The Science of Breathwork: A Complete Guide to Methods, Benefits & How To Use Them
- Alex Schenker
- 4 days ago
- 20 min read
Updated: 12 minutes ago
Introduction
Imagine if you had a tool built into your biology that could help you relax, relieve stress, regulate your emotions, improve circulation, and even enhance brain function and focus. This tool is always with you, always accessible, and you’re going to be using it anyway—but the question is, how can you make the most of it? The tool in question is, of course, your breath.
Breathwork is the practice of intentionally controlling your breathing. This can involve slowing down or speeding up the breath, breathing through the nose or mouth, and using shallow or diaphragmatic breaths. For thousands of years, breathwork has been used to enhance mental, emotional, and physical well-being. From ancient Vedic and Taoist traditions to modern athletic training and cutting-edge medicine, breathwork has proven to be a powerful, versatile, and invaluable tool for self-care and well-being.
Now, more than ever, the world is waking up to the power of breathwork. But with so many methods out there—each with its own unique benefits—it can be difficult to know where to start. What’s the difference between slow, calming breaths and rapid, energizing ones? What does breath-holding do for you, aside from making you better at holding your breath? And which methods are best suited to your specific goals, whether that’s reducing stress and anxiety or improving focus and alertness?
This guide is here to help you navigate the world of breathwork with clarity and confidence. I’ve been exploring breathwork for years, but it took time to understand how the different approaches fit together and what each one offers. There are so many modalities out there, and this guide is designed to help you conceptualize them—how they relate to one another, how they differ, and how to choose the right one for your needs. It’s a comprehensive resource you can return to whenever you need perspective or guidance. Here’s what you’ll find:
An overview of breathwork methods and their techniques, categorized by breathing patterns (hypoventilation, hyperventilation, neutral breathing, and apnea training).
An exploration of the key benefits of each approach, from regulating your nervous system to improving CO₂ tolerance.
Practical tips for breathing naturally in daily life to promote relaxed focus, stress adaptability, and optimal tissue oxygenation.
Whether you’re new to breathwork or looking to deepen your practice, this guide has something for you. Let’s dive in and explore the transformative power of your breath—your most accessible tool for well-being.
Understanding The Basics
The Science of Breathing
Breathing is more than just inhaling and exhaling—it’s your direct line of control for your nervous system, circulatory system, mental awareness, immune function, and physical performance.
Nervous System
Your Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) consists of two branches: the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) (fight or flight) and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) (rest and digest). When you breathe slowly, it stimulates the PNS, promoting calm, healing, and digestion. When you breathe rapidly, it stimulates the SNS, triggering alertness and energy.
In our modern society, many people experience Sympathetic Nervous System Dominance, where the SNS becomes the default, keeping the body in a constant state of fight or flight. This imbalance often leads to stress, anxiety, and fatigue.
Breaths Per Minute & Autonomic Nervous System Stimulation
To put it into perspective in an actionable way, you can time your breaths to experiment with activating different modes of your autonomic nervous system:
3-6 breaths per minute: strongly activates the PNS
Deep relaxation
Reduced stress & anxiety
Improved Heart Rate Variability
Enhanced digestion & recovery
6-12 breaths per minute: gently activates the PNS
Calm, balanced state
Ideal resting state for a human being
12-15 breaths per minute: neutral
Typical resting state for most adults
Neither strong SNS or PNS Dominance
15-20 breaths per minute: gently activates SNS
Slight increase in alertness & energy
May occur during light activity or stress
20-120 breaths per minute: strongly activate SNS
Fight or flight response
Increased heart rate, blood pressure, and excitation
If chronic, can lead to anxiety and other disorders
Often observed in people who are unwell.
There may seem to be a lot of negative effects to hyperventilation, but that mostly pertains to habitual hyperventilation, how you breathe in daily life, and not to intentional hyperventilation practices that are meant to be done as an exercise, not as a default. Breathwork methods like these are like potent medicine. It can heal you if you need it, and strengthen your resilience if you use it appropriately, but if you take too much without knowing the proper dosage, you can do more harm than good.
Breathwork gives you the power to regulate your ANS, helping you restore balance and control how you feel.
