Breathwork is a great way to reduce stress and promote overall well-being. If you’re new to breathwork, it helps to understand some of the terms used and how this practice can help you.

What is Breathwork?

The term breathwork refers to any exercise or therapy that uses breathing as a tool for wellness. If you have ever taken a time out for deep breaths in a stressful situation, you have done breathwork. Exercises vary, but all generally involve focusing on and intentionally changing your breathing patterns.

The purpose of breathwork is to promote or improve mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. You can use it to maintain wellness or cope with stressful situations, a bad mood, or a negative emotional reaction. Many people use breathwork along with meditation, yoga, and similar practices.

The Benefits of Breathwork

The primary underlying mode of action in breathwork isthe relaxation response. When you focus on taking slow, deep breaths, you can shift a stress response in your body to one of relaxation. Studies show that diaphragmatic breathing reduces stress and anxiety and lowers blood pressure. It may also help with:

• Self-awareness
• Emotional processing
• Addictive behaviors
• Anger
• Chronic pain
• Depression
• Immunity

Breathwork Terms and Types

If you start reading about breathwork, you’ll come across a lot of different types of breaths and breathing patterns, which can be confusing. Here are some of the terms used in breathwork and what they mean:

• Oceanic breathing. This comes from vinyasa yoga and involves long, full, and deeply controlled breaths. Benefits include increased oxygen consumption during yoga practice and relaxation.
• Flame breathing. Also used in yoga, flame breathing is inhaling normally and exhaling forcefully and rapidly. It is used in Kundalini yoga and may reduce stress and improve concentration and respiration.
• Joy breath. Also known as the breath of joy, this practice is energizing and a good way to start the day. It is a three-part yoga breath exercise that involves breathing deeply and intentionally as you raise your arms and exhaling fully into a knee bend.
• Bee breath. The bee breath in yoga uses a humming sound on the exhale of each breath to promote relaxation.
• Color breathing. During color breathing, you picture inhaling one color and exhaling its opposite. You can choose the colors based on the purpose of your breathing exercise. For instance, blue is the color of relaxation. If you are battling stress, imagine inhaling blue air and exhaling orange, its complementary color.
• Breathing bubble. This is also known as balloon breathing. It is a simple exercise in which you picture your belly as an expanding bubble as you inhale deeply. Imagine it deflating as you exhale.
• Rainbow breathing. Therapists often use this strategy with children, but anyone can use it. With a picture of a rainbow in front of you, trace each color, one at a time, with your finger. Inhale going up the rainbow, and exhale coming back down the other side. The rainbow is a tool for focusing on breathing.

Anyone can do and benefit from breathwork. You don’t need to know all the terms, but as you explore breathing exercises, you might try different breath types. Start with the BetterSleep app, which hasguided meditations and breathing exercises perfect for beginners.