While I don't doubt there's a way to breathe so wrong that it has negative effects, I'm sceptical.

But I wouldn't think twice about swimming alone, so maybe I live on the edge.

https://breathing-trainer.replit.app/

In other words: Lowering your CO2 sensitivity and learning to breathe slowly by doing breathwork is a skill worth acquiring. Your brain going into panic mode in a comparatively relaxed breathing mode could be an indication that your CO2 sensitivity is rather high.

It's completely fine imo and I don't think there's a need to get hung up on details like hitting a prescribed 4-4-4-4. 3-3-0-3 would be ok too.

Her approach adapted breathing patterns to listen to your body's internal signals for when to breath in and out.

On a personal note, I realized through breathwork that I was taking deep breaths incorrectly for most of my life. Maybe it's my anatomy, but when I take a deep, fast breath, my nostrils constrict and limit the airflow. It was a real breakthrough for me when I learned to focus on my diaphram while flaring my nostrils. The breaths I can take are so much more satisfying.

https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/b68ec804-ba42-4194-b405-d1f...

Don’t a lot about the author. I just came across the doc on Reddit and the practical parts of what’s described checked out.

Breathing through the nose, in for a count of three and out for five, then repeat.

As long as the outbreath is longer than the inbreath, you will get some effect.

Could also try relaxing first by massaging the Vagus nerve. An easy way to start with that is to massage in a circular motion the skin area in front of the Tragus (front skin flap) on each ear.

You can combine that with the measured breathing for added effect. They both stimulate the Parasympathetic nervous system.

But overall if you're laying down doing wim hof breathing, I'd say no.

And of course individuals might have circumstances or conditions that do make it dangerous. They always tell you not to do it if you're pregnant, for example.

A few years ago I was determined to practice, and it was hard, and then it became easy, auto-relaxing, like a cheat.

I lost that practice and now it's hard again.

I think GP is right to question technique vs. attention - I think we don't know much about the answer.

But a point I recall in Nestors book is that there isn't really a lot of scientific study on breath - there is much more study on specific diseases, and e.g. teeth have a full profession of study and development that the everyday act of breathing doesn't have (even though these might be highly related!).

<Opinionated> Some of the best references about breath today are not scientific, but written in the oldest books that survived in different cultures - and anyways, how much does the specific mechanism matter?

Watch this space though - science is catching up! </>

cures isn't the right word, but it lets you set conditions in your body once you've practiced for a bit. slow, deep breathing can help you remain calm and focused. inversely, quick, shallow breaths lead to a bit of hyperoxia and can help bring your emotions to a more intense state as well as basically "banking" oxygen for short bursts of physical activity. It's about being in control of your body and mind, and gaining that control through experimentation and observation. There are already a couple examples of the science behind breathwork in this thread but I feel compelled to point out that breath work is the foundation of meditation and practiced meditators have shown truly incredible control over their bodies and emotions.

The primary source of benefits from breathwork is believed to be controlling the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal hormonal axis in the body. These three glands are basically in charge of the body's stress hormones, and those stress hormones are how the body broadcasts to all of its constituent parts what state the body is in and leaves each part to respond appropriately. So in someone with a hyperactive HPA axis you're going to see the immune system overrespond because the body is getting ready to deal with wounds that could become infected, you're going to see the cardiovascular system overrespond to prepare for phsyical exertion, you're going to see the digestive system underrespond because now's not the time to break down that sandwich there's a goddamned bear chasing me, all sorts of ways your body optimizes for emergency mode when the HPA axis is active.

Thing is, what triggers emergency mode has changed a lot as we've developed as a species. Used to be the aforementioned bear. A bear is an emergency, but it's a 5 minute emergency. After 5 minutes it's over and either you survived it or you didn't. Now our lives are so complex and weird that people have emergencies that last decades. Trying to pay the rent with a minimum wage job is arguably an emergency that lasts your entire adult life and the HPA axis is responding to very real fears of having no food, nowhere to live, no social status and other things that matter to us on a biological level. If the HPA pathway remains too active for too long all of those downstream systems I mention earlier start malfunctioning because they've been running permanently in a mode that was only ever intended to be temporary. The ability to consciously take control of that by regulating your breath and focus doesn't just make you feel calmer, it allows those systems that have been redlining for a long time to take their foot off of the gas. It can lower your blood pressure and heart rate, which lowers the risk of heart attack and stroke. Its linked to abatement of symptoms in things as disparate as lupus, irritable bowel syndrome, adhd, dementia and fibromyalgia. Not to mention that people report being happier, less stressed and more engaged with their lives and loved ones with 20 minutes/day of just sitting quietly and paying attention to how their breathing works without actually trying to alter it at all.

tldr - it's linked to relief in several conditions

most of my info (prolly all of it tbh) comes from Dr K's lectures at healthygamer.gg - full disclosure, i don't work for them, i don't get paid by them, they don't know i exist but i am a member who has worked through a couple of their courses. They also have a youtube channel if you want an opportunity to check out some of the info for free.