November 20, 2024
Best Breathing Practices For Improving Recovery, Focus and Mental State
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We explain simple breathing methods to use daily for hacking recovery, improving sleep, reduce stress or anxiety and boost performance
Best Breathing Practices
Breathwork and breathing practices give you the ability to deliberately influence the state of your body and mind. The power of the breath can energise, relax, repair, and direct you depending on how you use it.
Generally, the more times you do something the better you become at doing it. However, that only really applies if you are consciously practicing. Despite taking over 25,000 breaths per day, most people have forgotten how to breath, let alone getting better at it.
Breathing is a function of the autonomic nervous system and can be done in the background, without any thought or conscious effort to breathe. For this reason, breathing isn’t given much thought by the majority of the population, likely to their detriment.
The good news is that breathing can be brought to the conscious mind and shaped and moulded in a deliberate fashion to achieve ultimate health and heal from injury and illness. To breathe well takes a consistent approach and may require rewiring your existing breathing patterns. It is true that breathing in certain ways can significantly impact our frame of mind and state of body, having the ability to switch on or activate the vagus nerve and in turn the parasympathetic nervous system – the state of rest and digest as many know it.
The breath can excite us when driven with fire, speed and depth, and can slow us down and relax us when it too is slowed, quietened or held. Many elite athletes have realised the potential of the breath for performance and recovery while many cultures past and present have known its power for centuries.
To focus on one’s breathing is a free resource for accessing health, and the places that are available when breath is explored in depth can be places of transcendence, bliss, hallucination, recovery, vibrance, energy, calm, focus, ecstasy and acceptance.
We will show you 5 best simple breathing practices to do every day that can shift your body in one way or another, can improve recovery time, improve sleep quality, reduce negative feelings, and low mood, increase focus and energy, reduce pain perception, and maybe even take you to another planet.
Why and How We Breathe
Put simply, to remain alive we require oxygen. Breathing is a function of drawing oxygen from the ambient air and into the lungs, distributing it throughout the body, then removing the waste products all within the cycle of the breath.
Such an amazing and essential function can be, and generally is, performed autonomously. Breathing is, after all, a major function of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system has two branches: sympathetic and parasympathetic. These branches are responsible for activating and manipulating certain bodily functions like body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, production of bodily fluids, metabolism and more to regulate our state of being.
Optimal breathing is initiated by the diaphragm and is ideally nasal dominated. Slow, quiet and full breaths through the nose offers the ideal conditions to filter the air we breathe, regulate the nervous system, activate the vagus nerve, maintain ideal balance of carbon dioxide levels, support digestions, deliver oxygen to the tissues and brain and other organs, regulate posture and positively impact mood and energy.
Recommended Reading: Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art and The Oxygen Advantage
There are a variety of biomechanical, biochemical, and psychological mechanisms that can push you into dysfunctional and disordered breathing patterns, but what it is important is to have the tools to return to healthy breathing patterns with techniques and practices that ensure you are breathing optimally for recovery and overall health.
Below we share some simple breathwork tools to use in your everyday life. Some of these breathing practices are laid out in breathwork courses by breathwork instructors around the world.
5 Breathing Practices For Improved Recovery, Wellness and Mental State
When we take a conscious approach to breathing, we can better connect the body and mind while creating better awareness of healthy breathing habits that can improve overall health, increase performance and impact a positive mood day to day. A Chinese study has shown the power of the breath to improve focus and attention and create a deleterious affect on negative stress.
Generally speaking, breathing practices that focus on extending the exhale relative to the inhale will have a calming and relaxation effect on the nervous system. Conversely, breathing techniques that focus on extending or intensifying the inhale, like Wim Hof breathing, will create an energising and uplifting effect on the nervous system.
Currently, breathwork is commonly used in a clinical setting for treating mental conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), motion disorders, phobias, and other stress-related emotional disorders.
Breathing practices can be viewed like meditation and mindfulness, the more you practice them and habituate a conscious practice, the better you will become and automatically using your breath to your advantage for optimal sleep, mood, physical performance, and focus.
The best breathing practices are those that you can use throughout the day to while you work, train, and carry out daily life. These are 5 breathing practices to use and practice daily:
Box Breathing
Box Breathing Technique
Box breathing is perhaps the simplest breathing technique to practice. What I like most about the box breathing technique is that it can be practiced quite discreetly and does not produce any intense physiological responses like some of the other breathing techniques can.
Box breathing, like the equal edges of a square, involves an inhale, hold, exhale, hold all with equal timing. Box breathing promotes and down-regulating effect on the nervous system, and when practiced correctly for a decent period, can place the body into a parasympathetic state of relaxation.
