I have been thinking consciously about my breathing, and how controlling / monitoring my breathing can improve my performance, on and off since my middle teen years. In my early to mid-teens I was a semi-competent cross-country runner and I knew how important getting – and staying – in a steady breathing routine was to keep a steady pace in races. In recent years, consciousness of my breath has primarily come from my daily meditation, as well as in the gym when doing weight-lifting sets.
I initially started thinking about and researching this post back in 2019, but with the additional time afforded to my morning routine given I have no commute due to the COVID-19 pandemic currently gripping the world – I’ve decided to re-visit this, finish and post it.
In this post I’ll share 6 different breathing techniques I have been testing, detailing how to perform them, my experience performing them and ultimately what my new daily breathing exercise looks like. The 6 breathing techniques discussed below are:
Existing 10 deep breaths in daily meditation
Basic & Power Breathing Method by Scott Carney
Wim Hof Breathing Technique
4x4x4 Technique
4x7x8 Technique
Josh Waitzkin Reenergise Breathing Technique
After more than two months of on-and-off testing for each of the breathing techniques / exercises, the one I have found to be the best for me personally is my existing breathing routine, with one addition.
As a result of this research and testing, I am now more conscious of the breathing component of my daily meditation, and when it comes to mornings in which I exercise – which during COVID-19 is 6 days a week, more about this here – I also do the Wim Hof breathing technique in the shower.
Benefits of Mindful Breathing
All humans can breathe without thinking about it, if we couldn’t our lives wouldn’t be very long, less than 24 mins to put a number on it, based on the current world record for longest breath held. As such, to many people, that there are benefits over and above this might seem strange.
Humans looking to breath work as a way to improve the human experience isn’t new. Pranayama (“breath retention”) yoga has been in existence since the 5th or 6th centuries BCE and is likely the first doctrine to build a theory around using breathing control as a way to increase human longevity.
There is a growing body of evidence showing that undertaking mindful breathing practice, this defined simply as being consciously aware of your breathing during a specific period of time, can have both physiological and psychological benefits.
Let’s start with the psychological benefits – i.e. the benefits driven from diverting the attention away from thoughts during a mindful or purposeful breathing practice. In the psychological realm the benefits of breathing are intrinsically linked to those of mindfulness meditation, which you can find out more about in my post here. The link isn’t surprising given that breathing is a fundamental component to many mindfulness and meditation practices.
From a physiological standpoint, studies show that mindful breathing, when sustained over an extended period of time, stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system, can be effective against illnesses such as anxiety and insomnia. From an anxiety perspective, a 2016 study at the Technical University of Munich found that when focusing on breathing activities, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex reduces activity in the amygdala. From an insomnia perspective, in 2015 research at the National Yang-Ming University in Taiwan found that 20 minutes of slow breathing exercise before bed helps insomnia patients fall asleep faster and wake up less frequently in the middle of the night. On average, it took them only 10 minutes to fall asleep, almost three times faster than normal.
It’s important to note with this study, the breathing technique required to be practiced consistently over an extended period, and it reduces rather than ‘removes’ anxiety. Breathing is a support tool, not a cure.
As part of my daily meditation practice
As part of my daily meditation I do a very simple form of breathing exercise. Once I am comfortably sat in my meditation position, with my eyes open, I take 10 deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth, before closing my eyes and starting my meditation. This takes less than 50 seconds to complete, but really helps me focus and start tuning into my body before my mediation starts.
To find out more about my daily meditation practice, check out my 2018 post here. There is one important change to note since I posted that two years ago, I no longer use Headspace to guide my daily practice. After using it for almost 1 year I found I no longer needed the guided mediation and stopped my subscription, although the format I use today is still extremely similar to Headspace.
Scott Carney – Two Breathing techniques based on Wim Hof
I read about these techniques in Carney’s excellent book ‘What Doesn’t Kill Us’. The below can be found on page 52-64 in the physical copy of the book.
Carney, an investigative journalist, follows Wim Hof to understand and explore how to control body temperature in extreme cold. Carney himself admits that what you read below ‘…is a variation on the Wim Hof Method.’
Basic Breathing Method: ‘Start by sitting down on a couch or lying on the floor and taking 30 fast breaths. Each inhale should take about a second, but you should not force the exhale. Instead let it flow out naturally. Your breath should sound like you’re at the peak of a sprint just a few seconds shy of having to slow down…Now, finish the hyperventilating with a big gulp of air and hold it with a full chest…Hold on as long as you can and clench the muscles in your chest, arms, and legs…when you can’t stand it anymore, slowly let the air out of your lungs…repeat the cycle of hyperventilation and breath-holding for three of four cycles- or for a total of about 10 to 12 minutes.’
Power Breathing: ‘…start with the basic breathing method for approximately 30 quick, deep breaths. Keep your eyes closed and breathe hard enough that you begin to feel lightheaded. Now, instead of taking in a deep breath and holding it, let most of the air out of your lungs and hold your breath with mostly empty lungs…When you get close to needing to gasp, you can extend your limits in two ways. The first is the same as with basic breathing, slowly letting out what is left of the air in your lungs. The second method…consists of a rolling set of muscle contracts that you start at your feet and sequentially tighten until you reach up to your head…Once you finally have to breathe, take in a half lungful of air and hold it for about 10 to 15 seconds. This is the recovery breath, and it feels awesome. Now start over from the beginning. Since your lungs start near empty, it won’t be possible to hold your breath as long as with the basic breathing technique. Aim to increase the amount that you hold in your breath with each repetition.’
Wim Hof Breathing Technique
Whilst Carney changes the method somewhat, Wim Hof himself on podcasts, including one with Tim Ferriss, has outlined his breathing technique in his own words.
