heal: could the way we breathe be the answer to anxiety and pain management with the breath guy
It’s something that is essential for our life here on Earth. We rarely have to think about it and we do it effortlessly every day, yet it could be a simple answer to not only managing anxiety but also our relationship with pain. Breathwork is something that has always been at the forefront of ancient medicine being used as an essential connection between the mind and the body. Finding freedom in our breath can not only help to take us in to deep relaxation but can be harnessed to improve our sleep patterns and relieve both stress and fatigue. Richie Bostock, also known as “The Breath Guy”, is a leading figure and evangelist for Breathwork which is being seen as the next revolution in health and wellness. He is a coach, author and speaker and is on a mission to spread the life changing possibilities of Breathwork to the world.
Having worn many hats, from a corporate management consultant to digital entrepreneur, Richie discovered Breathwork which became a catalyst for a life changing journey that shifted his own perspective and beliefs on the potential of human beings. Richie spent years travelling across five continents learning from many of the modern day masters of Breathwork. He witnessed the transformative effects of when people became aware of their breathing and started to use it as a tool to create physical mental and emotional benefits. This free medicine is available to everyone and it's Richie’s mission to remind the world how to breathe with purpose.
Breathing is essential yet so many of us underestimate its power. How can we begin to work with our breath each day?
Most people take on average twenty two to twenty nine thousand breaths a day. Most people are not aware that they are breathing poorly and fewer are aware about how poor breathing habits may be affecting their health and happiness. If you are like most people, the events in your life and the effects of living in our modern society have unknowingly altered the open and flowing nature of your breath that you once had as a young child, to a breathing pattern that is far more restricted. From overly sedentary lifestyles, tight clothing, chronic stress and physical and emotional trauma, there are so many reasons why our breathing can become dysfunctional overtime.
When it comes to correct breathing, the only place to start is with your diaphragm. This most important muscle in the movement of breathing is fibrous and parachute-shaped. It separates your thoracic cavity – the space your heart and lungs occupy – from the abdominal cavity, where your digestive organs live. It attaches to your spine, the lower ribs and the bottom of your sternum. As you inhale, your diaphragm contracts and descends, pulling air into the lowest parts of your lungs. As the diaphragm descends, your organs underneath are pushed to the front, back and sides. This causes your abdomen to expand, giving the appearance of breathing into the stomach, which is why diaphragmatic breathing is often referred to as ‘belly breathing’. As you exhale, your diaphragm relaxes and ascends, forcing the inhaled air out of your lungs.
A simple place to begin to build a relationship with your breath is to start practice breathing daiahpragmatically and getting comfortable in breathing more slowly. While many people habitually breathe at a faster than natural rate, consciously slowing down your breathing for a few minutes has been scientifically shown to shift your body into your parasympathetic (also known as ‘rest and digest’) response, promoting functions such as digestion, helping you sleep better and to feel more calm. You can try this yourself with a technique called ‘coherence breathing’. Research on this technique has shown how breathing at a rate of five breaths per minute can help you to balance your nervous system in just a matter of minutes.
Inhale through your nose for six seconds, keeping your neck and shoulders relaxed and relatively still and feeling an expansion through your mid, lower ribs and abdomen.
Exhale through your nose for six seconds.
Repeat this cycle for at least three minutes, but there really is no limit as to how long you can go.
If six seconds feels like a struggle, reduce it to five or four seconds and get comfortable breathing at that rate first. You can then gradually build it up to six seconds.
What have been some of your personal breakthroughs since learning about breathwork?
I think it is impossible to sum up in a few sentences how Breathwork has changed my life, but one of the biggest benefits that I feel is how much things don't trigger or get to me as much. Before I found Breathwork I was a highly strung and control-seeking person working in a very hectic corporate environment. Now I feel much more at ease and able to go with flow, trusting that life has my back.
How can it help with anxiety?
When someone is stressed or anxious the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) which is responsible for carrying out the "fight or flight" response becomes activated. As a result, our breathing changes as a natural part of the stress repsonse. When the person inhales, their shoulders travel vertically significantly and their chest puffs out. Here you are using your neck, shoulders and upper chest muscles to expand your chest to breathe in air. These muscles are what are called “Secondary Breathing Muscles” and are designed to be used in short bursts when we need to breathe quickly (e.g. catching our breath after sprinting). They are not designed to be used 24/7 and will fatigue and can cause neck, shoulder and back pain.
