Exploring the Health Benefits of Breathwork with Dr Indra and Dr Louise Oliver
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to overlook one of the most fundamental functions of life—breathing. Surprisingly, most of us aren’t breathing as efficiently as we could be, which can impact everything from sleep to overall wellbeing. Dr Indra recently spoke with Dr Louise Oliver, a GP and Functional Breathing Practitioner to uncover the transformative potential of breathwork for health.
Dr Oliver shared her personal journey, which started in 2019 with an exploration into mindfulness. This led her to realise that her own breathing habits were affecting her health, particularly her sleep. “I was a perimenopausal snorer,” Dr Oliver explains, “and by adjusting how I breathed, my snoring stopped, and I experienced benefits like improved sleep and a greater sense of calm.”
Dr Indra and Dr Oliver went on to discuss how the demands of modern life and environmental factors have led many of us to develop inefficient breathing patterns. As Dr Oliver explains, “Our noses are designed for breathing, but many of us use our mouths instead, often without realising it. This shift can lead to symptoms such as snoring, dry mouth, nasal congestion, and even morning headaches.”
For those unsure if their breathing could be optimised, Dr Oliver recommends a three-step approach: Awareness, Assessment, and Action. Watch the video below to find out more, or read on to get a quick summary of what’s covered.
Exploring the Health Benefits of Breathwork with Dr Indra and Dr Louise Oliver
Here’s a quick summary of the main points they discussed to help you evaluate and improve your breathing:
- Observe Your Breathing: Notice if you’re breathing through your mouth, especially when at rest or during sleep. Are you waking up with a dry mouth or congestion? These could be signs of mouth breathing.
- Try a Comfortable Breath-Hold Test: After waking, breathe in, breathe out, then pinch your nose and hold your breath. See how long it takes before your body sends the first signal to breathe again. Breathing should be calm afterward as this is a comfortable, and not a maximum, breath hold. If it’s under 25 seconds, there’s room for improvement.
- Look Out for Symptoms: Inefficient breathing can lead to issues such as fatigue, headaches, muscle stiffness, and even anxiety-like symptoms. By adjusting to efficient nasal breathing, you may notice better sleep and increased energy.
So, what can you do to improve your breathing habits?
Dr Oliver suggests making nasal breathing a priority and practicing good posture. It’s also important to understand “air hunger”—the sensation of feeling suffocated or wanting a bigger breath—which is actually a natural response that occurs when we reach our tolerance to our waste product (carbon dioxide). Although carbon dioxide is a waste product it actually helps release oxygen to the cells within our body. By gently allowing the body to become more tolerant to carbon dioxide the sensation of air hunger reduces and breathing becomes more efficient.
Dr Indra and Dr Oliver have also created an easy-to-follow video guide to help you get started with breathwork in under 10 minutes. This guide is designed to help you build a healthier breathing practice that aligns with your body’s natural rhythms, leading to a range of benefits, including reduced stress, better sleep, and enhanced physical performance.
By becoming more aware of how you breathe, assessing your habits, and taking actionable steps, you can begin to unlock the many benefits of efficient breathing. Ready to start your journey? Try out Dr Indra and Dr Oliver’s easy-to-follow breathwork exercise guide and see the difference it can make in just a few minutes a day.