CO₂ & Oxygen Balance
Your breath also plays a key role in balancing carbon dioxide (CO₂) and oxygen levels in your body. CO₂ isn’t just a waste product—it’s essential for releasing oxygen from your blood into your tissues. This is known as the Bohr Effect: when CO₂ levels are higher, oxygen is released more readily from hemoglobin, improving oxygen delivery to your cells.
This dispels the myth that more oxygen intake equals better oxygen delivery. In fact, hyperventilation (fast breathing) decreases CO₂ levels, temporarily increasing oxygen in the blood but reducing its delivery to tissues. On the other hand, hypoventilation (slow breathing) increases CO₂ levels, enhancing oxygen delivery and promoting relaxation.
Most people habitually hyperventilate, breathing at a rate of 12-20 breaths per minute—far faster than the ideal 5-6 breaths per minute. Not only does fast breathing disrupt oxygen delivery, but it also stimulates the SNS, perpetuating stress and imbalance. By practicing breathwork, you can improve circulation and oxygen delivery to all of your tissues, enhancing mental focus, physical performance, and overall well-being.
While intentional hyperventilation temporarily reduces CO₂, limiting oxygen delivery to tissues, it creates a hormetic stress that—when practiced intermittently—can enhance resilience to physical and mental stressors.
Mindfulness & Alertness
Breathwork is a powerful tool for enhancing mental clarity, focus, and relaxation. Here’s how it works:
Slow, deep breathing (and breath-holding): Activates the PNS, calming the mind and relieving stress. This leads to a state of relaxed awareness, or mindfulness.
Rapid, energizing breathing: Activates the SNS, increasing alertness, energy, and mental clarity. This leads to a feeling of focused, ready-to-react awareness.
Different forms of breathwork can have opposing effects, making the breath a versatile tool for regulating your mental state.
Immune Function
The way you breathe can even influence your immune system. Certain breathing techniques that combine hyperventilation and breath-holding can:
Reduce inflammation.
Increase anti-inflammatory molecule production.
Boost immune cell activity.
With regular practice, these techniques can lead to lasting changes in the body, helping you fight infections and potentially reducing the severity of autoimmune symptoms.
Physical Performance
Breathwork isn’t just helpful for physical performance—it’s essential. It’s not just about how you breathe during exercise, but also how you train your body to handle stress and optimize oxygen delivery. Here’s how breathwork helps:
CO₂ Tolerance: Hypoventilation techniques train your body to handle higher CO₂ levels, increasing endurance and reducing breathlessness during physical activity.
Enhanced Oxygen Delivery: Slow breathing improves your body’s ability to circulate oxygen to your muscles and brain, boosting stamina and recovery.
Stress Resilience: Breathwork helps you stay calm and focused under pressure, whether you’re lifting weights, running a marathon, or competing in sports.
If you’re not incorporating breathwork into your fitness practice, you’re leaving a significant amount of your potential untapped.
Categories of Breathwork Methods
We could conceptualize numerous ways to categorize breathing methods, but one simple way is by classifying them based on their breathing patterns: hyperventilation – breathing faster than normal, hypoventilation – breathing slower than normal, neutral breathing – not changing the cadence of the breath, and apnea – holding the breath.
Each category is suited for different goals, from relaxation, to energy, to endurance, having unique effects on the body and mind. Even within each category, various other variables make for a variety of differing effects, from enhanced focus and alertness, to deep emotional healing, to resistance to cold temperatures, to psychedelic meditative experiences without external substances.
Let’s explore each category in detail and overview the modalities that fit into each:
Hypoventilation (Slow breathing):
Hypoventilation involves taking slow, long breaths to calm the nervous system and increase CO₂ tolerance. These types of breathwork are ideal for relaxation, reducing stress, and improving respiratory efficiency.
Common Benefits:
Activates the parasympathetic nervous system promoting a sense of calmness and relaxation.
Improves CO₂ tolerance gradually, reducing breathlessness and enhancing endurance.
Supports mindfulness and emotional regulation
Popular Methods:
Buteyko Breathing
Focused on slow, gentle, diaphragmatic breaths, and nose-breathing, often including breath-holding.