On top of that, this style of breathing is neurologically linked to sending the body into a stress response by activating your SNS. Even if you had no reason to be stressed, if you breathed in this way you would cause your body to go into a stress response - doesn’t sound so smart does it?
Think of the SNS as the gas pedal for our body. It triggers the fight or flight (and lesser known freeze) response, mobilising the body to be ready for action so that it can respond to a perceived danger. Once the danger has passed, the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) provides the brake and promotes the ‘rest and digest’ response that promotes relaxation and restoration in the body. If your SNS is the gas pedal and your PNS is the brake, consider your breath to be the driver in charge. The way we breathe is so intimately linked to our nervous system, we can use our breathing to determine whether we want to get ready for action (SNS) or relax and recover (PNS). So we can use the breath to apply the ‘brake’ by slowing down the breath and making sure that you engage the primary breathing muscle, the diaphragm.
In your book ‘Exhale' you cover how to quit smoking through breathwork, tell us more about it…
For many smokers, having a cigarette or a smoke break is the only time they give themselves to do nothing but breathe consciously. They will take about five minutes to take long and slow breaths, so maybe it’s not just the cigarette making them feel relaxed, it’s the way they are breathing. Once you’ve decided to quit, use this exercise whenever you feel the urge to smoke and you’ll see that you don’t need the cigarette:
Start standing or seated.
Inhale through pursed lips the same way that you would through a cigarette – you can even bring your fingers to your lips. Usually, this inhale will last between three and four seconds. As you inhale, really focus on breathing diaphragmatically and sense the air being pulled all the way down into the bottom of your lungs.
Exhale through your mouth in the same way that you would when you smoke and maybe even a little longer (maybe between four and five seconds).
Pause for one to two seconds.
Continue this for five minutes.
If you like, you could even go through a ritual of imagining opening a cigarette pack, taking one out, lighting it and holding it in your fingers. Over time you won’t need to do this any more. But if it helps you in the beginning, go for it.
When it comes to pain management, what is one go to technique that you use with your clients?
Research has shown how relaxed and slow breathing when in pain can help you process the negative emotions that go along with it. Visualisation has also been found to improve pain processing. The mind has an amazing ability to create a more relaxed state and release natural happy hormones (endorphins), helping to reduce the negative impact of pain. When you put the two together, you have a fantastic tool to manage your own pain. An important note while you do this exercise is not to try to focus on making the pain go away. Just focus on relaxing and create comfort in that moment. The results may just surprise you:
Start in a seated or lying position.
First, pick a colour that represents soothing, healing and relaxation for you.
Inhale through your nose for four seconds. As you inhale, visualise that you are drawing this colour through your nose, down through your throat into your lungs and then sending it to wherever you have pain, surrounding and engulfing the pain point completely.
The pain point may have a colour, in which case completely encase this colour with your soothing colour.
Exhale through the mouth for eight seconds. As you exhale, visualise that the soothing colour is grabbing the pain and pulling it out of you as you exhale it out.
Repeat this pattern for at least ten minutes, or as long as you need until the pain is at a bearable level or gone completely!
For anyone who many be finding the current climate challenging, what advice can you offer?
In these chaotic and wildly unpredictable times, some are calling Breathwork the “tool of our time”, because of how simple it is to do and how instantaneously you feel the beneficial effects. You don’t need to be an experienced meditator, a yogi or vegan. Anyone can do Breathwork and feel good for no other reason other than that you are breathing. During the height of the national lockdown, I had nearly fifteen hundred people joining in on my online Breathwork classes. The feedback I was getting was that it was such an effective way for people to let go of the crazy world outside of them and to experience a total mental and emotional reset. Some people found it helped them to relax and sleep, while others had cathartic experiences, letting go of the stress, tension and trauma from this experience we are all facing.
connect with the breath guy and find out more…
visit his website or book a session: https://www.thebreathguy.com
follow him on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebreathguy/
