By Julia Meehan-Thompson
The coronavirus pandemic shines a spotlight on how we breathe as we navigate shops, trains, planes and crowded places wearing face masks to protect each other from virus-laden droplets. But the new awareness of this vital function highlights a painful truth: In the last few centuries, through a combination of factors, we have lost the art of breathing properly. Rediscovering it has never been more necessary.
“Before we know it, breathing slow, less and through the nose with a big exhale will be big business, like so much else,” notes James Nestor, author of Breath, the new science of a lost art.
The way we breathe, aside from keeping us alive, affects the body in unimaginable ways – it boosts brain and immune function, calms nerves, tempers the body, feeds blood and bones — everything, really, that makes us human. Breathing efficiently helps us think clearly, run longer and faster, sleep more deeply, live longer and cope with a number of other debilitating conditions. Mystics, ascetics and spiritual travellers have for millennia expounded the magic of breathing techniques as a gateway to a better life.
In essence, longer breaths may equate a longer life. “The yogi’s life is not measured by the number of his days, but the number of his breaths,” writes celebrated yoga teacher B.K.S Iyengar in his book Light on Yoga.
As a practice, breathwork is becoming fashionable. Probably because it works. And probably, too, because we are living through a pandemic that attacks the lungs. As a yoga teacher, I have seen first–hand the life-changing effect of correct breathing technique in my students. After teaching the 4-7-8 breathing technique, made famous by Dr Andrew Weil, to my 84-year-old mother, Paulina, her breathing transformed. She now feels calmer, more relaxed and more energetic.
“Why has no one taught me to breathe correctly?” she asked, perplexed. Quite the opposite – why is it that life takes away this birth right? If you watch a baby breathe, you can see them inhale deeply, filling up their lungs and activating their deep stomach muscles. I have used sandbags to encourage deep breathing with my clients who are chest breathers, and watched their faces soften, shoulders ease, and a sense of calm return to their faces as they engage their deeper breathing muscles.
It seems we lose the ability to breathe fully and freely as life throws things at us: stress, fright, fear and now, the social media posts and relentless email that can trigger micro-breathing. The art of breathing well has also been chipped at thorough historical changes to our diet. The consumption of processed food has affected the shape of our jaw, mouth and nose, forcing many of us to breathe through our mouths instead of our noses, and thus becoming inefficient breathers.
“Focusing on my breathing pattern in my daily life changed everything,” notes Anders Olsson, founder of Conscious Breathing, who set out to become an expert in breathing and now runs instructor training courses, breathing courses and produces gadgets to strengthen the breathing muscles. Olsson, like many ascetics before him, walked away from his everyday life to pursue his quest.
For millennia, yogis, Taoists, and Native Americans have expounded the benefits of proper nasal breathing and controlled breathing practices, such as pranayama, and some scientists are mystified that controlled breathing is not practiced more widely these days to deal with a growing number of ailments.
“We assume, at our peril, that breathing is a passive action, just something that we do: breathe, live; stop breathing die,” notes Nestor, an investigative journalist. Spurred on by this misconception, a growing band of pulmonauts – including investors, app developers, music moguls, techies and dreamers are moving in to monetise this forgotten art.
In 2020 alone, a clutch of apps were launched, promising to help us breathe better; iBreathe; and the Breathing App, ‘like a stress reset button,’ created by a yoga teacher, musician and DJ Moby, Deepak Chopra, and coder Sergey Varichev; Breathwrk and the Zen breathing app, show us how to calm nerves like US Navy Seals do. Breathing coaches are becoming more common; online and in-person breathing programmes are popping up, and breathing gurus are even selling gadgets to widen mouths and strengthen jaws. The US-based Breath Institute has just launched a six-week online course to teach how nasal breathing can help the immune system during the pandemic.
As a yogi, I have learned that my breath, or prana, is the single most important aspect not only of being alive but of my yoga technique. The extreme Dutch athlete Wim Hof knows this too. As an early adopter of the ancient breathing techniques, he has achieved amazing human feats in freezing conditions. And has dedicated much of his life since 2000 to teaching his methods of breathing, cold exposure and meditation practices. He launched his app in 2015.
Breathing techniques, when harnessed correctly, are powerful but without proper guidance they can also be dangerous. Light headedness and sickness are just two I have experienced. There are many breathing techniques out there. And the focus on better breathing in the health and wellness realm is bound to intensify – experts note this could be the new wellness revolution.
“If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breathe better,” breathing expert Dr. Weil has said.