"I’ve got to keep breathing. It’ll be my worst business mistake if I don’t" —STEVE MARTIN

This is my first book on Breathwork, but not my last. See below a summary I took from the book.

Note from Author: A couple of the advanced techniques and therapeutic practices can require up to an hour or more of continuous engagement. These techniques are noted and are best done with a breathing buddy, a qualified coach, or a certified breathworker (in person or via Skype). 

This book introduces you to the field of breathwork, a new and revolutionary approach to self-improvement and self-healing. It shows you how to breathe your way to peak performance, optimum health, and ultimate potential.

Its a pretty big promise but then Breathing is the only system in the body that is both automatic and also under our control. That is not an accident of nature, not a coincidence—it’s an invitation, an opportunity to take part in our own nature and evolution.

Breathwork falls into the field of self-improvement and personal development.

What Is Breathwork? also known as breath therapy

Two key ideas according to Author:

1.  The breathing system in most people is not functioning at an optimal level. We need to heal it. We need to improve or restore our breathing capacity, to correct any dysfunctional habits or patterns that inhibit or interfere with the free expression our true nature and full potential. 
2. Once our breathing is full and free, healthy and natural, once it is restored or raised to an optimal level, then it automatically becomes a therapeutic tool. The body and breath can be used to heal the mind, and the mind and breath can be used to heal the body. Breathwork can be used to heal attitudes, emotions, and behaviors.

I admittedly thought the definition( outline ) was a little too vague/broad, but then when you look at all the situations where breathwork is now being taught and applied it probably makes sense: Alternative Health Care, Anger Management, Athletic Coaching, Attention Training, Biofeedback,Bodywork, Childbirth, Chiropractic,Corporate Training, Counseling, Dentistry, Drug Abuse Prevention, Drug Rehabilitation, Education (all levels), Fitness Training, Flight Training, (aviation), Martial Arts, Medicine, Meditation, Midwifery, Military, Training Neurofeedback, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Orthodontics, Pain Management, Peak Performance Training, Performing Arts, Personal Coaching, Physical Therapy, Psychology, Public Speaking, Respiratory Therapy, Self-regulation Learning, Skill Acquisition, Social Work, Speech Therapy, Stress Management, Test Taking, Trauma and PTSD, Yoga, Zen.

When it comes to breathwork, there are two basic aspects: Breath Awareness and Conscious Breathing. You can think of these as yin and yang, active and passive aspects of the practice.

Breath Awareness: The awareness we are talking about is meditative awareness. It is not thinking, not judging, not comparing, not analyzing; you are not trying to figure out anything or do anything right. In fact, Breath Awareness is not really something you “do.” We are talking about a soft, open state of alertness and presence. Breath Awareness is a mindfulness practice. I also call it “breath watching.”

A basic understanding of what to do?

• Bring your attention to the breath. 
• Focus on your breathing. 
• Sense your breathing. 
• Observe it, listen to it, feel it. 
• Witness it. 
• How do you know you are breathing? 
• What feelings and sensations tell you that you are breathing? 
• Where do those feelings and sensations occur? 
• Where does the breath go when it flows into you? 
• What does it touch? 
• What moves when you breathe? 
• What muscles do you use? 

As you become more aware of the breath , you naturally become more aware of other things occurring in your mind and body: thoughts and images, feelings and sensations, perceptions and emotions. 

You may become more aware of your physical tensions, energetic contractions, habits, patterns, urges, reactions, and inner dialogue.

Conscious Breathing: Doing the Breathing 

The second basic aspect of breathwork is Conscious Breathing. This is where you come in. You are an active participant in the breathing process, more than the witness. Conscious Breathing means that you deliberately control, direct, and regulate the breathing in some way. You give the breathing a certain quality or a specific pattern. You breathe with a conscious intention. You are creative. With Breath Awareness, the breath breathes you; with Conscious Breathing, you breathe the breath.

Some examples to illustrate

Breathe consciously when you watch a sunset. Use the breath to actually take in the experience. 

Breathe consciously when someone insults you, praises you, or tells you his or her problems. Begin using your breath to focus or center yourself, to relax or energize yourself. Use it to prepare for important events, to get through challenging tasks, and to recover from stressful experiences.

When your awareness jumps from one thing to another constantly, your healing energies and creative forces are lost or dissipated. When you bring all your attention to the breathing, your energy begins to accumulate and you develop tremendous personal power. 

For lack of a better word, “magic” is possible when we bring together consciousness and breathing. For many people, this simple practice is life-changing.

Consider this: when you are in your most relaxed state, you are literally sleeping. You actually sleep through the most relaxing moments of your life! You are unconscious in those moments when you are most relaxed, so you have probably never had a waking experience of pure , deep, and total relaxation.

Being wide awake and totally relaxed at the same time is so rare that when it occurs during a breathing session, most people describe it as a peak religious experience , a peace that passes understanding. They describe the experience as bliss or ecstasy, a feeling of pure, causeless joy. They inevitably resort to spiritual or religious terms to describe what is actually a very basic, yet profound human experience. 