For Hof, there are 10 simple steps to his technique:
Lie on the ground or sit with your back straight.
Inhale deeply, pulling in as much air as you can using your diaphragm.
Exhale fully but not forcefully; simply let the breath go.
Repeat inhales and exhales for 30 to 40 rounds with your own rhythm.
On the last round, exhale and then hold your breath until your body feels the need to breathe.
Inhale deeply, then hold your breath for ten seconds.
Repeats steps 3 – 6 for three or four rounds.
After your final round, hop in a cold shower. On your first try, stay under the water for 30 seconds, then gradually increase until you reach three to five minutes.
The Wim Hof technique is endorsed by Aubrey Marcus in his book ‘Own the Day’. Marcus recommends incorporating the breathing routine in the following way. Marcus says: ‘The Power Shower. 1. Turn the shower to hot and wash. 2. Do Wim Hof breathing (thirty to fifty breaths, or until you feel tingling and/or mild light-headedness). 3. Turn the shower as cold as it can get. 4. Continue Wim Hof breaths until breathing calms. 5. Hold at the bottom of the breath until the gasp reflex kicks in.’
I have previously written about cold showers in this piece on ‘The Benefits of a Scottish Shower’. I’ve found since using this technique that I have been able to sustain the length of time I spend in a cold shower for longer, the breathing seems to prepare my body in some way for the cold.
Incidentally, I’ve also used COVID-19 self-isolation to start another of Marcus’ ways to own the day, and started his ‘morning mineral cocktail’, 350mil filtered water (room temperature), 3g Himalayan sea salt, ¼ squeezed lemon.
4x4x4 Breathing Technique
This technique is the first I tested which is not related to Wim Hof, and if significantly simpler to understand and follow. The 4x4x4 technique involves the following: 4 seconds breathing in, hold the breath for 4 seconds, 4 seconds breathing out, and keep doing this for each breath for 4 minutes. This is also sometimes referred to as Box Breathing.
It’s recommended that you sit down or lie down when undertaking the breathing exercise. The 4x4x4 breathing exercise is meant to promote relaxation and even pain relief, personally I’m not sure I’d go that far.
It is recommended that you practice this technique 3 times a day and complete 5 cycles of each round. When breathing in, feel the breath filling your stomach – your belly should raise – and exhale the breath through your mouth.
4x7x8 Breathing Technique
I first found out about this technique when listening to a podcast that Dr Weil was on, unfortunately I can’t remember which one to link you to. For a full demonstration of the technique I suggest you watch this video.
It isn’t the most complex breathing technique to understand. Start the exercise by being seated, feet on floor with a straight back. Tongue touching the top of your front teeth, inside of the mouth by exhaling and then inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 second. Repeat 4 times.
When you are inhaling you should be doing so silently through your nose, whereas your exhale should be done loudly through your mouth.
Dr Weil says that results come from doing many, many reps. According to him, you need to do the practice twice a day and for a minimum of 8 weeks before you see the results.
As with many of these breathing techniques, they are very versatile in terms of when they can be used. It is advised that the 4x7x8 breathing technique can be used to help you fall asleep, as well as help you get back to sleep if you wake up in the night. Although do be conscious of potentially waking up your partner with your loud exhales!
Josh Waitzkin Reenergise Breathing Technique
Josh Waitzkin is an incredibly interesting individual, and if you haven’t heard of him before I recommend at least scratching the surface. A former chess prodigy, Waitzkin has become a master of learning, and I loved reading his book ‘The Art of Learning’ so much that I wrote a post on it back in 2017.
It was in his book that I read about this breathing technique, it can be found on page 100 – 101 if you have a physical copy of his book: ‘For a glimmer of this experience, hold your palms in front of you, forefingers a few inches apart, shoulders relaxed. Now breathe in while gently expanding your fingers, putting your mind on your middle fingers, forefingers, and thumbs. Your breath and mind should both softly shoot to the very tips of your fingers. This inhalation is slow, gently pulling oxygen into your dan tien (a spot believed to be the energetic centre – located two and a half inches below the navel [belly button]) and then moving that energy from your dan tien to your fingers. Once your inhalation is complete, gently exhale. Release your fingers, let your mind fall asleep, relax your hip joints, let everything sag into soft, quiet awareness. Once exhalation is complete, you are re-energised. Try that exercise for a few minutes and see how you feel.’
I found this technique one of the harder to understand simply from reading it, and was not able to find a video online, however I did like the element of finding – or at least attempting to find – your dan tien, I found it helped maintain focus.
Conclusion
I found researching the different breathing techniques interesting, despite there not always being concrete evidence to support the supposed benefits. While there is growing evidence on the benefits of intentional breathing, there is less evidence on which technique is most effective.
I believe it is the focused time on the breath that brings the benefit, not the actual way you control the breath. Therefore, I have decided to progress with the techniques which fitted in best with the rest of my daily regime which were:
10 deep breaths as part of my daily meditation
Wim Hof Breathing as a prerequisite to the Scottish shower
All of this only takes 2 – 3mins per day, puts me in a calmer state and makes me more aware of how my body is feeling, it also helps me with the Scottish shower.
The more research and analysis I do on this, the more I realise it’s less about what you do when it comes to mindful breathing, they all work, it’s more about finding the technique that you enjoy, and fits into your routine that will allow you to pick doing every day for the rest of your life. If you remain skeptical or don’t want to commit to adding a breathing technique to your daily routine, I’d recommend starting with brief periods of consciously thinking about your breath a few times a day, whenever is right for you or whenever you remember.
I’ll leave you with a lovely quote from Christophe Andre: ‘Breathing is like solar energy for powering relaxation: it’s a way to regulate emotions that is free, always accessible, inexhaustible and easy to use.’ You can read his full piece here.
