Breathwork: Enhance Your Employee Wellness Goals This 2022

We are all ignorant that correct or conscious breathwork is vital to our health and wellness. Although we know that, it is the essence of all living entities. Breathing signifies the magnitude of being alive; hence it is indispensable.

Breathing is letting the oxygen suffuse in the body. Oxygen helps the human body sustain; 90 percent of our biochemical and metabolic activities need oxygen. Therefore, following an appropriate technique for insufflation is crucial to let sufficient oxygen inflow into our mind and body. But, how vigilant are you about your breathing?

Understanding Breathwork: The Art of Breathing

Breathing is the fundamental unit of risk, the atom of inner courage that leads us into authentic living. With each breath, we practice opening, taking in, and releasing. Literally, the teacher is under our nose. When anxious, we simply have to remember to breathe.
– Mark Nepo

The word 'spirit' derives from the word spiritus in Latin, meaning "breathing." breath and spirit are connected in many other languages as well. Like in Hebrew (Ruach meaning "spirit, breath, wind, and mind") and Greek (pneuma meaning "air, soul, breath"). Breath is the physical manifestation of your chi (qi), prana, or lifeforce energy.

It is instrumental to breathe consciously to remain healthy. A mindful breath can accelerate vitality. Deep and proper breathing allows us to connect to greater spiritual wellness, stay calm and composed all day long.

Also, it can serve as a guide to the well-being of the mind, body, and soul. Conscious inhalation of air decreases stress and anxiety, energizes the body, keeps vibrational energy intact, and allows deeper self-introspection.

Breathwork is an ancient technique that needs to be infused into modern lives to enhance a healthy lifestyle. For example, one can go out for a walk in nature early in the morning and inhale some fresh air to exercise breathwork.

Related: 5 Ways To Rebuild Emotional Agility In The Workplace

Simplest Breathing Exercise Of All Time

1. Take in the air gently and deep through your nose. And let your shoulder muscles relax.
2. Calmly exhale the air through your mouth, keeping the jaws relaxed.
3. Repeat the exercise until you revert to the state of mindfulness.

Breathwork As A Wellness Strategy At The Workplace

Employee wellness and well-being are overriding factors at the workplace. Individuals who are physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually sound tend to perform better at work. Issues like stress, poor lifestyle choices, etc, limit one's capability to accomplish excellency at work. And, identifying the issues in employees and offering them support is something every corporation must offer.

One best way to do so is to adopt a breathwork strategy. This can be done by asking employees to start their day with breathwork or providing them with sessions that include mindfulness meditation. This way, they can begin their work with a relaxed mindset and be calm the entire day despite the work pressure.

Besides, employees can be provided with health and wellness apps that support guided meditation audios. Employees can fully utilize the platform whenever and wherever they want, even during their working hours. De-stressing is essential between 9-5, which will allow productivity and creativity to flow simultaneously.

Practicing breathwork can also make a big difference by enhancing good mood and open communication among colleagues. It can keep a person undisturbed by negative thoughts. Besides, strengthening a positive work culture and the environment by implementing well-being techniques is vital for the 21st-century workforce.

Why not make your corporate wellness program easy and exciting? Vantage Fit has the most advantaged employee health and wellness solutions and integration to offer your employees.

Benefits

The importance of breathing need hardly be stressed. It provides the oxygen for the metabolic processes; literally it supports the fires of life. But breath as "pneuma" is also the spirit or soul. We live in an ocean of air like fish in a body of water. By our breathing we are attuned to our atmosphere. If we inhibit our breathing we isolate ourselves from the medium in which we exist. In all Oriental and mystic philosophies, the breath holds the secret to the highest bliss. That is why breathing is the dominant factor in the practice of Yoga.
– Alexander Lowen, The Voice of the Body

• Relaxing the nervous system
• Lessening anxiety and stress
• Helping overcome depression
• Decreasing body inflammation
• Enhancing intellectual wellness
• Providing energy and vitality
• Promoting spiritual well-being
• Stimulating positive thinking
• Increasing mindfulness and holistic wellness
• Enhancing mental wellness
• Boosting immunity
• Alkalizing the blood

Types of Breathwork

Here are the types of breathwork that you can promote at the workplace;

1. Pranayama

The word pranayama comes from two Sanskrit words, Prana and Ayama. "Prana" means life force or breath sustaining the body; "Ayama" translates as "to extend or draw out." Together, the two mean breath extension or control."