Desire Outcomes: Increased CO2 tolerance, reduced anxiety, and improved respiratory conditions like asthma and sleep apnea.
Breath Patterns: Hypoventilation & breath-holding.
Oxygen Advantage
Focused on nose-breathing and breath-holding to increase oxygen efficiency
Desired Outcomes: Improves CO2 tolerance and enhances athletic performance.
Breath Patterns: Hypoventilation & breath-holding.
Box Breathing
A simple method that involves breathing in for 4 seconds, holding the breath for 4 seconds, breathing out for 4 seconds, then holding for 4 seconds, and repeating the cycle. The duration of the breaths can be adjusted, but there is always equal time taken for each four parts.
Desired Outcomes: Improve focus, relaxation, and stress management.
Breath Patterns: Balanced breathing.
Pranayama (Ujjayi, Nadi Shodhana, Anulom Vilom)
Traditional yogic breathing techniques; Ujjayi focuses on slow, controlled inhalations and exhalations, while Nadi Shodhana balances the left and right nostrils, and Anulom Vilom is a nostril-breathing technique.
Desired Outcomes: Promotes relaxation, balances the nervous system, and improves focus.
Breath Patterns: Hypoventilation
Resonance Breathing
Slow, controlled breathing to sync with the body’s natural rhythms.
Desired Outcomes: Stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system and promoting emotional balance.
Breath Patterns: Hypoventilation
Zen Breathing (Zazen)
Zen breathing emphasizes natural, relaxed breathing during meditation.
Desired Outcome: Deep concentration and mindfulness.
Breath Patterns: Hypoventilation.
Kokyu Ho
A Japanese method of coordinating breath with movement to harmonize energy and improve movement technique. Found in Aikido, Kyudo (Japanese archery), Kenjutsu (Japanese swordsmanship), Iaido, and Japanese Jujutsu.
Desired Outcomes: Enhance movement efficiency & coordination, & promote relaxation.
Breath Patterns: Hypoventilation.
Dantian Breathing
A Chinese technique of deep, diaphragmatic breathing into the lower abdomen (dantian) to cultivate and store qi (energy). Central to Tai Chi, Qigong, and many Chinese internal martial arts (e.g., Baguazhang, Xingyiquan).
Desired Outcomes: Promotes relaxation, stability, and internal energy flow.
Breath Patterns: Hypoventilation.
Reverse Breathing
Inhaling while gently contracting the abdomen and exhaling while expanding it. Used in Tai Chi, Qigong, and some styles of Kung Fu for generating external power. Also called “Hissago Bara” in Kenjutsu (Japanese swordsmanship).
Desired Outcomes: Generate power, build & circulate internal energy, synchronize breathing & movement.
Breath Patterns: Hypoventilation
Embryonic Breathing
Very subtle, almost imperceptible breathing, mimicking the “breathing” of a fetus in the womb. An advanced practice in Qigong, Tai Chi, and Taoist meditation.
Desired Outcomes: Cultivates deep internal energy, promotes longevity, and enhances meditation.
Breath Patterns: Hypoventilation (extremely slow, gentle breathing).
There are clearly a lot of different reasons to practice different types of hypoventilation methods, and for different people, different methods may serve them better. None of these methods lord over the others as supreme, and there is no hierarchy in this list, as each method focuses on a slightly different desired outcome. All of these methods have something in common, in that they downregulate our nervous system and activate parasympathetic nerve dominance, stimulating a restful state where healing and growth can take place.
Hyperventilation (Rapid breathing):
Hyperventilation involves rapid breathing that stimulates the sympathetic nervous system and energizes the body. This type of breathwork is ideal for mental clarity, emotional release, and mental focus. This intentional hyperventilation is different from habitual hyperventilation in daily life. Intentional hyperventilation introduces temporary stressors that boost resilience by triggering adaptational responses to cope with the stress.
Common Benefits:
Activates the sympathetic nervous system, promoting mental clarity & focus
Increases energy and blood oxygen levels (but not distribution of oxygen to tissues)
Popular Methods:
Wim Hof Method
This method combines deep, rapid breathing, breath-holds, and cold exposure.
Desired Outcomes: Increased energy, improved immunity, and improved mental clarity.
