When we think of breathwork what often comes to mind are slow breathing techniques, for example, box breathing or inhaling for four seconds, holding for seven seconds and exhaling for eight seconds. Whilst these breathing techniques are definitely helpful and have a lot of research to back them up, people sometimes don’t realise that there are actually two categories of breathwork.
We spoke to Dr Cathy Scanlon, a breathwork and meditation coach, who says her background in neuroscience has allowed her to connect with a wider community. Dr Scanlon explains that: “Breathwork as a term just means controlling your breath, that’s all it means. You then go down to the different types, very generally there are two types: one is slow deep breathing and the other active breathwork.”
So, let’s get into it.
What is the difference between slow and active breathing?
In a nutshell, slow breathing involves calming the nervous system by taking long controlled exhales. During active breathing you do the opposite and take lengthy inhales which activate your nervous system.
Dr Scanlon explains that while slow breathing should leave you feeling calmer, “to see the results you need to be practising at least five times a week for at least 10 minutes per day for six weeks before you start noticing an effect from slow breathing”. Active breathing will leave you feeling “floaty”.
“This can be called conscious connected breath work or holotropic breathwork”, she adds.
“You are not going to get the cathartic therapeutic benefit from the slow breathing. People will find either emotional release or mental clarity those are the two things you can’t get from a lot of things, that’s my favourite thing about it.”
How exactly does holotropic breathing work?
Dr Scanlon describes holotropic breathing as one of the most intense kinds of active breathwork.
She says: “When I first heard about breathwork I was really scared of holotrophic breathwork. Once you start learning it yourself you learn that it is very intense.
“If you are doing holotropic breathwork you might go for a retreat and release all your trauma and have an outer galactic experience and that is amazing,” she adds.
Dr Scanlon mentions how holotropic breathing can cause people to have similar experiences to those taking psychedelics like ayahuasca and magic mushrooms. She says: “It is mad in the sense you are going to have these trippy feelings with all these memories coming up.
“People say it is like therapy without talking,” she continues.
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What kind of benefits can you see from practising breathwork?
“So, I guess the active and slow methods are the same but different. The ones that overlap are like heart and lung health (if you’re doing it every day)” Dr Scanlon says.
She also explains that “breathwork studies show that the ability to calm down after stresses is quicker”.
“They talk about parasympathetic dominance as well because you are going to spend more time in rest (parasympathetic dominance) rather than sympathetic dominance”.
Reduced depression and anxiety scores are also present in both active and slow breathwork, Dr. Scanlon adds.
Can you combine breathwork and meditation?
“I will always advocate for anyone who has found meditation really hard”, she states.
“Breathwork is so much easier than meditation in that you have something to focus on. Most of the people who feel like they need it (meditation) are probably anxious or overthinking and when you sit down and do nothing it is very overwhelming” she explains.
She recommends that people try a few rounds of active breathwork and then try some meditation afterwards.
“You are breathing in a certain way to get the physiology of your body to change. So, you are almost getting the body to get the mind to relax and then it is quite easy to do meditation,” she adds.
Why do we hear a lot about slow breathing and not so much about active breathing?
Dr Scanlon reveals that when you look up breathwork online you are usually inundated with slow breathing techniques and how good they are for you.
Although she doesn’t deny they are good for you she says, “If I don’t feel an effect immediately, I probably won’t do it again, I feel like a lot of people are in that same boat”.
She goes on to say, that it wasn’t until she started practising active breathing (which can make you feel better in about 20 minutes) did she start “exploring the slower techniques and had so much more appreciation for them”.
“When I teach it, I teach all the theory about it and then I get them to close their eyes and do the box breathing and then the really simple one of breathing in for six and out for six. It is a really individual thing, so I get people to try it and see what works best for them. When you look at the research on slow breathing the majority of it is based on breathing in for six seconds and out for six seconds and that is why that is the one that I recommend people start with”.
Has the science helped change the narrative around active breathing?
“There is so much more research now, and it isn’t so much a woo-woo kind of thing,” Dr Scanlon explains.
“Even holotropic breathwork was born in the 60s a very hippy era. I’m a bit hippy but I have a PhD in neuroscience and that is really helpful because I can be like, we don’t have to go at it from a hippy point of view, there is so much amazing research.”
She says: “I think that is why people come to me too because I know the science behind it.
“With the active breathwork, it is still a little bit unclear what exactly is happening in the brain to have a psychedelic experience. but even with that, there is so much great research about how we are shutting down parts of our brain that overthink and how our core memories kind of come up.”
She goes on to say: “I find that so many more people who would not have done it 10 years ago are doing it now. It is really helpful for the people who are a little bit sceptical because there is so much great research on what it is doing for our body and nervous system alone.”
Dr Scanlon offers us one more nugget of advice, she says “If you have tried meditation and it hasn’t worked for you give this a try. Particularly the active breathwork because that is the one that wins people over because you are going to have an immediate effect.
However, what is really important to add is that it isn’t for everybody, and it can be kind of intense, so it is important to do it with someone who is experienced either a teacher or class.”
If you are curious about learning the practice of breathwork, Dr Cathy Scanlon carries out her sessions online and also has lots of helpful advice on the subject on her website, Breathwork Coaching.