“If you need to control yourself— your mind, body, emotions , posture, or behavior— then start by getting control of your breathing.”

The lesson here is that whenever you think you are reaching a limit, you need to become aware of your breathing and breathe consciously. It’s almost like a mind trick: when you are focused on your breathing, when you are breathing consciously, then you’re not focused on what would normally limit or control your thinking. When you focus on your breath instead, something new, something else, is possible.

Practice going back and forth between these two basic elements of breathwork, the fundamental ingredients of breath mastery. 

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Some Science on How Breathwork Affects Your Body 

...as per book

How Breathwork Affects Your Body How do we understand the connection between controlling our breath and the powerful effects that it produces? A good place to start is with the autonomic nervous system, which regulates all the automatic functions of the body. It is also the main regulator in our stress-response system. The autonomic nervous system is made up of two counterbalancing parts: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The sympathetic system goes into action when we are under stress or enduring a challenge, or have to mobilize to get something we want or to avoid something harmful. When the challenge or danger has passed, what is supposed to happen is that the sympathetic system quiets down, while its counterpart, the parasympathetic system, comes online and begins to counteract all the effects of the “fight-or-flight”response. For example, the sympathetic system speeds up our heart rate and respiration, and the parasympathetic slows them both down and triggers our natural “rest and digest, restore and repair”functions. The parasympathetic system restores energy reserves and reduces inflammation. But what happens all too often is that our sympathetic system stays highly active instead of returning to baseline, while our parasympathetic system is underactive, especially in people who suffer chronic stress or trauma. That’s when we see people experience inappropriate overreactions and difficulty relaxing or calming down; they feel unsafe and stuck in a defensive mode. So, how can breathing help correct this imbalance?

Studies have shown that when we change our pattern of breathing, we change the interoceptive messages going from the respiratory system to the brain.

“Because breathing has such a strong impact on our thoughts and feelings, it provides a portal through which we can send messages through our own nervous systems to quiet our minds, reduce defensive overreactivity, and enable us to feel safe, close, loving, and loved.”

By changing the pattern of our breathing, we change the pattern of the information being sent to the brain. In other words, how often, how fast, and how much you inflate your lungs directly affects the brain and how it operates. Breathing affects every organ, system, and function in the body. Every physiological, psychological, and emotional state has a corresponding breathing pattern. When you change one, the other changes. Therefore , Conscious Breathing techniques have the potential to transform the quality of your life on every level and on a day-to-day basis.

When we are focused on a challenging task, when we have too much on our minds, when we are worried about the kids, school , money, or aging parents, we are functioning in the sympathetic zone. Our bodies are producing more free radicals, and we are not able to relax or to feel close and cuddly. We also tend to make snap judgments and be more reactive, and we are less flexible, relaxed, and creative. Conscious Breathing can balance and counteract all that. Breathwork can become a powerful and natural alternative or adjunct in dealing with post-traumatic stress, anxiety disorders, and many other conditions. Your Heart Rate and Longevity Conscious Breathing can increase heart rate variability, which improves a range of symptoms such as stress, anxiety, cardiovascular disease, fatigue, obesity, depression, and aging.

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Everyday Breathing 

(some great exercises from the book)

Yawning Your Way to Better Health

I really liked this ass its super simple, funa and you can test it now

Yawning Your Way to Better Health Yawning is a natural breathing technique that will improve your overall health and well-being. It energizes you while also triggering the relaxation response. It helps with sleep, mood, and anxiety, and it discharges stress and tension.

When we yawn we clear and release subtle energetic blocks in our system, allowing us to feel more fully and deeply into what is happening, into what is being experienced. It allows us to be totally present to ourselves and the ones we are with. The yawning reflex lights up the same part of our brain that is associated with empathy, bonding, play, and creativity. So please let that soft animal of your body, or that little boy or little girl in you, yawn to his or her heart’s content!

Deliberately trigger a yawn before you do something important, and then yawn after you finish it. Yawn from time to time during tests, tasks, activities, interactions, performances, presentations, and meditation. And yawn whenever you feel anxious, angry, or afraid, tired or wired. 

Secret formula for practicing advanced yawning: 10 + 10 + (10 X 2). 

That’s ten minutes in the morning, ten minutes at night, and ten times during the day for two minutes. In fact, this formula can be applied to any of the breathing techniques, exercises, or meditations in this book. Practicing according to this formula may be the best way to integrate breathwork into your everyday life, and to master any technique or exercise.

