Breath Coaching
What is Breathing?
A question we don’t often ask and are not really taught as children, is what is breathing? Air, and the breathing in and out of it, is the thing we do the most as human beings. In fact as mammals, it is the very first thing we do when we are born, so why do we not pay more attention to it and the affects it has on our physical and mental health and overall well-being?
Healthy breathing is a combination of three things: Biomechanics, Biochemistry and Volume, or the amount of air we breathe per minute. These three pillars of respiratory function work hand in hand with one another and if one of these is compromised, it directly affects the other. However, if we perform certain breath holding exercises and practice Breath Awareness we can halt and sometimes restore and repair years of over breathing, shallow breathing or chronic hyperventilation.
Below you will read about some of the methods I use to help my clients find mind and body connection and also improve their physical and mental being.
Breathing is far more than just breathing itself, it is life force to body and mind!
Buteyko Method
There is a common belief that the more air we breathe, the healthier we are. Few people realise that in order to increase blood flow and oxygen delivery to the tissues, breathing should be slowed down so that less air enters the body. You know that you are taking less air into the lungs than normal when you experience a tolerable feeling of air hunger. Within a few minutes of continued slowing of the breath to experience air hunger, body temperature increases to indicate an improvement to blood circulation. At the same time, there is an increase to watery saliva in the mouth – traditionally observed in Yoga as activation of the body’s relaxation response.
In 1957 Ukrainian Dr. Konstantin Buteyko observed that unhealthy people have noticeable breathing during rest. Their breathing is often through the mouth, using the upper chest with a respiratory rate and volume greater than normal.
By practicing breathing exercises and breath holds from the Buteyko Method you can experience more open airways and improved blood circulation in a matter of minutes. This alone is enough to demonstrate the relationship between your everyday breathing and state of health.
You should consider this method on a daily basis as oppossed to stressor exercises like the Wim Hof method if you are suffering from anxiety, heightened state of arousal, long Covid symptoms and asthma. Reducing your chemoreceptor sensitivity to CO2 build in the blood can have long lasting benefits to your mental and health.
I am a fully qualified Buteyko instructor and trained with the wonderful Patrick Mckeown and his team at the Buteyko Clinic in Ireland. I have been successfully using these techniques and exercises to improve my respiratory health and the health of thousands of others since being introduced to the power of this knowledge.
Breathing is vital to life but learn to breathe right and you can unlock greater levels of fitness and health than you ever imagined possible. Surprising as it may seem, the classic instruction to 'take a deep breath’ and fill the lungs with air is entirely the wrong approach if your goal is to deliver more oxygen throughout your body.
The breathing techniques in Patrick McKeown’s Oxygen Advantage have worked for thousands of people, from asthmatics to olympic athletes. With this easy to use programme and instructor guided exercises you can:
Improve your energy levels, concentration and mental focus
Become fitter and stronger than ever before
Achieve your perfect weight and goals by suppressing your appetite naturally through correct respiratory process
Increase your exercise intensity while expending less effort and breathing less heavily or panting
Stimulate high-altitude training to improve aerobic and anaerobic capacity
Feel free to ask about any advice and future Oxygen Advantage workshops in 2023
Benefits of Improved Breathing
The benefits are too extensive to list but here are a few:
Increases oxygen uptake in the body and mind
Improves concentration
Improves mental well-being
Better hormone regulation
Increases energy levels and focus
Relieves stress
Improves sleep including snoring and apnea
Dilation of the vascular system
Helps to relieve symptoms of depression, over thinking and anxiety
…the list goes on!
“Anyone who has been practicing this technique or totally new, I implore you to try Breatheolution. The experience will help you unlock capability you never knew you had.”
— Lance