it's huge.

127

: 00:06:47

And we can't go very

long without the breath.

128

: 00:06:50

You know, we can live

without food for weeks.

129

: 00:06:51

We can live without water for days.

130

: 00:06:54

Most people can't live without air for

probably more than about 15, 20 seconds.

131

: 00:06:58

It's, it's so fundamental.

132

: 00:07:00

We are breathing all the time,

but this nature of breath is also

133

: 00:07:04

influencing the nervous system, as I've

already spoken about the sympathetic.

134

: 00:07:09

I'm parasympathetic.

135

: 00:07:10

So that's the activated response.

136

: 00:07:12

And then the more down regulated response,

how we breathe affects this massively.

137

: 00:07:18

So let's add in another layer.

138

: 00:07:19

And I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm

going to summarize this as well.

139

: 00:07:22

Cause I recognize there's a lot

of information coming across here.

140

: 00:07:27

The diaphragm is this big donut

shape muscle sort of, uh, roughly

141

: 00:07:32

abdominal area, belly area.

142

: 00:07:34

So when you take a belly

breath, You might try it now.

143

: 00:07:36

So breathing.

144

: 00:07:40

Ah, I can feel my abdominal area

sort of push out a little bit.

145

: 00:07:44

, the reason for that is the diaphragm

presses the abdominal contents down.

146

: 00:07:48

And of course that, that makes

the belly stick out a little.

147

: 00:07:51

Now we don't want to get caught up in like

I've got a big belly and, and you know,

148

: 00:07:55

all the worry of what people think about.

149

: 00:07:58

Understand that that belly

breath is a healthy breath.

150

: 00:08:00

That's the diaphragm, the big

breathing muscle working well.

151

: 00:08:04

So if we can tie this together,

nasal breath, diaphragm breath.

152

: 00:08:09

Now we're starting to have

got the mechanics in place.

153

: 00:08:11

Let's understand the, uh,

the frequency and cadence.

154

: 00:08:15

So I, I did a little play a

minute ago with, , the fast mouth

155

: 00:08:18

breath and how that was all going.

156

: 00:08:20

Let's try one together.

157

: 00:08:21

So I'm going to invite you to

breathe in through your nose to

158

: 00:08:23

your lower belly, and then breathe

out from the belly to the nose.

159

: 00:08:29

Let's do that one more time.

160

: 00:08:30

Breathing through the nose to the belly.

161

: 00:08:34

And breathe out from

the belly to the nose.

162

: 00:08:38

Now, even in those couple of

breaths, I already feel calmer.

163

: 00:08:41

And what's happening here is this

frequency, , that, that the length of the

164

: 00:08:45

breath is also dictating what's happening

in our nervous system and our body.

165

: 00:08:50

And then all the related

signals that go to the brain.

166

: 00:08:54

If the breath is slower, essentially what

we've got going on is information running

167

: 00:08:59

up from the diaphragm area and it runs up

through what is called the vagus nerve.

168

: 00:09:03

And these fibers have most of

their fibers going to the brain.

169

: 00:09:06

So the information comes from the

diaphragm that says whether your internal

170

: 00:09:11

system feels safe, whether your internal

system feels anxious or worried, and

171

: 00:09:17

the pace of the breath is a big...

172

: 00:09:20

Influencer on this.

173

: 00:09:22

There's a lot of, , work

done now on the vagus nerve.

174

: 00:09:24

It's, it's a big subject.

175

: 00:09:25

I'll talk about it on another episode, but

just know this, bad information is running

176

: 00:09:30

up this major pathway to the brain and

the brain is taking that, that information

177

: 00:09:34

as like, okay, how, how are we doing?

178

: 00:09:37

Are we safe?

179

: 00:09:38

Is the body?

180

: 00:09:39

environment, feeling safe or not,

which then influences areas like the

181

: 00:09:44

limbic brain, the emotional brain.

182

: 00:09:46

It can fire the amygdala,

which you may have heard of.

183

: 00:09:49

It's the fight flight area.

184

: 00:09:52

And before we know it, if we

are not conscious of the breath,

185

: 00:09:56

this experience in the body is

telling our brain how we are.

186

: 00:10:00

And yet if we consciously breathe, the

experience is also telling the brain

187

: 00:10:04

how we are, but we're choosing that.

188

: 00:10:07

So this becomes one of the Most powerful

tools to deal with stress and anxiety

189

: 00:10:13

because you can't out think it sometimes.

190

: 00:10:15

you can try and rationalize, right?

191

: 00:10:17

We all do that.

192

: 00:10:18

We try and rationalize.

193

: 00:10:19

Oh, you know, don't worry about the

problem or don't worry what he said

194

: 00:10:22

to me or don't worry about that.

195

: 00:10:24

And yet we're worried.

196

: 00:10:26

We're worried about, Oh

God, breath and physiology.

197

: 00:10:33

Directly affects brain and psychology.

198

: 00:10:36

So it is the first place to go

to if you are feeling stressed

199

: 00:10:39

and want to change that.

200

: 00:10:40

If you're feeling anxious

and want to change that.

201

: 00:10:43

So let's get a little, little, uh, a

little more nuanced about this now.

202

: 00:10:48

So I've covered the nose and mouth.

203

: 00:10:49

I've spoken about the chest and diaphragm.

204

: 00:10:51

I've spoken about the nervous

system in very basic terms.

205

: 00:10:56

When we bring it together, we can

then understand that breath work.

