It may seem trivial or mundane, but there is a lot we can learn about ourselves through our breathing.
Ancient cultures around the world have known about the innate power of breath for a long time, particularly in India and China where the Sanskrit word for breath, Prana, or the Chinese word, Qi, roughly translate to ‘vital force’ or ‘that which animates life’.
These notions play a fundamental role in their traditional healing systems and teach those of us in the west that there is more to breathing than just something we do to survive.
Someone who knows this better than most is Danielle Smith from Glow For Life.
Dani is a certified Wim Hof Method instructor, performance breath coach, personal trainer, remedial massage therapist and author. Having worked with professional sports teams, leading health retreats and corporate companies with the purpose of helping others achieve health in mind, body and soul.
We sat down with Dani to learn more on this fascinating topic and how we can utilise breath work as a tool for healing and optimising our health.
How did you first come to be involved in breath work?
I was working a very stressful job, feeling super burnt out and fatigued all the time to the point where I couldn’t do my job anymore. Eventually I resigned and began this big healing journey. I realised I had never been taught to manage stress before, particularly in the fast paced, corporate environment I'd worked in for years. I became really interested in this and studied a variety of meditation and breathing techniques, where I learnt that the breathe has such a key influence on our nervous system and overall health.
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One day a client was telling me about this cold water challenge he was doing, started by a guy named Wim Hof - that night I watched a documentary on him and was fascinated. It just so happened that Wim Hof was doing a workshop on the Gold Coast a few weeks from then (hello synchronicity) which I immediately signed up for. During this workshop I felt like I had arrived home in my body for the first time, it was that powerful for me. From there I began my Wim Hof Method training in the Netherlands with the man himself, finishing in Poland with his main instructor.
Can you describe how our breathing is connected to our overall health?
The way that we breathe directly influences our nervous system, like if we’re over-breathing or breathing through our mouth rather than our nose, this triggers a stress response in the body and can keep us in a state of fight or flight.
Many people believe that taking deep breaths is best because we’re inhaling more oxygen, this is actually incorrect. When we take deep breaths (over breathing) or breath through our mouth, our body dumps too much carbon dioxide. When our carbon dioxide/oxygen levels become unbalanced, oxygen is not released into our red blood cells and transported around the body as efficiently, which in turn has a massive impact on our energy levels, mental clarity and physical recovery.
Our nose is also an inbuilt filtering system, so it filters out all the pollution and debris in the air.. When we’re breathing through our mouth everything in the atmosphere is going straight into our respiratory system, this can be linked to many common health issues like asthma, gum disease and cavities, inflammation and high acidity within the body.
When we begin practicing breath awareness and breathing correctly into our diaphragm, this stimulates the diaphragm in carrying out its other main functions, like massaging the stomach to aid digestion and draining the lymphatic system to detoxify the body.
Where should people start if they are wanting to integrate a breathe-work practice?
I recommend taking the time to sit down and observe your breathe, notice where it is taking place - are you breathing into your chest or your diaphragm? Is your breathing short and sharp, deep and drawn out? Become aware of where you are at now. An optimal breathe results in a 360° expansion through the ribcage. Naturally it should feel very light yet deep and result in minimal movement of the chest.
A good way of practising correct breathing is to stand in the mirror with your hands around your ribcage adding a slight amount of pressure, now practice breathing into your hands. To do this, fully relax your stomach muscles and observe if your shoulders are moving when you breathe - if your ribcage is expanding and your shoulders and chest are still, congratulations you are breathing into your diaphragm! You can then practise incorporating this breathing into your daily life.
If you breathe through your mouth I highly recommend sleeping with tape over your mouth and practicing breathing through your nose when you are awake - this will help to retrain your respiratory muscles and will result in the best night's sleep you’ve ever had, along with the many other health benefits of correct breathing.
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