Different breathing patterns yield different benefits. If you’re looking for breathwork practices for stress, you will want to try a technique that’s different from what someone would use if they were looking to increase energy levels. In this article, we’ll cover the four most common breathwork techniques so you can find the one that works best for you!

Down-regulating Breathwork for Stress and Relaxation

Down-regulating breathwork, also known as relaxing breathwork, involves deep breathing at slow rates (usually around 5-6 breaths per minute) with equal inhale and exhale lengths or slightly longer exhalations. This slow breathing technique is intended to activate our calming parasympathetic nervous system which encourages organs like our heart, lungs, and nervous system to work together in unity. As a result, our heart rate variability (HRV) produces the maximum health benefits and the gas exchange in our lungs greatly improves.

When relaxing breathwork is practiced with an equal inhale and exhale length (for example, 5 seconds in and 5 seconds out), it is generally more balancing to the nervous system because we’re spending equal time in the inhale (sympathetic) and exhale (parasympathetic) states. This approach has been shown to enhance HRV and provides an appropriate starting point for beginners to slow breathing (Lin et al. 2014; Mason et al. 2013).

Because we spend more time in the parasympathetic state during down-regulating breathwork practices, these longer exhalations prove to be more calming. If you’re not sure where to start out with down-regulating breathwork, the 40/60 rule is a great rule of them. This means that 40% of your breath is spent inhaling and 60% is spent exhaling (Khazan 2019; Lagos 2020). This specific down-regulating breathwork technique means 60% of your breath is spent in the parasympathetic state, naturally resulting in a calming, serene feeling. Other practical extended exhalation methods include breathing at a 1:2 ratio, where your exhale is double the length of your inhale, or the 4-7-8 breath (4 sec inhale, 7 sec hold, 8 sec exhale) designed by Dr. Andrew Weil to help you fall asleep faster.

4:6 Calm With Mel

Up-regulating Breathwork for Energy

Energizing breathwork can help us feel more alert without the use of external supplements like caffeine. Engaging with the breath in this way involves deliberately breathing to simulate stress. When we do this, we activate our sympathetic nervous system and send signals to the brain that say it’s time to wake up and be alert. 

One breathing pattern that will send these signals to the brain is fast breathing, especially through the mouth and up in the chest. Rapid breathing activates the fight-or-flight response. When used in a controlled manner through breathwork, this stress signal can be deliberately harnessed to provide more energy and focus.

Another way you can increase energy is by lengthening inhales and shortening exhales. Inhalations are more sympathetic dominant (fight-or-flight), while exhalations are more parasympathetic dominant (rest-and-digest). This effect leads to an increase in heart rate during inhalation and a decrease during exhalation. 

6:2 Wake Up With Ally

Balancing Breathwork for Beginners

Slow breathing itself is often used as a core breathwork practice, and it has a host of similar benefits. For instance, slow breathing brings your lungs, heart, and nervous system into synchronization, making them work more efficiently (​​Lehrer and Gevirtz 2014). This specific breathwork practice also lowers blood pressure, reduces anxiety, improves focus, and increases heart rate variability, similar to meditation.

Many people find breathwork to be an accessible alternative to meditation. As breathing expert Dr. Belisa Vranch puts it, “Breathing is meditation for people who can’t meditate,” as it provides the anchor or focus that many need to quiet the mind. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika states that “When the Breath wanders, the mind is unsteady, but when the Breath is still, so is the mind still.” Modern research is now beginning to back up these ancient claims. 

The Perfect Breath With George

Functional Breathwork for Everyday

By using breathwork to learn to tolerate higher levels of CO2, you can reduce the urge for bigger breaths, allowing you to breathe more slowly. This will help keep your nervous system more balanced and your muscles and organs more oxygenated. CO2 is not simply a waste gas but a critical component of getting oxygen into the working muscles, tissues, and cells that need it most (the Bohr effect). However, it’s even more important than that–it’s also the primary trigger behind every breath you take. When you feel out of breath, it’s not that the body is craving more oxygen, but that it senses high levels of CO2. The discomfort and agitation from increased levels of CO2 trigger our instinct to gasp for a big breath of air. Thus, the onset and level of breathlessness a person can withstand is partially the result of their tolerance to CO2. 

By delaying the onset of breathlessness, you’ll be able to maintain nasal breathing over longer periods of your workout. The nose is critical for warming and humidifying air for the lungs, optimizing gas exchange, reducing dehydration, and ultimately improving whole-body oxygenation (Lundberg et al. 1996). Thus, by enhancing your CO2 tolerance, you’ll also be able to maintain your ability to harness these benefits of nasal breathing.

Functional Breathwork With Rory