The benefits of Breathwork are impossible to fully describe, as a myriad of factors converge to foster profound healing and transformation. While the enchanting magic remains inexplicable in its entirety, I will outline below some of the principal observed effects and primary benefits of Breathwork (aka circular breathing).
Brainwave Benefits of Breathwork
One of the key factors contributing to the transformative power of Breathwork lies in its capacity to orchestrate a shift in brainwaves, traversing the realms from beta to alpha, theta, and gamma. Beta brainwaves, which are predominant in our waking lives, are linked to analytical thinking, goal-oriented pursuits, anxiety, and stress. In contrast, alpha brainwaves accompany a relaxed, meditative state, fostering positive thinking, accelerated learning, and a sense of comfort and pleasure. Theta waves are associated with deep meditation, profound sleep, hypnotic states, and creativity, and profound intuitive insights and ‘ah-hah’ moments are often unveiled while in a theta state. Theta brainwave also allow us access to the subconscious mind.
Gamma brain waves, the highest frequency waves, facilitate interconnection among different brain parts, allowing quiet and rapid information exchange. Gamma brainwaves are associated with universal love, compassion, and peak experiences, and they enable deep trauma release, instantaneous healing, and a heightened state of awareness, as demonstrated by studies on Buddhist monks (who maintain elevated gamma oscillations even outside of meditation).
As an interesting aside, recent neuroscientific revelations introduce the concept of brain-to-brain synchrony and have proven that brainwaves can be contagious. This could explain in-part why group Breathworks can create a deeper experience for some people than individual sessions –because if one person goes deep into theta or gamma, it can help other breathers reach those brainwave states as well.
Energetic and Emotional Benefits of Breathwork
Our breath stands as the primary source of moment-to-moment energy intake, and the practice of Breathwork serves as a vital fuel for our body’s inherent healing mechanisms. Engaging in Breathwork facilitates the release of stagnant energy, thereby elevating our energy bodies to a higher vibration. The slightly accelerated, continuous breathing inherent in this practice alters the body’s chemistry, enabling the activation and release of blocked energy associated with suppressed traumatic memories lingering in the subconscious. Furthermore, Breathwork allows us to embrace and fully experience our feelings and emotions, shedding emotional baggage over time and aiding in the restoration of our wholeness as we mend lost and fragmented parts of ourselves.
Psycho-Spiritual Benefits of Breathwork
The profound psycho-spiritual and consciousness-altering effects of Breathwork cannot be fully explained within the confines of language. Nevertheless, Breathwork facilitates the transcendence of the ego, aligning the subconscious, conscious, and the highest realms of the superconscious. This alignment contributes to the profound healing and spiritual awakening often experienced by participants.
Subconscious Reprogramming Breathwork Benefits
Breathwork provides a pathway to access and reprogram the subconscious mind, a pivotal aspect given that the subconscious governs a majority of our thoughts, beliefs, decisions, and behaviors. In the realm of lasting change, the subconscious takes the lead. Insights, perspectives, resolutions, or messages obtained during Breathwork seamlessly integrate with the subconscious, and this is a big reason why breathwork can produce such swift and profound healing and transformations.
Access to the subconscious mind is a big reason why Breathwork if often more beneficial than talk therapy. While talk therapy cultivates awareness, it predominantly engages the conscious mind, which constitutes only about 5% of overall brain power. Recognizing, for example, one’s lovability or the resolution of a traumatic event on a conscious level may not yield lasting shifts until these truths are embraced by the more influential subconscious mind. The breathwork state allows us to not only access our subconscious mind but also reprogram it, thereby allowing for deep and lasting change.
Physical and Biochemical Breathwork Benefits
In a Breathwork session, the circular breathing leads to an increase in blood pH levels, inducing a shift towards a more alkaline state, accompanied by a reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. This alteration in the oxygen-to-CO2 ratio, a relatively obscure yet pivotal factor, exerts a profound influence on various crucial physiological functions. Notably, it plays a crucial role in modulating the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), thereby affecting Heart Rate Variability (HRV), stress hormone concentrations, and muscle tension levels.
It’s worth highlighting that the change in CO2 levels during Breathwork may give rise to symptoms akin to hyperventilation, such as lightheadedness, rapid heartbeat, numbness, tingling, and spasms in the extremities, commonly referred to as tetany (manifesting as a claw-like shape of the hands). However, a fundamental distinction exists between hyperventilation and the respiratory dynamics of Breathwork. In Breathwork, the deliberate adoption of deep, connected abdominal breathing ensures that the nervous system remains disengaged from the anxiety-inducing fight-or-flight response associated with hyperventilation.
Moreover, Breathwork boasts detoxifying effects. The rhythmic expansion and contraction of the diaphragm during breathwork enhances blood circulation and the expulsion of toxins. Deep breathing also prompts the release of endorphins, the body’s natural mood enhancers and pain alleviators, contributing to an overall sense of well-being.
Vagus Nerve & Anti-Anxiety Benefits of Breathwork
Breathwork initiates the activation of the nervous system, particularly stimulating the vagus nerve – a crucial conduit facilitating vital communication between the brain, body, and organs. Regular Breathwork sessions contribute to the strengthening of the vagus nerve, offering significant benefits such as stress, anxiety, and depression reduction, while potentially bolstering immune, brain, and gut function!
Concluding Thoughts
The breath meets you at your current state and guides you to where you need to be, serving as an unwavering ally on your path of healing and personal growth. If you would like to experience the innumerable positive benefits of breathwork or continue your journey with the breath then I invite you to join me for an online, or in-person Breathwork in Sayulita, Mexico, Whitby, Ontario, Austin, Texas. You can reach out to book a Unity Breathwork session here.
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References:
[1] https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982217304116
[2] https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2020/1/niaa010/5856030
[3] https://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/features/my-brain-made-me-do-it-who-decidesn
[4] https://webhome.auburn.edu/~mitrege/ENGL2210/USNWR-mind.html#:~:text
[5] http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17432979.2011.574505