Breath Patterns: Hyperventilation & breath-holding.
Breath of Fire
A rapid breathing technique from Kundalini yoga that involves short, quick breaths through the nose.
Desired Outcomes: Energizing the body and focusing the mind.
Breath Patterns: Hyperventilation.
Holotropic Breathwork
Accelerated breathing is used to enter an altered state of consciousness.
Desired Outcome: Facilitating emotional healing and self-discovery.
Breath Patterns: Hyperventilation.
Transformational Breathwork
This deep breathing technique focuses on circular, connected breaths.
Desired Outcome: Release emotional tension and promote mental clarity and well-being.
Breath Patterns: Hyperventilation.
Kapalbhati Pranayama
A yogic breathing practice that involves forceful exhalations and passive inhalations.
Desired Outcome: Purify the body and clear mental fog.
Breath Pattern: Hyperventilation.
It should be clear to most, that these breathing methods are quite specialized in their desired outcomes and effects. They often provide us with a window of opportunity to make some deeper changes and adjustments, or to observe ourselves, or to cleanse our minds. They are not breathing techniques that we should integrate into our habitual patterns, but special tools that we can use to invite big effects.
Neutral Breathing:
Neutral breathing methods refrain from controlling the rate of breathing, and invite you to maintain your natural breathing rhythm without speeding it up or slowing it down. These methods of breathing aim to maintain equilibrium in the nervous system. These methods strive for relaxation, calmness, and mindfulness.
Common Benefits:
Promotes relaxation and mindfulness
Reduces stress & improve focus
Supports your physiological balance.
Popular Methods:
Somatic Breathing
Observing the natural breath while tuning into bodily sensations and movements. It is used in somatic therapy practices like Hakomi and Feldenkrais.
Desired Outcomes: Enhanced body awareness, reduced tension, and relaxation.
Breath Patterns: Neutral breathing.
Non-Directive Meditation
Allowing the mind to wander freely while maintaining a gentle awareness of the natural breath. It is practiced in traditions like Transcendental Meditation (TM) and ACEM Meditation.
Desired Outcomes: Enhanced creativity, reduced mental fatigue, and relaxation.
Breath Patterns: Neutral breathing.
Vipassana Meditation
Observing the natural breath as part of a broader awareness of bodily sensations, thoughts, and emotions. It is a core practice in mindfulness traditions like the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) and Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
Desired Outcomes: Enhanced self-awareness, emotional resilience, and stress reduction.
Breath Patterns: Neutral breathing.
Restorative Yoga Breathing
Restorative Yoga Breathing involves lying in supported poses while observing the natural breath. It is commonly taught in restorative yoga classes and studios.
Desired Outcomes: Deep relaxation, stress reduction, and recovery.
Breath Patterns: Neutral breathing.
Body Scan Meditation
Bringing awareness to different parts of the body, often starting with the breath. It is commonly taught in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs and apps like Headspace and Calm.
Desired Outcomes: Relaxation, body awareness, and stress reduction.
Breath Patterns: Neutral breathing.
Simple Mindful Breathing
Focusing attention on the breath to cultivate awareness and presence in the moment. Used by many meditation modalities like “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)”, and “Insight Meditation Society”.
Desired Outcomes: Present moment awareness, relaxation, & mental clarity.
Breath Patterns: Neutral breathing.
Open Awareness Meditation
Observing all aspects of experience—thoughts, sensations, emotions, and the breath—without trying to control or alter them. It is practiced in mindfulness traditions like Insight Timer and Plum Village (Thich Nhat Hanh’s tradition).
Desired Outcomes: Presence, acceptance, and a sense of interconnectedness.
Breath Patterns: Neutral breathing.
Neutral breathing methods do not suggest trying to change your breath rate, but it is thought of as ideal to have a longer breath as to avoid overstimulating the sympathetic nervous system. These methods are very gentle, allow you to breathe at whatever normal rate your default breath is, and thus it is very appropriate as a habitual pattern for daily life.
Breath-Holding (Apnea):
Apnea training involves techniques that involve holding the breath to improve CO2 tolerance and oxygen efficiency. This type of breathwork is ideal for building endurance, mental focus, and stress-resilience. It is often combined with methods that otherwise focus on hyperventilation or hypoventilation. Methods that focus primarily on breath-holding are listed below.
