Fundamentals of Breath

“No matter what we eat, how much we exercise, how resilient our genes, how skinny or young or wise we are—none of it will matter unless we're breathing correctly. That's what these researchers discovered. The missing pillar in health is breath. It all starts there.” - Breath by James Nestor

There are 4 categories of breathwork

4 different paths that all lead to the same place. Explore them all and do what feels right to you.

The number 4 is sacred to the Zia, there are 4 sets of 4 lines in the Zia Sun leading to and from the center, which represents life. There are 4 different functions in breathwork and they all lead to increasing understanding of self, your existance, your life. As all things you find the growth in areas of discomfort, and in breath that is in the extremes: progressively slower breathing, progressively faster breathing or hyperventilation, breath holding during different phases of the breath cycle, and different combinations of progressively slower breathing, hyperventilation and breath holding in the same sequence of breath.

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Progressively Slower Breathing

Continuous deep lengthening of inhale and exhale

Ask yourself, "how slowly can I breath in" and when you think you are at the top of the inhale "is there room to breath in more" finding the limit of the inhale. Then "how slowly can I breath out" and when you think you are at the bottom of the exhale "is it possible to breath out more" finding the limit of the exhale.

Progressively Faster Breathing or Hyperventilation

Forceful, deep & rapid deep inhales and exhales

Ask yourself, "how quickly can I breath in" and when you think you are at the top of the inhale "is there room to breath in more" finding the limit of the inhale. Then "how quickly can I breath out" and when you think you are at the bottom of the exhale "is it possible to breath out more" finding the limit of the exhale.

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Breath Holding

Holding your breath at the top inhales or bottom of exhales

Inhale and when you believe you are at the top try to inhale more. Once you've found the limit begin the breath hold. Continuously search for more relaxation, ask yourself "can I slow my heart beat," "where in my body is the best feeling arising from" and "how long can I keep your awareness there" when the deep/powerful urges of survival arise and drive you toward breath again.

Combination

Mixtures of progressively slower breathing, progressively faster breathing or hyperventilation and breath holding

There are many methods of breathwork that people promote but they will all lead you to the same place. Try them all, find out how they impact you, what happens when you change elements of the method. Explore, learn about yourself and begin to experiment in building your own breathing practice. A wonderful and popular example of a combination method is the Wim Hof Method: hyperventilation for a period of time until the body/mind is tingling from over oxygenation, then a full exhale with a breath hold at the end of the exhale experiencing everything from the high to the desperate urge to breath, followed by a full inhale and breath hold at the top of the inhale experiencing the recovery and reoxygenation of the body. The repeating this cycle 3-5 times.

Video coming soon