Originally written by Reuben Brody, LCSW when they practiced at Just Mind. Clinically reviewed by Teri Schroeder, LCSW.
Is breathing deeply good for you? Well, even the Navy SEALs use breathwork to self-regulate.
“The cold is the greatest teacher,” says Wim Hof. Then he plunges into a frozen lake and swims under the ice without taking a breath.
Wim has also climbed partway up Everest in shorts, surmounted Mount Sniezka in Poland in the dead of winter in nothing but shorts and sat submerged in an ice bath for nearly two hours while maintaining a stable core body temperature.
Though the media has dubbed him superhuman, he prefers Iceman. He’s not some freak of nature. He’s Dutch, lives on a houseboat and appears to be balding. He credits his tolerance for extremes to a simple yet time-consuming breathing practice he teaches, paired with cold exposure.
Does it work? I’ve done it, and yes, it is impressive. I went from being able to hold my breath for 20 seconds to close to five minutes. (One caution if you try it: never practice breath-holding exercises in or near water.) I found (when I was practicing it) that I could endure the Pacific in winter sans a wetsuit, and that I longed for cold showers. I managed stress better, and went to David Lynchian levels in my Transcendental Meditation practice.
My practice has atrophied, but my understanding of the power of breathing has not. There are plenty of exercises to use in lieu of Hof’s brand, and they are far less time consuming and still harbor benefits.
Why Shallow Breathing Adds to Stress
Breathing is so simple, yet it’s so often overlooked in our daily lives. You’re reading this, perhaps at your desk, and dollars to donuts you’re taking shallow breaths, a pattern that tends to feed stress.
When you inhale, you take in oxygen your body runs on, and when you exhale, you let go of carbon dioxide. When you are stressed or scared, your nervous system kicks into fight-or-flight, and your breathing tends to get fast, shallow or erratic. That physical stress state feeds anxious thoughts, and it shows up in your body too, in a racing heart or a tight chest.
Breathing and the CBT Triangle
Emotional and cognitive reactions may work in concert but they do so with a rotating maestro. Cognitive behavioral therapists describe this with a triangle. Its three points are thoughts, feelings and behaviors, and each one influences the other two. These points on the triangle are two-way streets. How you think can influence how you behave and feel, yet how you behave can influence how you think and feel, etc.
Breathing is part of your behavior. You may have a nervous thought that’s throwing off your breathing, and fixing the thought could lead to physiological improvement. However, you may not know what’s making you feel anxious, and this lack of awareness has your mind running in circles trying to solve the problem, and that has your breathing all out of whack, which makes everything worse. The algebra of the CBT Triangle lets you solve for thoughts and feelings by working on behavior and vice versa.
Breathwork is a key to solving the equation for Behavior. By steadying your breath you can calm the body to a point where it may see things clearly. It will alleviate stress, which can help you confront the issue head on, or it will create space for you to acknowledge the problem. After that you can validate the issue and replace it with a better thought.
A Simple Breathing Technique to Try
The Wim Hof Method is rather complex and involves some extreme exercises, so if it appeals to you, check with your doctor first. However, in a pinch, the CBT breathing technique is far simpler. To do it, sit comfortably in a chair, feet on the floor and calmly breathe into your diaphragm for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, and hold again for four seconds; rinse and repeat for five to ten minutes. The Navy SEALs also use a version of this technique, called Box Breathing, to help them with battle stress. Research backs up the simple version, too. In a 2023 randomized study, five minutes a day of structured breathing for a month, box breathing included, improved mood more than the same time spent in mindfulness meditation. The biggest gains came from cyclic sighing, which stretches out the exhale.
So, Is Breathing Deeply Good for You?
Whether it’s war, a polar bear swim, or a public speaking engagement, stress wrecks the body and the mind. But thinking of it as a teacher is a positive way to look at it. When I was struggling with anxiety I set reminders to practice breathing throughout the day, and I would use it when confronted with various triggers, too: if I was in a Lyft, or if I was in a long check-out line.
Practice does make perfect.
If you would like more insight into breathing and how it can benefit you or if you simply want more practice with how you can implement mindful breathing into your daily life, you can contact us to make a counseling appointment. If you would like more information, you can read more about personal growth counseling on our dedicated page.
Photo by Fabian Møller on Unsplash