Common Benefits:
Increase CO2 tolerance and oxygen efficiency.
Improve lung capacity and respiratory function.
Builds mental resilience and focus
Popular Methods:
Static Apnea (Freediving Technique)
A technique used by freedivers to hold the breath and increase breath-hold time in underwater environments.
Desired Outcomes: Improve lung capacity, CO2 tolerance, and breath-hold time under water.
Breath Patterns: Breath-holding.
Pranayama (Kumbhaka)
Kumbhaka is the breath-holding practice within Pranayama that focuses on retention after inhalation.
Desired Outcomes: Enhancing energy levels and improving focus.
Breath Patterns: Breath-holding, slow breathing.
Tummo Meditation
A Tibetan method of breath-holding with visualization and a hyperventilation component
Desired Outcomes: Generate internal heat and increase spiritual awareness.
Breath Patterns: Breath-holding, rapid breathing.
As you can see, the purpose for breath-holding practices can range from the very practical, increasing breath-hold time, to the more spiritual. These are very specialized practices for specific purposes.
Choosing The Appropriate Breathwork Method
What's your primary goal?
There are many reasons to start a breathwork practice, and your reasons will help to discern which methods are most appropriate for your goals. We can start by looking at the flowchart below and taking note of which category resonates more with you.
├─ Relaxation/Stress Relief → Hypoventilation Methods
├─ Energy/Focus → Hyperventilation Methods
├─ Emotional Release → Hyperventilation Methods
├─ Physical Performance → Apnea Training
└─ Daily Balance → Neutral Breathing
Whichever aligns most closely with your goals can help narrow down which practices are most suitable for you. Now let’s look a bit deeper into each of these categories based on practice goals:
For Stress Relief/Relaxation
Suggested Methods: Buteyko Breathing, Box Breathing, Resonance Breathing
Why: These methods stimulate the Parasympathetic nervous system through slow controlled breathing patterns.
For Energy & Mental Clarity
Suggested Methods: Wim Hof, Breath of Fire, Kapalbhati Pranayama
Why: Activates the Sympathetic nervous system through rapid breaths.
For Emotional Release
Suggested Methods: Holotropic Breathing, Transformational Breathwork
Why: Invokes altered states where you can access deep subconscious emotional material. Rapid breathing alters nervous system activity and blood chemistry, lowering inhibition to more readily access deeply stored emotions.
For Athletic Performance
Suggested Methods: Oxygen Advantage, Static Apnea Training
Why: Improves CO2 tolerance and oxygen efficiency. Higher CO2 levels lead to a higher threshold of physical exertion before experiencing breathlessness and improves oxygen delivery to the muscles.
For Daily Mindfulness
Suggested Methods: Simple Mindful Breathing, Non-Directive Meditation, Zazen Zen Meditation Breathing
Why: Maintains nervous system balance without overstimulating either branch of the Autonomic Nervous System.
Beginner Tips
Start simple: If you’re new to breathwork, start with something simple like box breathing to get used to controlling your breath without forcing it.
Prioritize Consistency: 5 minutes every day is worth more than 35 minutes once a week. Focus on building a daily practice, and make your goal easy to achieve. It’s hard to make an excuse not to put 5 minutes aside to practice, but a lot easier to excuse a 30 minute expectation of practice.
Body Awareness: Bring your attention to how you feel before, during, and after your practice. What do you feel in your body? How has the activity of your mind shifted? How would you describe your emotional state? Keeping a journal with these details can help track your progress and put into scope how much of a difference your practice is making in your life.
Progressive Challenge: Once you feel comfortable with a simple breathing practice, you might want to try adding some simple breath-holds, or taking a course or class to experience a particular breathwork method that calls out to you.
Set Your Setting: Depending on your practice, you may want to do it in an open outdoor space, or in a cozy, relaxing, familiar environment. Make sure you are comfortable, and in a place where you can relax and feel unobserved.
Safety Considerations
When to Avoid Certain Methods
If you have any of the issues listed below, you should either avoid that method of breathwork, or make sure you are working with the supervision of an instructor who understands your issues. It is recommended to see a physician before engaging in the associated breathing practice to be cleared for any health risks.
