The more conscious we are of our breath, the more consciously we respond to our inner and outer world.
These words came to me when I first started my breathwork practice, Transition Breath. Of all the real benefits of breathwork, one of the most rewarding has been the enhancement of my breath awareness. It’s this growing awareness of my breath that has transformed much of my interactions throughout life, in particular, my working life.
Many years ago, before I had ever tried meditation or breathwork, the breath propelled me out of a life and lifestyle that was not in resonance with my heart’s calling. In my early twenties, I was managing a hotel, and the externalised and internalised pressure was building; so too was my anxiety and depression. Excessive drinking and smoking had become my coping mechanisms, along with dissociation through long working hours and video games. I was trapped within a world of my own making, yet hijacked by my victim mentality. Self-doubt, remorse, regret and self-loathing had become a normalised mental state. It was within these experiences that a transformative event occurred – a panic attack.
I remember this event very clearly. I slipped away into an empty hotel room, uncontrollably breathing, convinced I was about to die. Eventually, I was able to get my breath and my panicked mind back under control. Although terrifying, this event has become one of the most important catalysts of my life; it was an initiation and indication that it was time to change. I quit my job and booked a one-way ticket to the Middle East, which became an 18-month global journey that introduced me to the spiritual practices that remain with me today.
Upon my return to Australia and re-entry into professional work environments, I soon realised my work-place anxiety remained. Feelings of suffocation, overwhelm and sympathetic overdrive was the norm, somewhat buffered by my newly found meditation practices. It wasn’t until I was introduced to breathwork that I came to appreciate and understand the major contributing force to these feelings was my breath (or lack thereof). The feelings of suffocation and overwhelm was induced by me unconsciously holding my breath or shallow breathing at work.
In the beginning, these realisations were after the fact – I’d be riddled with anxiety, and I’d check in and realise I wasn’t breathing. It was hard at first, breathing into my chest when it felt like someone was sitting on my chest. But over time, it got easier. I trained myself first to identify the emotion and then check in with my breathing. The more I did this practice, the more comfortable and less stressful work became. This practice, in addition to the exploration of my subconsciousness with therapeutic breathwork, helped me immensely in both professional and personal environments.
Of course, I’m not alone, and many people in workplaces have spoken to me of their difficulties breathing at work. This tendency to not breathe is linked to our relationship and reliance on technology. Researcher, Linda Stone, coined the terms email apnea or screen apnea to describe this phenomenon. Research has found people, when using computers or looking at their mobile devices, unconsciously hold their breath or start shallow breathing. Linda Stone’s research has revealed 80 per cent of participants demonstrated email/screen apnea. Interestingly, dancers, musicians, high-performance athletes and a test pilot did not.
Think about this finding more deeply for a minute. Think about yourself and all the hours in front of a screen. Picture all your colleagues, all the hours spent in front of computers. Think of the billions of people each day who spend most of their waking hours in front of a computer or a mobile device. Think of all the breath-holding, shallow breathing that is taking place across the globe right now. Think about the impacts screen/email apnea is having on our mental and physical health, similar to sleep apnea – hypertension, neurological disorders, autoimmune diseases and more.
Now breathe, deeply.
Our workplaces invest significant time and energy making sure we are sitting at our computer appropriately, with the right ergonomic arrangement to support our physical health. Workplace mental health programs provide useful support for our mental wellbeing. But how many workplaces emphasise the importance of breath awareness or implement breathing programs? How many of us are even aware of screen or email apnea? Although a term not widely known, it’s gaining attention. The US National Institute of Health has commenced a study into the effects of sceen and email apnea over the past decade. Watch this space.
In the meantime, begin to engage your breath each day with these steps:
Learn some simple breathing techniques, such as coherent breathing or 3-4-5 breathing;
Join Breathing Club and practice breathing in a group with the support of a qualified professional;
Commence your breathwork practice to increase breath awareness and understanding of the subconscious material that affects your professional and personal life;
Practice embodiment techniques that keep you engaged with your physicality (such as grounding, stretching, yoga);
Meditate daily;
Take time away from your computer or device each day and practise deep diaphragmatic breathing; and
Support your colleagues by taking a deep, vocal inhale and exhale, to help remind them to breathe.
For more information about breathwork and conscious breathing, go to www.transitionbreath.com.