Box breathing is a pattern of breathing that can be increased or decreased based on your individual baseline breath hold or lung capacity. A common starting point for box breathing is 4 seconds for each phase of the breath. This would look like a pattern of 4-4-4-4 and can simply be broken down into:
1. 4 second inhale
2. 4 second hold at the top of the inhale
3. 4 second exhale
4. 4 second hold at the bottom of the exhale
If you are well practiced with breathwork or are generally someone who is athletically attuned, you may be able to increase this timing to 5-10 seconds or a period that you can manage to maintain for period of 5-10 minutes.
Box breathing should be done through the nose and controlled or initiated by diaphragm for best results. Nasal breathing and diaphragmatic breathing are two big things to focus on to improve breathing function or reverse breathing dysfunction, which is very common for various reasons. In fact, Sussana Soeberg recently posted an great piece of Instagram content explaining some common signs of breathing dysfunction to be aware of.
Wim Hof Breathing
Wim Hof, or the Iceman, has really catapulted both breathing and cold plunge into the mind’s eye of health, wellness and performances seekers and biohackers. Having overcome his own traumas through cold immersion, breathing and movement, Wim has popularised his own breathing technique, The Wim Hof Method, which has been researched scientifically and drawn a huge cult following globally.
Wim Hof breathing is a more intense breathing method that has the ability to dramatically change the physiological state of the body through controlled hyperventilation. This is a breathwork practice that you most certainly do not want to practice while driving, in water or while operating any machinery, as in can lead to temporary vision loss, loss of consciousness, ringing in the ears, swallowing, and intense body jolting and jerking.
This breathing method allows you to access the autonomic nervous system and saturates the body with oxygen, with the potential to produce some affects similar to hallucination and what could be described as out-of-body experiences.
The Wim Hof breathing technique can be summarised by a cycle of 30-40 rapid and full, forceful inhale and exhale cycles, a breath hold on the bottom of the final exhale, followed by an inhale and hold for 15 seconds. This process is repeated 3-4 rounds and the full intent is to incorporate basic flowing movements and cold water exposure in between rounds of the breathing to shift the nervous system into a state of rest.
How this method would look in point form is:
1. Fully inhale through the mouth rapidly
2. Fully exhale through the mouth
3. Repeat 30-40 times
4. On the last breath, exhale 90% and hold for maximum time
5. Inhale and hold for 15 seconds
6. Repeat this cycle 3-4 rounds
There is a free Mini Course and other course offerings on the e-learning section on the Wim Hof Website.
Fire Breath
Fire breath, or Breath of Fire, has its roots in yogic pranayama or breathing practice. Fire Breath is breathwork that you may have come across on the yoga mat in a heated Vinyasa or Hatha Yoga class.
Fire breath technique can be considered almost the opposite to the Wim Hof method, in that you are now forcefully exhaling and passively inhaling, all conducted through nasal breathing.
This Kundalini yoga breathing practice, involves a rapid contraction and release of the diaphragm and can be an extremely energising breathing practice, unlike box breathing which focusses on relaxation.
While the Wim Hof breathing is generally practiced in the supine on laying position, Fire Breath is generally practiced in the seated, upright position. The Fire Breath breathing practice can be summarised in the following sequence:
1. Sitting upright with knees crossed, if possible, place one hand on the belly to give feedback and one hand on the thigh or knee
2. With the lips pursed (closed), forcefully exhale through the nose with a short and sharp exhale and allow a passive inhale to occur through nose
3. Continue to forcefully exhale through the nose, driven by the diaphragm and allowing the natural inhale focussing on rhythm over speed
4. If comfortable, increase the speed and continue for 1-2 minutes or 40-60 breaths.
5. On the final breath, fully inhale through the nose, fully exhale and hold for 10-15 seconds before breathing normally for a few breaths.
6. Repeat this cycle until you are feeling energised!
Cyclical “Sigh” or Double Inhale
The cyclic sigh or double inhale breathing technique is one that was recently discussed by Dr. Andrew Huberman on the Huberman Lab podcast. The Cyclic sigh or double inhale breathing practice is one that can be used primarily for managing anxiety and influencing your nervous system.
Watch this brief video describing the cyclic sigh or double inhale breathing method
Cyclic sighing is also referred to as a “physiological sigh” or “double inhale”, and is an involuntary breathing pattern that occurs most often before we are about to fall asleep, during sleep and when we cry. The cyclic sigh, and sighing in general, is a physiological indication of a change in behavioural state. For example, the common expression, “a sigh of relief,” is a description of the change from fear to relaxation, signalled by an audible sigh.