Avoid hyperventilation methods if you:
Have Cardiovascular issues
Have a history of Epilepsy
Are in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Have a history of anxiety or panic disorders
Avoid breath-holding if you:
Have high blood pressure
Have respiratory conditions (consult physician first)
Have Glaucoma
Have recently undergone surgery
General Safety Tips
Please take into consideration these points of safe practice, especially if you are going to be directing your own breathwork practice unsupervised. Uneasy feelings can arise during breathwork. It’s not such a concern with supervised practice, but when practicing by yourself, especially when you’re just starting, it’s important not to push yourself too far.
Hyperventilation, breath-holding, and very low breath-rate hypoventilation can cause a feeling of lightheadedness and even loss of consciousness. This is not a risk when practicing in a safe environment, however:
Never practice hyperventilation or very low breath-rate hypoventilation breathwork while or directly before swimming.
Refrain from practicing hyperventilation, very low breath-rate hypoventilation, or breath-holding while driving.
Stop your breathwork session, and return to a natural breathing pattern if you feel:
Dizziness beyond mild lightheadedness
Tingling fingers, lips, & toes
Chest pain
Disorientation
Stay hydrated: hyperventilation techniques that involve mouth-breathing can be especially dehydrating.
Enjoy the process, build up slowly, and don’t rush to increase the challenge, especially with methods that involve breath-holding and cold exposure.
Sit or lie down during hyperventilation, very low breath-rate hypoventilation, or breath-holding techniques to avoid injuries if you start to feel faint.
If you follow these considerations, you can ensure a safe practice, but especially when approaching a specific breathwork method, it’s always a good idea to find a class, or a coach, or take a course to learn how to do it safely and correctly.
Remember, breathwork is a journey that will accompany you throughout your entire life, whether you make it a practice or not. It’s not a competition with yourself or others. Start small, honour your body’s signals, and savour the subtle shifts. Explore the methods that call out to you and in time, you’ll know intuitively which methods suit you best.
Integrating Breathwork into Daily Life
Breathwork doesn’t require elaborate routines or hour-long practice sessions to be effective. The most profound changes come from simple, consistent practices that respect your body’s natural rhythm and limitations. You don’t need to go through some training to start a breathwork practice today. You can start right now with some simple breathwork practices like Box Breathing, or Natural Breathing. Here’s how to make breathwork an effortless part of your day:
I recommend that you do find a coach or course and learn a particular breathing method, but if you’re anything like me, you probably want to get started right away. Here are three beginner friendly breathing exercises that you can do without instruction:
Natural Breathing
This is great because it involves avoiding doing anything to alter the breath. Simply sit or lie down, relax, observe, and bring awareness to your natural breath pattern without trying to breathe deeper or anything. This method is very basic, requires very little focus, and is easily stacked onto any other activity you might be doing, so you can do this while working, driving, or watching a movie.
How to practice:
Breathe through your nose, letting your belly rise softly.
Exhale slowly through the nose, releasing tension.
Imagine your breath as a wave and tune into the rhythm without controlling it
Best time to practice:
Upon waking (before checking your phone).
During transitions (e.g., before meals, after work).
Before sleep (to unwind).
Box Breathing
This is a more structured method, but still very simple, easy to wrap your head around and requires no supervision and minimal instruction to perform correctly. This involves equal-length inhales, exhales, and pauses in between. This one requires a little more concentration, and is a good practice for when you’re taking a break from work, or trying to reset after transitioning from one tasks to another.
How to practice:
Inhale for 4 seconds.
Hold for 4 seconds.
Exhale for 4 seconds.
Pause for 4 seconds.
Best time to practice:
Before stressful moments (meetings, difficult conversations).
To reset focus (before tasks or creative work).
Buteyko “Breathe Light” Exercise
This method involves reducing air intake to normalize breathing volume. It’s a little more complex than the previous exercises. It’s similar to box breathing, except without a breath-hold between inhalations and exhalations, and with a longer exhalation than inhalation. This method trains your body to tolerate higher levels of carbon dioxide, and helps balance your blood pH, and improve oxygen delivery to the cells.
