Emotional Release.

Breathwork relaxes you and takes your body and mind out of fight-or-flight mode. To understand how, however, you must first learn about your autonomic nervous system, which is divided into two parts:

 

Your sympathetic nervous system controls your body's "fight-or-flight" reaction. This system becomes more active when you are worried or in danger.

 

Your parasympathetic nervous system is the "rest-and-digest" section of your brain that relaxes your body after stressful or dangerous situations. Fight-or-flight mode is useful when you are being pursued by a bear or fleeing a burning building.

 

But these days, many of us are in a mental fight-or-flight state even when our bodies are not under physical duress—think significant job deadlines, unpleasant news stories, financial troubles, disagreements with your spouse, and more. "We need our sympathetic nervous system to be aware of danger in our environment, but in today's society, we are too often in fight-or-flight mode when we are not really in danger," Dr. Young says.

"To relieve stress, we must be able to activate our parasympathetic nervous system.

 

Breathwork is a technique for activating your body's parasympathetic nervous system, which aids in de-escalation and stress reduction.

 

That can also result in a wide range of happy sentiments. ​ ​ "Breathwork improves our focus and energy, which can lead to a higher quality of life with more opportunities for joy and fun," Dr. Young adds. "If we are continually stressed and tense, it is quite difficult to identify those key traits in life." Joy & fun? Yes, please. Furthermore, breathwork is one of the most accessible wellness routines. Anyone can do it, regardless of age or other medical concerns, as long as they learn the breathing techniques that work best for them.