When one feels anxious, their breathing involuntarily becomes shallow and rapid. At the same time, your body produces hormones such as epinephrine and cortisol, increasing blood pressure and pulse rate. It also makes your mind highly attentive.

2. Rebirthing Breathwork

Rebirthing is a breathing method that connects one's subconscious mind, which dwells on profound impulses, thoughts, and beliefs. It can help heal internally with issues, suffering, and difficulties concerning well-being. It is also a simple tool to enhance positive emotions.

The Rebirthing Breathwork technique was invented and perfected by Leonard Orr in the 1970s. This technique helps lead a life of excellence, positivity, abundance, spiritual and intellectual transparency if mastered correctly.

3. Holotropic Breathwork

For emotional agility and personal wellness, holotropic breathwork works the best. The process involves fast breathing that helps balance the carbon dioxide and oxygen in the body. Listening to soothing music while practicing this technique can be helpful.

According to a study in 1996, participants in breathwork therapy found a significant change in death anxiety and increased self-esteem. In 2013, 11,000 people over 12 years who participated in holotropic breathwork sessions suggested treating mental and life-related problems. And the 2015 study found that holotropic breathing helps achieve self-awareness at its best.

It is a well-liked self-healing technique that involves controlling and quickening breathing patterns. Holotropic allows self-consciousness to develop and eradicate psychological well-being conditions affecting overall bodily functioning or issues.

4. BioDynamic Breathwork

Gitan Tonkov, the founder of the BioDynamic Breathwork, said that "People become more capable of supporting others to do the same. It's not knowledge based on academics. It is based on creating space and relaxation in your physical body."

Tonkov's BioDynamic and trauma release system is based on somatic therapy that combines breath, conscious movement, energy, and bodywork. The categories of biodynamic breathwork are experienced in both psychological and physical ways - breath, movement, sound, touch, emotion, and meditation. It balances the internal system through deep breathing, tissue/muscle release, fluid motion, and energy purification to live a profound life.

This approach recognizes that trauma may be stored through emotional patterns, chronic stress, and illness. The breathwork sessions involve deep, connected breathing and revisiting ingrained memories and sensations, including sound healing, vocalization, whole-body shaking, and dance therapy.

5. Wim Hof Breathwork

The beauty of the Wim Hof Method breathwork is that there is a basic format, with room for making it work for you as an individual
– Casey

Wim Hof, The Iceman, is known for his extreme athlete noted for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures. He holds the world record for spending the longest in an ice bath. His self-developed techniques can make the human body more resilient in the face of physical and psychological stress.

The Wim Hof technique involves breathing that focuses on rhythmic inhalations and exhalations, described by Wim as 'controlled hyperventilation or power breathing'. Practicing the Wim Hof Method will release your inner spirit. It is followed by holding your breath for a certain amount of time. There are three pillars to the Wim Hof Method:

• breathing
• cold therapy
• commitment

Practicing Wim Hof breathing exercises will help release energy, influence the nervous system and change the responses of the body and mind.

Tips To Practice Breathwork At Office

For better focus, creativity, and relaxation, the following measures are recommended;

1. Conduct a 5 minutes breathing session in the morning after everyone's arrival
2. Allow employees to take breaks in between work
3. Emphasize the importance of mindfulness at the workplace
4. Keep an open space for employees to breathe and relax
5. Design a biophilic workspace
6. Set up a small meditation room

Read: 13 Mindfulness Meditation Exercises To Improve Your Employees Well-being

Bottom Line

Putting an effort to cut down workers' stress is a new culture.

To keep up with the trend, companies today have become open-minded and are offering contemporary ways to improve the lives of their employees. Emphasizing that, alongside work, it is vital to look into matters of personal well-being.

It is quite common for employees to get caught feeling that makes you feel mentally and physically exhausted. But, taking breathing breaks will help employees be consistent and extra resilient at work.

This article is written by Parismita Goswami who is a content writer and marketer at Vantage Circle. A feverish poet and cinephile with an intense taste for music, specifically rock, she has the heart of an explorer, learner, and is a lover of the Himalayas. To get in touch, reach out to editor@vantagecircle.com