The question: What is breathwork and is it safe for beginners?
The short answer: Breathwork is the conscious, intentional use of your breathing pattern to influence how you feel physically, mentally and emotionally. James Stewart explains that it has been practiced for thousands of years, that different techniques deliver different outcomes, and that a safe, comfortable setting is part of getting the results you want.
What James explains
Breathwork can seem like it came from nowhere, but James says conscious breathing has been around about as long as people have. The Vedic traditions of India and the Taoist traditions of China used it in ceremonial and everyday practice. What has changed is the research: the last 15 to 20 years have brought far more study of the benefits of conscious breathing.
With that growth comes misinformation, and James clears up three myths. Breathwork is not a replacement for good medical care, though it can help and assist recovery. It does not detox your body; that is your kidneys' job, so stay hydrated. And no single technique does it all. Breathwork is like exercise: different techniques deliver different outcomes, depending on your goal and your physical capabilities.
Safety matters for two reasons. The first is your wellbeing. The second is that many breathwork goals, such as calm, better sleep and less stress, depend on the body feeling safe. When the body receives messages of safety, those outcomes are more likely to happen.
What to watch for
Active or superventilation breathwork can bring tingling in the hands and feet, light-headedness and unexpected emotions. James says some light-headedness or resistance is fine to stretch through. Stop if you feel pain, especially sharp pain, if you have uncontrolled or seizure-like movements, or if you black out or come close to it. Never do active breathwork while driving, operating machinery, or in or near water.
Key points
- Breathwork is the intentional use of your breath, practiced for thousands of years and now studied far more widely.
- It supports good healthcare rather than replacing it, it does not detox the body, and no one technique does everything.
- A quiet, comfortable, undistracted space helps send a safe message to your body, which supports calm and recovery.
Common questions
Does breathwork detox your body?
No. James calls this a myth: detoxing is the job of your kidneys. Staying hydrated helps your body detox the way it was designed to.
Is there one breathwork technique that does everything?
No. James finds this the most troubling myth. Like exercise, different techniques deliver different outcomes, so the right choice depends on whether you want better sleep, less stress or support around a workout or event.
Where should I practice breathwork?
Somewhere comfortable, quiet and free of distractions, whether that is a dedicated room at home, a space at work or outdoors in nature. James says comfort helps send a safe message to the body and makes the practice something you want to return to.
Is feeling light-headed during breathwork a problem?
Not on its own. James explains that some light-headedness or resistance is okay and can be stretched through. The red flags are pain, uncontrolled or seizure-like movements, and blacking out or nearly blacking out.
Research mentioned
Russo MA, Santarelli DM, O'Rourke D. The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human. Breathe, 2017;13(4):298-309. A review of how slow breathing (about 4 to 10 breaths per minute) affects the respiratory, cardiovascular and autonomic nervous systems in healthy people. https://doi.org/10.1183/20734735.009817
Fogarty MJ, Mantilla CB, Sieck GC. Breathing: Motor Control of Diaphragm Muscle. Physiology, 2018;33(2):113-126. A review of how the nervous system controls the diaphragm during breathing and more forceful actions. https://doi.org/10.1152/physiol.00002.2018
De Troyer A, Boriek AM. Mechanics of the Respiratory Muscles. Comprehensive Physiology, 2011;1(3):1273-1300. A review of how the respiratory muscles, led by the diaphragm, expand and contract the chest wall during breathing. https://doi.org/10.1002/cphy.c100009
Lundberg JO, Settergren G, Gelinder S, Lundberg JM, Alving K, Weitzberg E. Inhalation of nasally derived nitric oxide modulates pulmonary function in humans. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, 1996;158(4):343-347. Found that nitric oxide made in the nose travels to the lungs with nasal breathing and influences how the lungs work. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-201X.1996.557321000.x
Read the full transcript
Auto-generated from the video captions, so expect small errors.
