Health and fitness is a concern for many people and especially those looking to lead a healthy and fulfilling business and personal lives.

Health is looked at from different perspectives such as physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health. Meditation and mindfulness have grown in popularity in recent years due to their usefulness in improving various aspects of human health.

We have seen numerous practitioner centres being established to offer lessons and guidance on how people can use meditation exercises to improve their well-being.

A search on Amazon Books will highlight the publishing industry niche that has grown up around meditation and mindfulness which is an indication of the important role that they hold in the health and fitness spectrum in today's society.

However, there’s a new kid on the block!

Breathwork has been gaining popularity as a means through which individuals can improve their well-being. Could it replace meditation and mindfulness?

Breathwork is a collective term used to describe a variety of contemporary wellness practices. These practices aim to influence the mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional wellness of an individual through the conscious control of breathing.

Several forms of Breathwork therapy currently exist. The main objective of any Breathwork therapists work to improve the well-being of an individual through an improvement of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual state of the individual by practice of various therapeutic Breathwork techniques.

It is believed that these techniques can be used to minimize anxiety, relieve chronic pain, deal with anger issues, overcome depression, cure trauma and post-traumatic stress, and solve the negative emotional impacts of physical illness.

Types of Breathwork

Re-birthing Breathwork:

This Breathwork technique is also referred to as conscious energy breathing. It is considered as a means through which individuals can release traumatic memories that have been suppressed since childhood. Participants are usually asked to lie down on their backs, relax, and engage in normal breathing. Through deep relaxation, pent-up energy and subconscious issues are released.

Holotropic Breathwork:

The primary goal of this exercise is to achieve the wholeness of body, mind, and spirit. It is often conducted in groups with participants lying down and engaging in breathing exercises. The session ends with participants sharing and discussing the issues that they have discovered about themselves.

Clarity Breathwork:

Deals with any issue that hinders the healthy and free flow of breath and energy. It is founded on the belief that many people do not breathe properly or to their maximum capacity. It, therefore, aims to enable people to breathe properly and achieve mental clarity.

Where Breathwork differs

While Breathwork and mediation aim to achieve similar results, they are different practices. In meditation, a person focuses his or her mind on a specific thought, object, or an activity such as breathing to achieve emotional calm or mental clarity.

Just like Breathwork, it can also be used to reduce anxiety, stress, pain, and depression.

Mindfulness, on the other hand, is the psychological process of focusing on the present. It can be achieved through meditation and Breathwork.

All of these practices differ individually but are complementary in various ways. The increasing popularity of Breathwork as a self-help practice is, however, due to the ability to apply the practice in both meditation and mindfulness. 

If in doubt, consult your doctor.

Mayfair, we care.