Learn, Share, Grow - What is Breathwork?

June 21, 2021

Below is a lesson from Parsley Health on the benefits of breath work, as well as our key learnings.

The Blue Courage team is dedicated to continual learning and growth.  We have adopted a concept from Simon Sinek’s Start With Why team called “Learn, Share, Grow”.  We are constantly finding great articles, videos, and readings that have so much learning.  As we learn new and great things, this new knowledge should be shared for everyone to then grow from.

What Is Breathwork and Does It Work?

By: ZANDRA PALMA, MD, Doctor

Controlled breathing has been shown to reduce stress, increase alertness and boost your immune system.

While various breathing practice have been around for centuries, science is just beginning to provide evidence that the benefits of this ancient practice are real. Studies have found that breathing practices can help reduce symptoms associated with anxiety, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and attention deficit disorder.

Here’s the scoop on breathwork and what the science has to say about this up-and-coming wellness practice.

Different types of breathwork.

There are many types of breathwork practices, some ranging from fairly basic and easy to do at home, to others requiring a practitioner to teach you the practice. Some breathwork practices are rooted in yogic traditions such as Pranayama or the breath and movement sequences of Kundalini yoga. Other breathwork practices are entirely secular and were developed to help people heal their minds or bodies or even to withstand extreme physical conditions.

Continue Reading Here.

Key Learnings:

• Breathwork involves manipulating your breathing rate to change how you’re feeling.
• There are many health benefits of breathwork.
• Top Benefits: 
  1. Alkalizes your blood PH. – Helps to eliminate more CO2 with every exhale in turn getting rid of more acid in the blood.
  2. Increases muscle tone. -
  3. Has an anti-inflammatory effect. – Ephedrine is released during hyperventilation. An epinephrine surge causes the innate immune system to increase its anti-inflammatory activity. 
  4. Elevates your mood. - Increased blood pH decreases oxygen delivery to tissues. The effect is probably responsible for the feelings of wellbeing that breathwork practitioners experience. Reduces stress!
• Breathwork is generally safe, well-tolerated, enjoyable, and definitely worth a try for most people. It might be particularly good for people with an autoimmune disease as there’s evidence that it can change the inflammatory response from our innate immune system.