The healing powers of the breath

Article written by Mai Copsøe
Lifestyle mentor, embodiment guide, breathing facilitator, women's mentor.

It may seem futile to write about the importance of our breath. Everyone knows breathing is the key to being alive - without it, we would die within minutes. But the fact is that the breath is far more powerful than most of us realize, if only we use it with awareness. Our breathing is extraordinary, but it is also banal, because although our breath is life-giving on all levels, we breathe all the time without thinking about it. We have never lived a day without our breathing, the air is just there - completely free - so we rarely think about it. And many of us don't actually know what we are capable of doing with the breath when we use it consciously. Therefore, it can be difficult not to take it for granted or make full use of it. Therefore, read along here and be reminded or inspired to explore the power of your breath.

The breath affects the physical, emotional and mental body

Our breathing is the bridge between the head and the body, between the external outside us and the internal inside us, and also between the spiritual and the human. Although most of us have learned mostly about the lungs and the vital aspect of breathing, the breath has a much wider effect. The respiratory system affects both our muscles, organs, blood, tissues, digestion, nervous system, cognitive function and much more. Therefore, the breath affects and is affected both by our mental and emotional state as well as our physical state.

For a normal adult at rest, we breathe between 12 and 20 times in a minute. The muscles we touch with our breath are activated, while those we don't touch can become inactive and atrophy. Therefore, our habitual breathing affects our muscle activation and posture. In general, we are powered by oxygen, in the same way that our phones are powered by electricity. But of course we are a little more magical than telephones, because through the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide with the plant world, we are part of the larger cycle of life. If we allow ourselves to focus on this larger aspect as we breathe, we can experience becoming fully connected with life itself, with nature and everything around us. In this way, we can go from being in our own little cheese bell, to actually being connected to all living things. If we surrender to this experience, it is absolutely extraordinary and can change our perspective completely. It helps us to see things in a clearer light, where small trifles become unimportant. But it requires us to tune in to our breathing and let our everyday life and daily worries slip away for a while.

You can shape your health and your reality through your breath

Breathing is very special in the sense that it is the only autonomous system in the body that we have direct control over. So, breathing is the only function in the body that happens completely automatically, but which we can also control with our consciousness if we want to. A nice way to think about it is that through breathing, you talk to your body on a cellular level. Depending on how much air we can let into our system and how much life we can give to our cells, we can go from surviving / existing to feeling full of life.

When we breathe consciously, we can help the body to take in more air and relax. In fact, deep breathing or focusing on the breath can help us calm the nervous system by activating our parasympathetic nervous system. This means that functions such as digestion and sleep are prioritized, while in a state of stress in the body they are de-prioritized in favor of mobilizing energy for arms and legs or brainstorming. When we are calm and in a state of security in the body, we also have access to parts of our brain where we can reflect and be creative. Through breathing we can therefore actively help ourselves to change or shift our thoughts, feelings and even our consciousness. And the good thing about your breathing is that it is with you always. Regardless of the situation you find yourself in, you therefore always have the opportunity to calm your whole body and soul.

To calm the nervous system, you can try to keep your focus on your breathing and the physical sensations you experience in your body. When we breathe unconsciously, it is often the case that the air does not reach all the way down into the stomach, and the breath becomes shallow. But by simply placing a hand on your stomach and feeling how you can let the air expand and contract your stomach for 5 minutes, you help your body to feel calm and safe.

The medicine of the air element brings transformation and energy

Air is a catalyst for change and transformation. Without air there is no fire, water or earth. Air simply affects all other elements and determines how they develop. It's the same with people. The lack of air will kill us faster than the absence of any other element. Psychologically, our thoughts and feelings, like air, are mutable aspects of our mind that reflect our ability to move with the ups and downs of life. At the same time, air is essential for us to develop and move - and to activate one's breath is to activate one's life force. In fact, it is said that 80 percent of our metabolic energy comes from breathing, while only 20 percent comes from food. Our breath is therefore a huge source of energy.

Air is the element associated with movement. Specifically, it manifests itself in the movement of our muscles, the pulsation of the heart, the expansion and contraction of the lungs as well as the movements of the stomach wall and intestines. In fact, the amount of oxygen we are able to absorb is crucial to our physical ability, but also our mortality rate and quality of life as we age. A higher lung capacity means that through each inhalation we bring more oxygen to the cells, and therefore have to use less energy to perform physical work. With a better lung capacity, for example, we become less exhausted from climbing stairs or carrying our groceries in everyday life, because we have more energy to give off. Our lung capacity is therefore crucial for us to be independent for longer into old age. Fortunately, this is again something we can influence ourselves. The way to expanded lung capacity is not just through deep breathing, but specifically through training it over time. This is done, for example, through interval training on a rowing machine, bicycle or running. Lung capacity affects us throughout our lives, the younger we are when we start to strengthen it, the better. But it naturally requires continuous practice.