206

: 00:11:03

And this particular version of it,

the downregulation, is a sweet spot.

207

: 00:11:08

We can change the nervous system's

conversation up to the brain.

208

: 00:11:13

That changes the biochemistry,

all the hormones.

209

: 00:11:16

Adrenaline, cortisone, acetylcholine,

all these things that affect every

210

: 00:11:20

organ, and everything about how we feel.

211

: 00:11:23

So how we breathe...

212

: 00:11:25

is how we are and I love breath

work because it's something I work

213

: 00:11:30

with in psychology and coaching.

214

: 00:11:32

It's something I work with in the

movement side and performance.

215

: 00:11:36

How we breathe is something we can

get hold of and we may not know, but

216

: 00:11:41

the breath is under both conscious

control, which is what we're doing now.

217

: 00:11:44

We're consciously playing with

it and trying it right and

218

: 00:11:47

it's under autonomic control.

219

: 00:11:49

So whilst we're asleep, the body

and the brain, they have this

220

: 00:11:52

conversation, your body will

breathe without you having to think.

221

: 00:11:56

So it becomes the gateway, if you

will, into the nervous system, into

222

: 00:12:01

the body and into those deep, what

most people can't change those deep

223

: 00:12:05

experiences of stress or relaxation.

224

: 00:12:08

So to summarize, if you want to learn

about breathwork, you're going to learn

225

: 00:12:13

a lot about how to control your state,

which in many ways state is everything.

226

: 00:12:18

How you feel predicates

almost everything you do.

227

: 00:12:21

To summarize, I'm going to invite

you to play with this going forward.

228

: 00:12:26

Go to nasal breathing

rather than mouth breathing.

229

: 00:12:29

Some people talk about, is it

okay to breathe in through the

230

: 00:12:31

nose, out through the mouth?

231

: 00:12:32

Yes, there are other pieces around

this, but to keep it simple,

232

: 00:12:36

breathe in through your nose.

233

: 00:12:38

Next, breathe in through your

nose to your lower belly.

234

: 00:12:42

So hook those two together.

235

: 00:12:44

Thirdly, start to notice

the pace of the breath.

236

: 00:12:48

And if you slow your breath

down, particularly the out

237

: 00:12:52

breath, those signals go up.

238

: 00:12:55

So you can imagine that if you breathe out

slowly, there's an information wave going

239

: 00:12:59

up into the brain that says, I'm okay.

240

: 00:13:02

I'm safe.

241

: 00:13:03

I'm good.

242

: 00:13:04

I'm in control.

243

: 00:13:06

That is a powerful thing to do

because most of us, we need that.

244

: 00:13:11

And if we don't know how to breathe

well, we won't be able to access it.

245

: 00:13:15

So, nasal breathing, abdominal or

belly breathing, slow the pace,

246

: 00:13:20

particularly the out breath.

247

: 00:13:21

The simplest model I can

share with you is that.

248

: 00:13:24

If you use that alone, you will

change your stress response massively.

249

: 00:13:28

But the trick is this.

250

: 00:13:29

You have to remember.

251

: 00:13:30

You have to remember to use it,

you have to choose to apply it,

252

: 00:13:34

and this is why we practice.

253

: 00:13:37

Practice makes permanent.

254

: 00:13:38

So, if you don't pay attention

to it, you'll never know.

255

: 00:13:41

If you pay attention to it, you

will know and you'll be able to

256

: 00:13:43

deploy it on a regular basis.

257

: 00:13:46

Um, that is a short summary on, of

course, there's a lot of technical

258

: 00:13:50

science around breathing and breathing

mechanics and, and all this stuff.

259

: 00:13:53

, and I'm gonna spend, , more in,

, following episodes around sport

260

: 00:13:57

performance, all these other elements.

261

: 00:13:59

But I get it asked so many times.

262

: 00:14:01

I'm stressed, I'm anxious, I

want to do something about it.

263

: 00:14:04

And I always say, let me teach you this

simple breath pattern and why it works.

264

: 00:14:08

It is fundamental.

265

: 00:14:10

And as with many things in life, the

fundamentals are the most important

266

: 00:14:14

pieces to get into play before we

work on the particulars of nuance.

267

: 00:14:19

So I hope you take a breath in

with me now through your nose

268

: 00:14:22

to the belly, a slow breath out,

269

: 00:14:29

a breath with the nose into the

lower belly and a slow breath out.

270

: 00:14:38

And I hope you can take that breath

pattern with you and down regulate when

271

: 00:14:41

you need to reduce the stress, reduce

anxiety, and know that you can get

272

: 00:14:45

some semblance of control over this.

273

: 00:14:49

when you need to by using the breath.

274

: 00:14:53

Thank you so much for listening.

275

: 00:14:55

If you enjoyed the episode,

please subscribe and if a friend

276

: 00:14:58

would benefit from hearing this,

do send it on to them as well.

277

: 00:15:02

If you would like to get in touch

yourself, then you can go to my website,

278

: 00:15:06

which is sal jeffries.com, spelled S

A L J E F E R I E s sal jeffries.com.

279

: 00:15:15

Hit the get in touch link and there

you can send me a direct message.

280

: 00:15:19

If you'd like to go one step further

and learn whether coaching could help

281

: 00:15:22

you overcome a challenge or a block

in your life, then do reach out and

282

: 00:15:27

I offer a call where we can discuss

how this may be able to help you.

283

: 00:15:31

Until the next time, take care.