And breathe... Techniques to help bring peace and calm through conscious breathing

From breathwork apps, to popular retreats and seminars - mastering conscious deep breathing is our latest obsession

Breath of life: lots of benefits to learning breathwork techniques

Breathwork is nothing new. Mindfulness (pratyhara) and focused breathing (pranayama) have been with us since the first yogic texts were written in the 5th and 6th centuries BC. It's just that we seem to have forgotten how to do it — we tend to unconsciously shallow breathe our 23,000 daily breaths, using only about a third or less of our lung capacity. Yet conscious deep breathing can impact positively on insomnia, stress, anxiety, depression, concentration, relaxation, and immunity.

It can even work on asthma, which affects 18% of us, and is usually treated with steroids. A 2018 study reported in The Lancet showed how breathing exercises improved asthma patients’ quality of life to the same degree as increased medication. University of Georgia research from 2019 links self-regulation of breathing with the improved treatment of insomnia.