Our breath sustains our experience of life. However, we don’t often pay attention to this unconscious function until we find it difficult to access. How we breathe is how we live, and therefore when we become aware of our breath, we deepen our awareness of ourselves.
What is breathwork?
Our breath is the only function in the body that is both automatic and under our control and therefore although we breathe unconsciously, the way we breathe can be consciously adjusted, making it a unique and powerful mechanism for improving our overall wellbeing and enhancing our quality of life.
When we bring our ‘attention to our breath and shift it with intention’, we access a simple yet profound tool that can change and significantly impact our lives by transforming our mental, emotional and physical state.
What are the benefits of breathwork?
Working consciously with our breath is a form of art, and as we deepen our relationship with it we access our most ancient entry point into our mindbody system. With a few simple adjustments we hold the power to change our biology through our breath whether that be
- managing stress
- enhancing focus and cognitive function
- shifting our experience of anxiety
- increasing oxygenation to our cells
- boosting physical performance
- reducing inflammation in the body
- managing the crippling effects of chronic pian
- deepening our self-awareness
- regulating our emotions
- improving our mood
- building a flexible and resilient nervous system to manage the demand of our daily experience.
We gain a multitude of benefits from learning to breathe optimally. To take something that we are already doing all day and slightly tweak it so that we can feel differently, more alive and often a lot healthier, is the invitation of conscious breathing.
When we become aware and attentive to our breath, we become attentive to ourselves, others and the natural world. We come alive to our lived experience and become an active conscious participant in its creation.
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.
Lost by David Wagoner