Breathing is often an automatic behaviour which many of us are unaware of. Despite this, many studies have indicated that our rate of breathing is an extremely important component impacting the way we feel. By altering our breathing patterns we are able to increase our cardiovascular fitness, lower our anxiety, and improve our sleep. 

Conscious breathing techniques have been used cross culturally for as long as history has been recorded. Some of the most ancient civilizations used breathwork to heal both body and mind and now in modern times breathwork is being utilised to lower anxiety and release trauma. This is as it is well established that depending on our emotional state our breathing can change. Typically becoming faster, more irregular and more shallow when we are stressed and slower, more regular and deeper when we are resting. Due to the intrinsic connection between body and mind this means that breath work can change both our physiological and psychological state.

Caldwell et al (2011) explained that individuals can often miss the signals that their breathing patterns are sending to their brain and that they could be creating a physiological state in their body that puts them on high alert and reinforces their perception that the world is an unsafe place. They therefore recommended that practitioners help clients to decrease these signals by utilising breath work and thereby decreasing distress signals that breathing may send to emotional and cognitive processing centres in the brain.  This theory is supported by Malviya et al’s (2022) review of the literature that found breathwork alleviated anxiety, depression, stress and symptoms of PTSD. 

At RESET our staff are trained Oxygen Advantage (McKeown, 2015) instructors. This breathing technique highlights that many of us use dysfunctional breathing which doesn’t allow us to thrive physically or psychologically. Our staff are able to utilise this theory to teach individuals how to breathe functionally: through the nose, lightly, slowly and deeply using diaphragmatic breathing. This type of breathing stimulates the Vagus Nerve and activates the parasympathetic branch- meaning that we are calmer (Russo et al, 2017).  

Despite the significant reported benefits of this treatment, breathwork continues to be an underappreciated approach to improving client health. The approach used within the RESET framework includes somatic interventions such as breathwork, providing a comprehensive and research based alternative to traditional psychological therapies.