How to practice:
Sit upright in a comfortable position, and relax as much as possible.
Take a slightly smaller inhale than usual through your nose. 4 seconds is a good start.
Make your exhalation slightly longer. 6 seconds is a good exhalation duration for a 4 second inhalation
You shouldn’t feel strained, but you should feel a light hunger for air during the exercise.
Do this exercise for 2-10 minutes daily.
Take a 30 second break if the air hunger becomes too strong.
Best time to practice
During scheduled practice sessions, and ideally during quiet moments, as this takes quite a bit of concentration.
When to Practice
I suggest two ways to practice your breathwork. First is opportunistically, and second is habitually.
Opportunistic Practice: You can stack your breathwork practice with so many things that you already do throughout the day. Maybe while you’re washing dishes you can practice a simple exercise like Box Breathing, or while you’re driving you can focus on Simple Mindful Breathing. If you already exercise, you can put more emphasis in how you breathe during exercise, and even apply some Oxygen Advantage techniques.
This is the way to keep consistent with your breathwork practice without setting any actual time aside for it. Whether you have a routine where you set aside 5-10 minutes to practice every day, or not, stacking your practice with other things you do in your daily life is, in my opinion, the only way that you can truly change your default breathing habits. Opportunistic practice is where the line is drawn between breathing exercises, and your actual breathing habits.
Scheduled Practice: You can carve out a certain time of day where you do your daily practice, and the best time of day is the time that you’re most likely to keep it up. If that’s easiest for you before bed, do it then, or when you wake up, do it then, or maybe it’s during a certain activity like while you’re on the toilet – Whatever works for you to keep it consistent is ideal.
Key Principles for Success:
Choose a time of day to dedicate 5 minutes to your practice and stick to it. Start with simple practices like Natural Breathing or Box Breathing, and then start introducing more complex methods like the Buteyko “Breathe Light” Exercise once you’ve started to settle into a good routine.
Remind yourself to take a few slow breaths to reset your nervous system throughout the day. Box Breathing and Natural Breathing are great practices to start with for this.
Start small: If even 5 minutes is hard to keep up, shorten it. Even 90 seconds daily is enough to build neural pathways.
Stack your breathing practice with other habitual activities such as going to the washroom, waiting for the bus, taking a shower, cleaning dishes, or trying to fall asleep.
Track subtle shifts and take note of energy levels, sleep quality, and emotional states regularly to notice gradual changes that may otherwise go unnoticed.
This approach transforms breathwork from something you “should” do, into an organic part of your life. You’re breathing anyway, you might as well make those breaths work for you!
The Power of Conscious Breathing
Throughout this guide, we've explored the vast landscape of breathwork practices—from the calming rhythms of hypoventilation methods to the energizing patterns of hyperventilation systems, from the balance of neutral breathing approaches to the focused challenge of apnea training. Though each method offers unique benefits, they all share one fundamental truth:
Your breath is a versatile tool that gives you control of otherwise unconscious processes.
Whether you are taking the initiative to make use of this tool, or ignoring it altogether, everybody has breathing habits. Those habits could be contributing to your vibrant health and well-being, or sabotaging it, so why not make your breath work to serve your best interest?
The truth is clear: how you breathe changes how you live. The art of it comes from discovering what works best for you and integrating it into your being.
Remember that breathwork meets you where you are. There is no need to rush, and there are so many paths that it’s very likely to find one that suits you if you take the time to explore. There's a lot out there, and these science-backed breathwork methods each have different effects that can be explained. Wrapping your head around them all is daunting, so just choose what you find that you naturally gravitate toward and start there.
So take what is useful to you, and leave what doesn’t serve your purpose behind. Trust that every conscious breath shapes your unconscious breathing habits. This breathwork journey is yours to shape — one breath at a time. Try one of the exercises suggested in this article today and it could change your life!
Videos to Check Out
Wim Hof’s Ted Talk:
Patrick McKeown’s Ted Talk (Buteyko & Oxygen Advantage):
How to Improve Your Breathing with James Nestor:
Citations for Key Claims
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Feldman, J. L., & Del Negro, C. A. (2006). Breathing and the nervous system. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 7(3), 232-241. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1871
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