Breathwork is a transformative practice that can significantly enhance our overall well-being, as explored in this episode.
Klaudia shares her personal journey and key learnings from committing to daily breathwork exercises over the past few days. She emphasizes that breathwork is a keystone habit, positively influencing various aspects of life and increasing awareness of one's breathing patterns. The episode also highlights practical strategies for integrating breathwork into daily routines, such as pairing exercises with everyday activities and using reminders to maintain consistency.
Klaudia encourages listeners to make breathwork enjoyable by mixing up techniques and utilizing resources like breath cards and meditation apps, ultimately inviting everyone to embrace the power of their breath for a happier life.
Hello, happiness seekers. My name is Klaudia and welcome to part three, exploring the concept of breathwork.
This month as part of the Happiness Challenge podcast where I test drive the best happiness hacks that science has on offer. In part one, episode 124, we heard from an author, coach and breathwork teacher, Isabel Chu, who introduced us to the concept of breathwork.
In part two, episode 125, I summarize the key scientific findings about breathwork and introduce you to three practical methods of using breathwork to try this month. And in this short episode, I share my learnings and personal guide to breathwork. Because guess what?
I did it for last few days, I did stuck to my three reminders to practice 15 minutes of breath work a day. So here are my top learnings. So number one in terms of my learning is that breath work is definitely a keystone habit.
That is, it very quickly benefited and showed up in other areas of my life. So, for example, by using those three different breathing exercises, I have started to pay attention how I breathe throughout the day.
And it actually encouraged me to play with my breath a little bit more. So, for example, I would be in the meeting at work and suddenly I would realize that my breath is getting shallower.
So I would deepen it, or I would take a really deep breath before making a very important point during a presentation. So generally notice that by having those three reminders throughout the day, I started to pay attention. How I breathe and where is my breath?
My nose, my lungs, my belly? Where do I feel it, how do I feel it? And whether I can use a controlled breath work to help me to feel better.
My second learning is connected to the fact that because of the increased awareness of how I was breathing, I have improved my breathing by inhaling only through a nose. So this is very important, actually, and I haven't realized how much.
Actually, I would skip it at times, is that research shows that improper briefing can lead to weakened immune system.
So shallow briefing can result in the presence of stress, which triggers our body to increase production of stress hormone and therefore increases the level of inflammation.
But we also know that the poor breathing, especially inhaling through our mouth, means that we are sending unfiltered air directly to our throat and lungs. And this means that we are allowing dust, bacteria and any other foreign substances to enter our body and make us sick.
So it's really interesting to watch how do you breathe? And definitely only inhale through nose. It's very fascinating to watch for that.
And definitely through paying more attention, I started breathing through nose and really stopped breathing through mouth, which is really exciting. The third learning for me personally was that overall, three sessions of five minutes each were quite achievable.
I struggle with anything longer, especially on quite hectic days. But frankly, it was more about remembering to engage in a breath work.
So that's why the reminders on the phone, which were very much clearly labored of what breath work exercise I'm doing, were very much useful and prompted me to engage in breath work.
My fourth learning was that on the days when I simply couldn't do the breathing exercises because there was something else happening, then I simply added the breath work exercises on top of the activity I was doing anyway. So having a shower, commuting on the London Underground, making cup of tea, walking to the shop.
Because actually, breath work isn't about perfection, it's about presence. And actually every breath is a chance to come back to ourself, feel grounded in the present moment, and to take control of how we feel.
So even if I couldn't do something that was more official, well, just simple, paying attention to the breath when just doing day to day activities. And the final learning for me was making it fun, was important to me.
So actually, after a few days of getting a little bit into routine, yes, I skipped a couple of times, but generally like getting into this routine of breath work, I really wanted to like spicy things up. I think it's because I naturally crave for change and variety. So I have used two tools to help me to get things mixed up. First of all, breath cards.
I think they are very much excellent because on each card you have different breath work methods and practices so you can try something else. So I was pulling up something else and destroying it. And there is lots of great apps nowadays out there that can provide does with quick exercises.
I personally love headspace up because I was able to search pre recorded breathwork practices and meditations on different topics like gratitude to motivations, and I would just give it a go. So here we are.
My ultimate guide to breath work is number one, give yourself a moment of self care and simply check how you breathe throughout the day. Number two, choose consciously to breathe via nose, especially when it comes to inhale to protect your immune system.
Number three, make the length of breathing exercises achievable for you. But whatever you decide, 1 minute, three minutes, five minutes, 20 minutes, have reminders on your phone to prompt you to build that habit.
Number four, try to parrot up breath work with daily activities that you do anyway, especially on the days when maybe you cannot skip to some of the breath work practices.
And number five keep it fun and mix it up with any other available tools and resources, such as breath cards, team meditations, exercises, because that's what would make it interesting and it's more likely that you're going to stick to that. So thank you so much for listening.
For a summary of this month's challenge, visit my website, thehappinesschallenge dot co dot UK, where you can subscribe to my LinkedIn newsletter and receive a nice summary with all the top tips. Links to all of the resources that has been mentioned this month when it comes to breath work.
As always, I dare you to be happy and I see you next month. Bye.
