Breathe.
It’s one of the first things you did when you were born. It’s how you greeted your life.
We can’t outsmart or overpower our breathing. If we listen to what our breathing is trying to tell us, by how fast or how easily we breathe, we would surely learn something about ourselves.
And so, how is YOUR Breathing?
Off the top of your head, do you have a sense of what your resting rate of breaths- per-minute is? Or even simpler, how comfortably do you breathe?
If you want to take a minute to time your breaths per minute, go ahead. I’ll wait here. See if you can take one minute to count your breath rate, rather than looking at your Apple watch. It’s valuable information that you might never hear discussed in traditional healthcare settings.
In the Google universe, you’ll find that “normal” breath rate, at rest, is between 12 and 18 breaths per minute. (Note – as people have become faster breathers, the AMA has increased the breath rate number. Eighteen is high for health implications, even if it falls in the “normal” range)
Without this basic knowledge, sometimes people take on a breathwork practice because they’ve heard it’s good for them.
But there’s something to consider . . .
Breathwork can be so powerful that taking on a breathwork practice before you are ready is similar to taking medication according to a prescription you wrote for yourself (without being a doctor).
Breathwork can be destabilizing when you do it before you are ready.
Historically, breathwork was practiced by people who had prepared for it. They didn’t live the busy, stress-filled lives, full of environmental pollutants, processed foods etc. that we are exposed to. They likely had practices and opportunities to discharge their stress hormones, and were not carrying the expectations and demands that people in modern industrialized societies experience.
If you already have a breathwork practice and still live with
chronic pain
chronic anxiety
inability to feel like your breathing is easy and comfortable
insomnia
fibromyalgia
long-term whiplash
Consider building a foundation of knowledge about breathing for choosing the best practices for you.
If you read the book, “Breathe” by James Nestor, you may remember that the resting breath rate of 6 breaths per minute is common across religious practices from different parts of the world, at different times in history. Six breaths, or so, is the resting breath rate that seems to be a meeting place between balanced physiology and a sense of feeling psychologically grounded.
People with slower resting breath rates may actually feel more comfortable, calm, and able to focus. Chances are that your resting rate of fewer than 12 breaths per minute is signaling health, rather than a warning (which a quick google is happy to give you).
When it comes to breathing, there is much to discover. Much to be curious about. And much that you can do on your own to reclaim and maintain this foundation of resilient health.
It’s never too late to start. Never too late to learn more. Never too late to feel better.
Every single person can feel better, sometimes you just need a helping hand, solid education and a new way of thinking.
Love, Linda
Resources –
My four week series of Feldenkrais breathing classes in February
Breathe by James Nestor
The Breathing Cure by Patrick McEwen