Wake Up 

If you get groggy, feel tired, but still have work to do, here’s a Sufi technique that will help. (By the way, the Sufis— Muslim mystics— have lots of great meditations and exercises, combining breath with thought, prayer, movement, and sound.) Give yourself two to four short, quick powerful inhales through the nose, and then blow the breath out through pursed lips. Do that for two minutes, and see if you are not buzzing with energy and aliveness. Shoot these short quick breaths into your chest through the nose, and then release the breath out your mouth through pursed lips. We call this the “Sniff and Pooh Breath” because of the sound you make when inhaling through the nose and when blowing out through pursed lips. Sniff . . . Sniff . . . Sniff . . . Poooh! Sniff . . . Sniff . . . Sniff . . . Poooh! Sniff . . . Sniff . . . Sniff . . . Poooh! Sniff . . . Sniff . . . Sniff . . . Poooh! Don’t laugh! Or laugh if you want to, but try it. Do it now. And do it again. Play with it. Experiment. 

Getting Out of Bed 

Charge the body by deeply stretching into the inhale and stretching as you sigh the breath out. Do this three times. Charge the mind by inhaling for a count of five and exhaling for a count of five. Charge the heart by focusing the breath in the heart area, and imagine that on the inhale you are breathing in compassion for yourself, and on the exhale you are expressing gratitude for a brand-new day. 

Shower 

Tune in to your breath as you turn on the tap, and watch how the breath changes as you experience the warm water washing over you. Meet the feelings with the breath. Breathe and open and relax into the feelings, as you would the caressing touch of your beloved. End your shower by turning on the cold water. Meet the feelings with your breath. Practice breathing in and out quickly and smoothly. Deliberately relax your body and integrate the stimulating feelings of cold water. When you are done, breathe vigorously as you dry yourself off. Take a couple of long, lovely sighs of relief to end the ritual. 

Traffic 

Stopping at a red light is a good opportunity to relax and do so some cleansing breaths, or use the time just to tune in to your body and your breathing. If you are stuck in traffic, loosen your grip on the wheel. Check your shoulders and your posture. Scan your body, bringing awareness and breath to any places where you find you are holding tension. Breathe as you wiggle and relax your jaw, your neck, and your shoulders.

Treadmill 

When you are on the treadmill at the gym, breathe in rhythm to your footsteps. Use the time to work your way through the body, breathing into every part or place you are conscious of. Be conscious of unnecessary tension or effort. Relax any muscles you don’t need to maintain your pace and form. You can also practice breathing into your chakras, repeating an affirmation, mantra, or power statement as you turn your attention and move through each one. (A chakra is a point of subtle energy described in yoga texts. Our body has seven of them, and it is said that the energy in our chakras spins like a wheel. We will discuss them in more detail in the section on Binnie Dansby and Source Process, Letting Go of Life-Limiting Thoughts.) 

Headache 

Breathe gently into the epicenter of the pain, using your breath to move all your attention into the pain. Then exhale softly and deeply, relaxing the muscles or the area around the pain and tension. Look for details . Is there a shape to the pain? Does it have borders? Does it have a texture? Does it have a temperature? This isn’t about analysis, it’s about feeling. Use your breath to bring energy, relaxation, and awareness to the pain. Do this for a few minutes and watch how the sensations move and shift and change. And don’t be surprised if the headache passes.

Listening

During meetings or conversations, use your breath as a listening tool and to deepen your listening. Use your breath to take in a sense of the person’s words. Also, notice what happens to your breathing when you are triggered by something that someone says, or when you are waiting to interject your own ideas in response. Feel your breath from your heart. Use the breath to listen from your heart. 

Public Speaking

When it is your opportunity to speak, feel like you are using the breath to power your voice. Put yourself into a high-energy state and use your breath to channel this energy and to project your voice. Use the inhale to charge up, feel it fill you with confidence, and straighten and adjust your posture. Be conscious of breathing with your diaphragm, and feel your belly button moving toward your spine as you speak. 

Boredom

If your mind starts to wander or you get bored, turn to your breath and use the opportunity to practice a mindfulness technique. Feel your feet on the floor. Feel the breath in your belly. Take in fresh energy and decide to focus. Become the watcher of your thoughts, judgments, and the nature of the mind wandering. Keep returning to the feeling of the breath in your belly. 

Standing in Line 

When you are in the middle of an unruly crowd, or you are waiting and there is nothing you can do about it, it’s easy to get impatient and irritable. Instead, make a different choice. It’s a wonderful opportunity to affect change in the world without anyone knowing. Focus on your heart, and expand your inhales as you breathe compassion toward yourself and toward the people around you, who are in the same predicament. 

Busy Mind

Give yourself three long, slow expansive breaths, sending the breath low into your belly, filling it consciously. Focus on your body, on the physical feelings and sensations of expansion, as the breath overflows upward and fills your chest, then let the breath out slowly and very consciously. Then do a few minutes of paced breathing, five seconds in and five seconds out. End by practicing internal and situational awareness. 

Everyday Breathing One of the main points of breathwork is to integrate Breath Awareness and Conscious Breathing into our everyday lives. This adds a special quality to every experience. It keeps us connected to our spirit, it allows us to squeeze more juice out of life, and it helps us to be the best version of ourselves in all that we do.