Please read the following introduction:

Breathwork Practices

Consider these questions:

1. Have you tried any of these methods before?  If so, what did you learn from the experience?
2. What method is most interesting, intriguing or intimidating to you and why?

Breath provides powerful tools to proactively condition our nervous system and emotional reactions.

Please read this short piece which looks at the powerful emotions and feelings that can be evoked by breath (or in this case, not breathing), and the surprising degree to which we are able to shift and shape these reactions through conscious awareness and conditioning.

The Power of Not Breathing

1. What topics were you most curious about?
2. What topics made you feel uneasy, uncomfortable, overwhelmed, etc?
3. What surprised you?
4. Which descriptions most resonated with you and why?

Breathwork techniques combined with meditation - an example of what we call high intensity meditation, are powerful ways to calm our nervous system and quiet our minds.

Please read the following short vignette:

Vignette: Learning to Breathe

1. Can you think of a situation you been in lately where you felt ungrounded, out of control, anxious, nervous?
2. What did you do in that situation?
3. Would a basic grounding practice have worked?  Or did you need something more powerful?

Breathwork practices are simple and reward practice.

We provide starting points for several breath techniques. You will find that there are many variations, and that you will develop your own personal technique as you practice.

Breathwork Sampler

There are many valuable resources on the Internet and in print.  We list a few we have found particularly useful below:

Breath by James Nestor - the author explores several breath modalities, from a journalist and layman’s perspective.   Here are his top 5 breath techniques and the reasoning behind them.

Just Breathe by Dan Brulé - the author has worked in breathwork since the 1970s.  Website.

Holotropic Breathwork - Technique developed by Stanislaus Grof in the 1970s, with many of the same effects as a psychedelic medicine experience.  In the early chapters they provide a brief introduction to transpersonal psychology and how it is accessed through breathwork.  This video from Yoga Journal demonstrates a shortened version of breathwork.

Oxygen Advantage - Performance oriented breathing - including mouth and nose breathing, coherence breathing.  Patrick McKeown’s TedX Talk.

Wim Hopf Method - Practical and entertaining, with Wim Hopf’s characteristic high energy.  Also includes sections on hot and cold plunges, immune system.  Here is a short introductory video.

Breathing with heart rate variability -   Tim Ferris talks about working with Dr. Leah Lagos and summarizes the HRV approach.  Ted talk by Inna Khazan explaining heart rate variability.

Freedivers push the limits of human physiology and the mind, accessing deep meditative states.  In this video, Guillaume Nery describes his experience breaking the world record of 123 meters.  There are numerous resources on the internet on freediving practices.  All advise training with professional instructors.

Known for his feats of physical and mental endurance, magician David Blaine describes his experience in breaking the world record of 17 minutes for a breath hold.

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