4 breathing techniques you can explore for better health and more quality of life

Pranayama

Pranayama is an ancient, sloping breathing technique that originates from the yoga practice of India. Prana means breath or life force, while yama means control. There are many expressions of pranayama. Some work rhythmically with the breath and increase the energy in the body, while others work more sensually. Some methods focus on the head to create more mental clarity and others are directly oriented towards calming the nervous system. Although there is great diversity in expression, all pranayama methods aim to produce a meditative state, reduce stress, increase lung capacity and produce clarity in body, soul and head.

If you are looking for more energy in the body, you can explore the technique, Agni Prana (fire breathing from kundalini yoga), if you are looking for mental clarity, you can try Anuloma Viloma (alternating nostril breathing). To bring inner physical warmth and calm your nervous system, explore Ujjayi pranayama (ocean breath). There are many many more techniques, these are just some of them, so go explore.

Breathwork

In recent years, breathwork has become popular. Both in training studios, as online classes or 1-1 teaching, this form of breathing training has gained traction. As with pranayama, there are many different forms of breathwork, but what they have in common is that they consciously change our breathing pattern in a way that affects the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO2) in our system.

Most often, it works in such a way that, through a special rhythm, we take in more oxygen and build up more CO2 in the body.
In this way, we can temporarily hold our breath for a longer period of time while our heartbeat decreases.
Physiologically, the benefits of this can be improved endurance and recovery in connection with exercise.
Emotionally and psychologically, many find it lowers their levels of anxiety and depression while increasing energy levels.
Breathwork also has the power to give us magical, transcendent experiences. This is always an enormously meaningful experience, the effect of which often makes a difference to how we experience ourselves, situations or the world - in a positive way.
Furthermore, breathwork is also a way in which we can release accumulated waste products and even emotional trauma from the body. Because our breathing both affects the nervous system and touches the body internally, it can have healing effects in the body that we cannot treat purely cognitively.
However, it is important to work with a professional here - regardless of the type of breathwork or goals you have with it.

The perfect breath

The perfect breath is actually also a part of pranayama. The benefits of this type of breathing are that it calms the head, calms the nervous system and increases our lung capacity. Because it is such a sensual experience, it can really help us down in the body, and many times it creates an increased body awareness and presence with ourselves. That is why I choose to describe it by itself.

The perfect breath is most easily performed when we are lying on a mat.
The legs can either be straight, or you can have your feet on the ground with your knees bent. It is also a good idea to put one hand on the chest and the other on the stomach.
From here, we first fill up with air in the lungs and chest, before we then fill up with air in the stomach. When we have filled both lungs and stomach, we hold our breath briefly while we feel how it almost tingles from the inside because we are so full of air.
Next, we let go of the air, in the same way we filled it up: first we let the lungs empty, then we let the stomach lower by continuing to exhale.
We can continue like this for about 3-10 minutes depending on how much you need to feel and calm down.

Be aware, it can be difficult to perform this exercise if you are not used to breathing down into your stomach. However, this is a great exercise to activate your breathing and with practice, it will probably come, because you are designed to breathe this way.

Box breathing

Box breathing means we breathe like a box.

In a lying position, we first inhale while counting slowly internally:
1-2-3-4, after which we hold our breath, the same space time by again internally counting 1-2-3-4.
When we exhale, we empty the lungs again on 1-2-3-4, and with the lungs empty, we hold our breath again, counting internally 1-2-3-4.
The reason this breathing is so good is that it is so simple.
It is therefore a quick way to get the nervous system under control.
Our deep calm breathing has a calming effect, while counting gives us a point of focus.
Especially if we feel anxious or have a panic attack, this technique can be fantastic, to help us back to safety and down into the body.
At the same time, it will be able to help us to have more mental clarity at any time, as through our counting focus we give our brain a little break from thinking. You can do this exercise for 5 minutes or up to 15 minutes, but listen to your body and notice what you need.
It is also always a good idea to set a timer. Then it is easier to devote yourself to the exercise, without wondering how much time you spend.

" My mission is to support individuals and groups on their journey towards optimal health, well-being and inner balance through holistic tools and guidance.

I have learned that when people begin to focus on their own health and well-being, they are more likely to lead their lives with greater awareness. This often leads to increased impact at work and more ease in their lives in general – even in very stressful environments with high performance pressure and many areas of responsibility. " - Mai Copsøe