When you walk around your office these days what do you see?
To be fair, since 2020, it may be a bed, wardrobe and some kind of animal, but let’s assume you do spend some time in the office.
If you had asked me that question a few years ago I would have said that I see people working hard, getting on with their jobs, having meetings, talking on the phone. Maybe some staff hovering around a table tennis table or beer fridge.
Yet these days I see something completely different….
These days I see people sitting down all day, hunched over their desks, squashing their diaphragms and lungs. I see people breathing heavily and unintentionally holding their breath as they navigate the constant trickle of emails, demands, deadlines and the general day-to-day stressors that modern life throws our way.
The Leaders I chat with regularly complain of overwhelm, stress, poor quality sleep, increased pressure and not being mentally present for the moments that matter. They open up about wanting to prioritise their health and the desire to find more time for the things that light them up.
They speak of feeling tired and wanting more energy so they can find the motivation to do more outside of work. They just need a bit of breathing space.
So, what if I told you that you have the power within you to influence how you feel which in turn will influence those around you?
What if I told you that you already have the tools to create more energy and to navigate stress and overwhelm?
Well, you do, and the solution lies in your breath.
5000 years ago, yogis would sit on mountain tops practicing breathing techniques to help them cultivate calm while gaining clarity and insight. Fast forward to the current day and there is little sign of people practicing breathing techniques anywhere, let alone in the workplace.
Interestingly when you consider the top complaints HR Managers receive from their staff regarding Leadership, a lot of it can be linked back to how Leaders manage stress and overwhelm, and the emotional state they find themselves in throughout the day. Overwhelm shuts down our pre-frontal cortex allowing our more primordial, “chimp brain” to start calling the shots. As a result, this inhibits our decision-making capabilities, our emotional regulation, impulse control and our ability to think rationally and logically, and it’s our employees that have to endure the fall-out.
There’s lot of advice out there on how to manage busy work and home lives but I find a lot of it unrealistic and insufficient. Don’t get me started on the 3-hour morning routine movement! Personally, I’ve always enjoyed exercising and the stillness that arrives during meditation although I initially felt meditation was a lot like trying to catch a fish with a fork – it may look cool, but you’re left questioning how effective it really is.
There is a rising mound of evidence to suggest that we should strive to find the time to exercise and meditate regularly to improve our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, as well as our resilience, but I’ve found that there is a downside when it comes to these practices in relation to managing stress, overwhelm and our overall mindset and performance.
When it comes to mind management and mood management, the benefits of exercising and meditating quickly dissolve when we’re thrown back into high stress and dynamic situations. Meditating is great for cultivating calm and insight but before you know it, you’re back in the room dealing with emails, meetings, angry customers, angry kids, pets, news, media.
The line of people pining for our attention seems to be growing longer and louder. Did you know that the average adult is exposed to over 3000 adverts a day? This is intense! Throw in a personal issue or two and you have a potent recipe for burnout.
This is when our breath can take centre stage.
Our breath is something we don’t often consider because it’s an automatic function, so we tend to just let it be. Our breath however is the only system in our body that is both automatic and under our control and once you understand the magnitude of this then things can change very quickly for you.
I first discovered the power of breathwork techniques during 2020 where, like a lot of you, I was confined to the four walls of my house with little to do other than to contemplate loo roll shortages and the intricacies of baking my own bread.
My business at the time was quiet so I decided to use my extra time to learn something new. I started exploring courses which is when I stumbled across a breathwork course which immediately got my attention because of the statements it made about how it can transform our health, mind, relationships and life in general. I was intrigued so I signed up.
What I experienced was incredible. These techniques were so simple and so easy to grasp yet the physiological and psychological impact they were having on me was immediate. Within seconds I found I could slow my heart rate down, feel calm, more relaxed and present. My worries and fears about what the next few years may look like started to dissolve and I noticed my performance during exercise significantly improve as I could push myself harder and for longer.
Breathwork firmly had my attention, so I grabbed my metaphorical shovel and started to dig a little deeper. It wasn’t too long before I struck gold as I came across a Breathwork Teacher who specialises in a type of breathwork called ‘conscious connected breathing.’
Conscious connected breathing is a breathwork technique that is ideally performed with your mouth open, where you draw the air up from your belly and into your chest and then exhale passively. The key is to connect the breaths meaning that there are no pauses at the top or bottom.
This teacher took me down a road that was unexpected. Through a series of questions and prompts while sinking deeper into the breath, I started experiencing quite vivid visualisations, immense clarity as well as some interesting physiological changes – I had muscle cramps, pins and needles and even tears which completely caught me off guard as this is very unusual for me. There was no going back for me now, I was hooked!
The same questions kept arising in my mind…
“How come more people don’t know about these techniques?”
“I wonder how workplaces may be different if every Leader had a toolbox of breathwork techniques?”
“How can more people find out about this natural power that’s hidden in plain sight?”
The world is more anxious and overwhelmed than ever before, yet we have the most powerful tool inside of us that, in a few seconds, can alter our biochemistry and change how we think, feel and behave.
This is not woo-woo mumbo jumbo, this is science and it works!! You can literally feel it.
And do you want to know the best part?
These breathing techniques are free, they can be accessed immediately, and a lot can be performed in secret – I walked to a networking event recently where I was presenting and during my walk I was practicing ‘coherence breathing’ which helped me find balance and calm while also sharpening my focus.
You can practice these techniques at your desk, in bed, while waiting for an interview, before a boardroom interrogation.
I had the desire to keep exploring this World and to introduce it to more people, whether it’s my children or my clients, and it wasn’t until recently that a company called “Breathing Space” came into my peripheral vision. Set-up by Benedict Beaumont, Breathing Space are not only a breathwork organisation but also a growing community that run weekly breathwork sessions that anyone can join. Plus, they also train Facilitators.
Conscious connected breath sits at the core of the business but there is so much more to it than that. After spending an hour with my mentor and coach, Sharyn, I knew I had to get involved. Not only do I now experience the benefits of practicing breathwork on a daily basis, but I also get to geek-out about respiratory anatomy and physiology which takes me back to my time at University.
If there are any question marks for you over the importance and impact of developing a breathwork practice then have a read about the relationship between oxygen and carbon dioxide and how this directly effects our energy levels, our alertness and our performance whether that’s in the office or on the running track.
In turns out that this ancient and somewhat mystical practice is steeped in science, physiology and biochemistry, and I truly believe that every Leader, and every person on this planet, would reach new heights by investing time in this natural power and learning a few techniques that you can deploy anytime and anywhere.
Developing a relationship with your breath will not only give you the ability to manage highly pressurised and challenging situations as and when they arise, but it will also give you immense clarity while being able to stay present with your team, build more authentic relationships and ultimately boost your productivity and performance.
Start breathing your way to becoming the Leader you would be proud to follow.