'Befriend your breath': What is breathwork and how can it transform your life?

Breath-work practitioner and author Michael Wood says that we should all inhale and exhale consciously, ‘like dolphins’, writes Rita de Brún

Michael Wood says that breathing is the portal to greater awareness.

Breathwork — that venerable, ancient art, once chiefly linked with mystical philosophies and birthing women — is deep in the zeitgeist and in the daily practices of legions of celebrities.

Among them are songsters: Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Justin Bieber. Actors: Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson and Orlando Bloom. Broadcaster Oprah Winfrey, too. Even the England national football team: Last year, after a Euros win against Slovakia, the players were put through their paces by the breathing specialist Stuart Sandeman.