There are many reasons to stay in bed and mull things over – the crap state of the world, working out how badly hungover you are, replaying difficult conversations that you need to have but have been delaying. On the other side of that coin, Breathwork can offer something magnificent to start your engine. Here are 5 reasons why you need to do Breathwork daily.
Reason No. 1 – It’s normal to feel a little slow in the morning and you DO need something to help move stuck energy
Get up soon after dawn and get moving with your breath. I use the Wim Hof method – I use the app on 4 rounds – to help wake me up without moving my body. Don’t get caught up using your smartphone for other things! Turn it off straight after you finish and complete your morning exercise routine. This style of of rapid breathing and breathholds really does help break negative thought patterns which are very common first thing in the morning.
Reason No. 2 – It expands your lung capacity and brings awareness to when you are not breathing optimally
Doing an intensive breath workout in the morning improves your ability to be aware of shallow breathing, holding your breath, or starting to get anxious in your belly. Once you have awareness, it’s easier to correct.
Reason No. 3 – You start to use your accessory muscles for breathing rather than your diaphragm for daily breathing
Many of us have deep patterns of restricted diaphragmatic breathing. So other muscles come into play to compensate for the lack of movement e.g. the scalenes group, the sternocleidomastoid in the neck, the internal intercostal muscles between the ribs, pectoralis minor and the abodominals. This can impact digestion, and good posture, trigger exercise-induced breathlessness, and trigger neck and back pain. So training your diaphragm to move past the tension is important.
Reason No. 4 – It will relax you
Although you need to use effort to take deep rapid breaths at the beginning of the day, the benefits of starting the day with the parasympathetic nervous system activated are many – greater focus and less grumpiness are high on my benefit list.
Reason No. 5 – You can gain insights and inspiration just by doing something with your breath
The word used for taking a breath and feeling inspired is the same word ‘inspiration’. You may gain an insight into what is the most important thing to achieve for the day. Or it may bring you more insight into your dream world that you just exited from. Be prepared for the inspiration to strike (although it doesn’t do this every morning!)
Just keep breathing every morning!
With some persistence, the above 5 reasons to do Breathwork practice daily are infinite. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the heart and lungs have a reciprocal relationship, with the lungs infusing the heart with qi to ensure it beats normally. The lungs are also responsible for respiration, which is closely related to the body’s other functions.