Why breathwork isn’t “one size fits all”

For Counsellors and Psychotherapists who want to use breathwork with their clients, there’s a lot of information available online. It’s easy to search for "breathwork for anxiety" and find various suggestions regarding which breathing techniques to use. While it is great that this information is readily accessible, how can you determine which techniques are suitable for your clients?

How techniques like the 4:7:8 breath can make anxiety worse

One recommendation that frequently appears in searches is the 4:7:8 breath. It is popular and many individuals find it beneficial. This technique involves inhaling for 4 counts, holding the breath for 7 counts, and exhaling for 8 counts. It can be very calming and helpful in alleviating anxiety and stress. However, some clients report that it makes them feel more stressed or anxious. My experience is that this is usually related to their breathing rate.

Why the breathing rate matters when choosing breathwork

The breathing rate (or respiratory rate) refers to the number of times a person breathes in and out per minute. The average normal rate while at rest is 10 to 14 breaths per minute, depending on the medical textbook referenced. Clients who are anxious or panicky often have a breathing rate that is higher than normal. For example, it could be 24 breaths per minute instead of 10 to 14.

Performing the 4:7:8 breath with counts of approximately one second means that one complete breath lasts 19 seconds, corresponding to a breathing rate of about 3 breaths per minute.

For someone accustomed to taking 24 breaths per minute, suddenly reducing this rate to 3 could be quite challenging. This abrupt decrease may lead to breathlessness, chest tightness, and feelings of increased stress, which is not what we want when that person is already struggling with anxiety!

Therefore, if an individual has a high resting breathing rate, they may find it difficult to practice the 4:7:8 breath. It may even lead them to dismiss breathwork altogether, concluding that they “can’t do it” and that it “only makes them feel worse.” Although it is a valuable technique that helps many people, it is not suitable for everyone.

What type of breathwork is helpful if someone has a high breathing rate?

So, what type of breathwork would be appropriate for these clients? Breathwork that allows a gradual reduction in breathing rate would be a better option for them. This would make the breathwork more viable for your client, enabling them to gradually reduce their breathing rate over time and benefit from its calming effects.

Would you like to know more?

It can be challenging trying to sort through all the information that is available online about breathwork. Reading conflicting advice and coming across many different breathwork and pranayama techniques. If you are a Counsellor or Psychotherapist who wants the core knowledge and skills to provide breathwork in your practice, I can help.

I’m dual-qualified as both a Counsellor and a Respiratory (breathing) Physiotherapist. I’m also a certified Breathwork and Pranayama teacher. My Breathing for Calm course is a 2-day breathwork training that is specifically designed for Counsellors and Psychotherapists. It provides you with the skills and knowledge to provide effective calming breathwork, that is safe and tailored to your clients needs. Please click here to find out more.

A client’s experience - How breathwork can help panic attacks

Do you work with clients who have panic attacks? If so, you will know just how terrifying they are for them. The physical symptoms can include intense breathlessness, a choking sensation, racing heart, chest pain, sweating, trembling, brain fog or light headedness. These symptoms often trigger frightening thoughts and your client may be convinced that they are going crazy or are about to die.

The panic cycle

I’m sure you already know the vicious cycles that can happen when it comes to panic attacks. How the fear of a situation or place triggering a panic attack tends to bring on the very panic that they fear. Your client then tends to avoid that situation or place and their world gets smaller and they feel more afraid.

So how can breathwork help?

A client’s experience of breathwork

Perhaps the best way to convey the benefits of breathwork is to talk about people’s real life experiences of it. One of my clients is keen for me to tell you how she has benefitted, so that other people can recognise breathwork’s potential. She would love for more Counsellors and Psychotherapists to train in breathwork, so that their clients can access it too. For confidentiality I am going to use the name Amy to tell her story (this is not her real name).

Constant anxiety and frequent panic attacks

When Amy first came to see me she was experiencing anxiety and panic attacks after the break up of a relationship. She described the anxiety as constant and the panic attacks would happen whenever she saw her ex. Her situation meant it was difficult to avoid him and this was causing her a lot of distress.

How breathing pattern can contribute to panic attacks

As a Respiratory Specialist Physiotherapist as well as a Counsellor, I am experienced in supporting clients who experience breathlessness as part of their panic or anxiety. I offered breathwork as a way to help Amy with her panic attacks. She was very open to this.

I took a few minutes to observe how Amy was breathing at rest (this is called her resting breathing pattern). I noticed patterns in her breathing that were likely to be causing the breathlessness during her panic attacks. The breathlessness was frightening and her fear of it was making her panic worse.

Teaching breathwork to Amy

I explained to Amy the patterns that I’d noticed with her breathing. I then taught her some breathwork exercises that she could do to correct them. One of the exercises was to help her change her overall resting breathing pattern to a more calming and efficient one. The other was a recovery breathwork technique that she could use when she was feeling the panic attacks come on.

The outcome

Amy started to practice the breathwork and 2 weeks later reported that she was feeling more calm. She found that when she experienced the panic she could apply the breathwork recovery technique and this brought her breathing back under control. Over time she stopped fearing the panic attacks, because she knew that she could nip them in the bud. Meanwhile she worked on her resting breathing pattern so that it was more relaxed, efficient and calm. This helped to reduce her anxiety.

Amy reports that she no longer has panic attacks and no longer feels afraid of having them. The breathwork combined with counselling and trauma recovery techniques, has also resulted in her now rarely experiencing anxiety.

Breathing for Calm training

If you would like to offer similar breathwork support to your clients, I can help. I can teach you how to observe your clients breathing pattern and teach calming breathwork to help reduce or stop panic attacks. I offer a 2-day training course specifically designed for Counsellors and Psychotherapists, to teach you the core knowledge and skills to provide effective breathwork in your practice. Please click here to find out more.