So why is it all of a sudden that I'm hearing and seeing breath work seemingly everywhere? This exploding health and wellness modality. Where did it come from and why is it here? The answer is pretty simple actually. It's the research. There has been a whole lot more research in the last 15 to 20 years proving and extolling the benefits and and virtues of conscious breathing. The reality is conscious breathing and using breath work techniques have been around pretty much since man has been on the planet. If you look at the Vadic traditions from India and the Dow's traditions from China, they're well documented using them
in ceremonial practices and everyday practices for health, both the physical and non-physical physical parts of us, being able to change our state. Breath work practices have been involved in cultural and and ceremonial practices for thousands of years. So breath work has been around for a long long time and I believe it's here to stay as more and more study tends to suggest that being and using breath work each and every day helps us in untold amount of ways and along with this explosive nature right of this breath work that seemingly has come from nowhere comes a lot of confusion and misinformation and I think it's
important that maybe we look to clear up a couple of the myths probably the most most common myth that I want to make sure we get straight is that is that breath work is a replacement for good healthcare. It's just simply not true. Breath work will help and assist in curing and aiding in recovery and curing you from from some of these ailments that can afflict you. But it is absolutely no replacement for good functional medical care. Probably the second myth that that I hear a lot is that is that breath work will detox your body. Right? Simply untrue. That's the job of your kidneys.
So stay hydrated and help your kidneys out, right? So that you can detox the way your body was intended to. Third myth that is I would say the most troubling for me is that story you're told that there is one breath work that is going to do it all for you. One technique is the only technique that you need to do. And anyone who's selling you that is is really not telling you the whole truth. Breath works like exercise. depending on the outcome you want and the physi physiological capabilities that you have. Different breath work techniques deliver different outcomes. So that's why it's so important
to have a foundational understanding not only of what breath work is but your body and understanding what outcome it is you're looking for. Are you looking to improve your sleep? Are you looking to just simply reduce stress? Do you want to use it before, after an event, after you've worked out to optimize whatever process you're doing? There's a breath work technique that can definitely help you. It's absolutely necessary to have a conversation about safety when thinking about a breath work practice or a breath work session. And quite frankly, I don't think it's talked about often enough. Why is it important? Well, two things. It's your
safety. And secondly, when we think about the outcomes that we're looking for a lot of the time in a breath work practice, it's to downregulate our autonomic nervous system to become calm, improve sleep, relax the effects of stress in our body. So if our body receives messages that make it feel safe, those things are more likely to happen. So when thinking about a breath work practice, think about what sort of breath work you're doing. Super vventilated type breath work or active breath work can have some sensations that maybe you've not felt before. Often it brings about tingling in the extremities. It can bring lightadedness, maybe
dizziness, possibly even blackout, which is the highest or the the most the cause of most breath work incidents or accidents. Another effect of superventilation is that it is activating to our central nervous system. It upregulates our emotions and can often lead to some emotions that we were not planning on having. So sometimes you can have an emotional event that you were not expecting. It's important simply to be aware that these things can happen. Where should I do my breath work? Now if you're doing super ventilation or active breath work, certainly don't do it while driving, operating machinery or in or by water. You can have
some outcomes that really are not so safe. So, how do I set myself up for success when I'm thinking about safety and breath work? You want to do it in a place that's comfortable? It's really all about comfort when we're thinking about sending that safe message to the body. So, it's a finding a space where you will not be distracted, that's quiet and to your own. And that way, your breath work practice will not only be beneficial, you'll also find it's something that you want to come back to again and again. So whether it's a dedicated space in a house, in a room, at work,
or it's out in nature, simply understand your surroundings, understand the state you're in when you begin, and set yourself up for the most success by considering those safety aspects. It's important to understand the difference between, let's say, discomfort or some resistance that you may feel to doing a breath work or some breath work sessions and what are red flags that I should absolutely stop when doing a breath work practice. Sometimes that lightadedness or that that resistance to doing breath work is okay. It's a feeling of I can stretch through that a little bit. Absolute red flags are pain. Pain in any sort of order. You
shouldn't feel pain. So stop anytime you you feel sharp pain especially. The other thing that's important when you when you start having uncontrolled movements, seizure- like movements, you want to stop your breath work practice. And the third one is as I talked about that blackout effect. So if your dizziness turns to blackout or near blackout, you want to stop your breath work practice and that way you can set yourself up to have a safe, comfortable and and and what I would call a profitable breath work session. You want great ROI on your time, right? So set yourself up for success by taking into consideration those
safety factors. So I think we're ready. We've talked about what breath work is, where it came from. We talked about some safety aspects. We've got up close and personal with your breathing physiology. So now I think we're ready to put it in practice. So in our next time together, we're going to actually do our first breath work session together. So I'm looking forward to that. If you haven't liked and subscribed, please do so. It not only helps me, but it may help someone else who's looking to start a breath work practice. Look forward to seeing you and practicing with you in our next session.