To that end, it has recently been plugged by Andrew Huberman in relation to a breathwork practice aimed at reducing stress and anxiety. The cyclic sigh or double inhale is a breathing practice that I commonly use when I begin nearing a threshold when doing saunas and ice baths, as a way to calm the mind and sit with the uncomfortable and anxiety producing reality of extreme cold or extreme heat. By using the double inhale, I reset the breath, reduce the heart rate and have an impact on the nervous system to “withstand’ a little longer, which further improves resilience and carries over to resilience in other areas of life.
This is a very easy breathing practice to calm the nervous system and reduce anxiety and it can be summarised in just a few points:
1. Breathing through the nose, and initiated by the diaphragm, take a 1 second full inhale, plus another short sharp “extra” inhale at the top of the breath
2. Release the breath with a slow, controlled and emptying exhale through the mouth
3. Repeat this cycle for 20-30 breaths before breathing normally through the nose
You can always refer to the video above to get a better idea of how to do the cyclic sigh or double inhale breathing method.
Alternate Nostril Breathing
Alternate nostril breathing is a breathing technique that can both promote relaxation and direct focus. Alternate nostril breathing is another breathing practise that is rooted in yogic breathing.
Alternate nostril breathing is a proven way to improve relaxation and reduce stress, according to research.
One method of Alternate nostril breathing is to inhale through one nostril, then exhale through the other, using a finger to block the nostril not in use.
To practice alternate nostril breathing you can follow these steps:
In a sitting or standing position, take a few full nasal breaths
Fully exhale through the nose and use the right thumb to block the right nostril
Inhale slowly and fully through left nostril and then lightly block left nostril with your pinky finger while releasing your thumb from right nostril
Exhale slowly through the right nostril
Inhale through right nostril and then close
Exhale through the left nostril nostril
Continue this cycle for 5-10 minutes, finishing with an exhale on the left side
How To Know If You Have Breathing Dysfunction
Breathing dysfunction can lead to a vast array of symptoms and conditions. Considering how many breaths are taken every day, it is very important to take every effort to consciously control the breath and have the best breathing practices to ensure sound physical performance, good posture and alignment, good sleep patterns and sleep quality, daily energy and focus, good mental health, and properly healing and repair.
Some of the signs that you have breathing dysfunction include:
1. Heavy mouth breathing and minimal breathing through the nose by default
2. Lower back pain
3. You yawn and sigh a lot spontaneously
4. Your breathing is loud and audible even without exertion
5. You feel short of breath easily even without heavy exercise
6. You wake up from sleep feeling groggy, unrested, have a dry mouth or have sleep apnoea
7. You have a low BOLT score of less than 20 seconds
Focus on Breathing To Improve Breathing Quality
What you focus your attention on, you will become. To improve breathing dysfunction you need to start to bring your breathing patterns into your conscious state of mind.
I have found great success with improving breathing patterns by doing the following things:
1. setting a reminder once an hour to remind me to breath through the nose or practice one of the breathwork practices above and create habits around breathing.
2. Sleeping with a purposely designed mouth tape to ensure nasal breathing during sleep
3. Practicing 10 minutes of deliberate breathing in the morning BEFORE anything else
4. Incorporating breathing practice into daily habits like walking and driving where I commonly use box breathing
5. Enrol yourself in a breathwork course or watch one of the thousands of free breathwork videos on Youtube!
Conclusion on Breathing Practices
Breathwork and breathing practices are one of the most profound ways to improve your health and influence your state of mind and body. While each of the above breathing exercises has a different flow, all encourage a focus on the breath. Shifting focus to breathing can help reduce anxiety or stress and create calm or increase focus and energy depending on which exercise you practice.
These breathing practices can either energise or relax you, depending on which way you manipulate your breath and you can experience the benefits of breathing properly like faster exercise recovery, better sleep, improved mental health and emotional control, improved physical performance and thresholds, longer breath holds, better oral hygiene, even improved relationships as a downstream effect.
Whether you are doing breathing practice for more energy or to reduce anxiety, or to increase focus, the breathing practices we’ve outlined in this article are just a few and there are thousands of videos and courses that can be accessed, both free and paid, to better understand your breath and what you can do with it. It is a superpower, and it is always there to access!
Smarter recovery for humans…
Jayce Love
Jayce has spent the last decade in the military as an elite Royal Australian Navy Clearance Diver and has an ever growing passion for biohacking and recovery for peak performance. Jayce has accreditations in fitness and nutrition, cold water immersion, and regularly adopts human Guinea pig status to test out the latest tools, techniques, practices, gear and gadgets in the name of optimal fitness, recovery and wellness.