The Two Types of Breathwork that can Confuse People

Is it just me or is Breathwork everywhere now?  It could be a case of Google and Instagram algorithms hitting me hard because I’ve been talking a lot about it (around my phone 🤨) but I am certainly glad to have found it because I realized that it was truly the connection between body, mind, heart and soul.  It was right in our noses all the time! 

With this resurgence of breathwork comes the signature of this century, personal branding, so breathwork comes under many names which can be confusing.  You might have heard of holotropic breathwork, rebirthing, pranayama and so on… It’s a lot to take in.  These labels and styles can be broken into two categories in order to understand them. 

Breathing Style 1:

Deep Slow Breathing for Calm & Restoration

The first style of breathwork is probably most familiar to you.  If you’ve ever taken a yoga or meditation class you’ll be familiar with the concept of focusing on and slowing down the breath for calm and relaxation.  If you’ve ever felt panicked or overwhelmed, you’ve undoubtedly been told to take deep breaths and calm down. It’s good advice. 

Slow deep breathing activates your parasympathetic nervous system that helps your body and mind to get back to a calm resting state (To help me remember, I like to think ‘para’ like parent that soothes the sympathetic nervous system). Your thoughts can mentally sooth your system but it is your breath that helps with the physical process of winding down from the stress response. 

It is powerful if we can remember to it at the right place and time.  However, it doesn’t help with the underlying causes of why you got anxious or panicked.  The root cause remains untouched and the trigger is still intact.  That’s where the other style of breathwork comes in. 

Styles you might have heard of:  Pranayama, Yogic Breathing, Box Breathing, Coherent Breathing, 4-7-8 Breathing, Alternative Nostril Breathing…

Breathing Style 2:  

Deep Rapid Breathing for Processing and Release

This style of power breathing is also deep which is important to note because you are not putting yourself into hyperventilation mode (that is deep shallow breathing and is pretty unhelpful always).  When we do the deep rapid style of breathing, it activates your sympathetic nervous system (the stress response) and the limbic system which stores all your memories and emotions.  When you do this in a safe and peaceful environment, you are ablet to identify, process and release old stuck trauma and emotions.  This is all non-verbal and self directed. 

The biology of this process is that when you breathe in this style you’re suspending airflow to the extremities and full attention goes to the mental and emotional bodies.  Your energy is being directed in a very powerful way and your subconscious manages that you’ll only process what you’re ready for that day.  Science hasn’t fully caught up to why this happens and why everyone’s experience can be so varied.  In this way, it can be a very spiritual experience.  You get what you’re supposed to get within each experience and the results are deep and long lasting. 

Styles you might have heard of: Holotropic Breathwork, Rebirthing, Transformational Breathwork, Circular Breathing, Conscious Connected Breathing, Quantum Breathing, Shamanic Breathing

What next for you?

I hope that this helps you to understand some of the terms and why it’s important to know what style you might to interested in doing and don’t get caught unexpectedly in the wrong class!  Here is what I recommend:

For practicing calm restorative breath at home and fixing wonky breathing patterns, I recommend the iBreathe app which is free or just $2 without advertisements.  It’s very simple and has the basics of what anyone needs to get started without overwhelm (google breathwork and 3 trillion hits will have you scratching your head for a good starting point).

If you’re interested in doing some deep emotional and energetic processing with a power breathing technique such as Conscious Connected Breathing, check that out here and if there are any upcoming group events here.