What Is Breathwork & How Does It Work?

Breathwork is a trending practice, however it is rooted in ancient origins, with connections to the practice of yoga. 

Breathwork involves intentional, conscious control of your breathing, often in patterns, to calm stress and bring balance to your body.

At Mana, we integrate breathwork into our daily practices for all guests. Whether you already use breathwork or you’re a novice, breathwork becomes integral to slowing down, and reconnecting with yourself.

You know how you take a deep breath before a stressful situation, or in moments when you really need to focus on a task? 

Well, breathwork is essentially an extension of this, taking an unconscious response to stress, and making you aware of how you can use your breathing to reduce it.

Breathing is normally free of conscious control, whereas breathwork involves structured and controlled inhalation and exhalation. 

Your breath is one of the few systems in the body that is both automatic and under your control. By changing the rhythm of your breath, you send signals to your nervous system that it’s safe to slow down. It’s one of the fastest ways to shift how you feel. 

The outcomes of breathwork include reduced stress and anxiety, a feeling of relaxation, improved sleep, and heightened focus. At Mana, we often see guests arrive breathing rapidly and shallowly after months or years of chronic stress. Within just a few guided sessions, many notice their shoulders soften, their thoughts slow and, for the first time in a long time, they experience what genuine relaxation feels like.

At Mana, we don’t believe there is a single “best” breathing technique. Just as every guest arrives with a different story, nervous system and set of challenges, different breathwork practices serve different purposes.

Throughout the retreat, guests experience a range of breathing practices led by specialists in their fields. Our resident Ayurvedic doctor introduces traditional pranayama techniques, our sleep specialist teaches breathing practices that prepare the body for deep, restorative sleep, and our somatic breathwork facilitator guides immersive sessions focused on nervous system regulation and emotional processing.

Rather than teaching one method, we help guests discover the techniques that resonate with them and give them practical tools they can continue using long after they return home.

Breathwork isn’t a new age alternative practice – it’s grounded in science.

Research has shown that breathwork taps into the parasympathetic nervous system and calms our fight-or-flight response, which in turn, brings down our heart rate and blood pressure.

When you can bring your heart rate and blood pressure down at moments they would normally spike, you offer your body a break from the low-grade stress load that builds up over time. This is what we see happen with guests at Mana. Guests who arrive wound tight from months of pressure start to settle within a few sessions. The change shows up in how they move, sleep, and hold themselves in general.

There are other potential health benefits of breathwork that research is continuing to delve into, including increased nervous system regulation, vagal tone, improved HRV, and broader psychological benefits associated with stress recovery.

Breathwork is practised in different ways, with some techniques having quite complex methodology that requires expert guidance to master.

At Mana, we see breathwork as more than a standalone class. It's a thread that runs throughout the retreat experience, helping guests move more intentionally between activity, recovery and rest.

Many of our spa and recovery treatments begin with a few minutes of guided breathing, allowing guests to transition from the busyness of the day into a state that's more receptive to healing and restoration.

Breathwork is also woven into our evening sleep rituals, with guided breathwork cards in every suite, giving guests practical techniques they can continue using long after they return home.

How it works:

1. Lie on your back with knees bent, one hand on your upper chest and the other below your rib cage. 
2. Breathe in slowly through your nose so your stomach moves out against your hand. 
3. Tighten your abdominal muscles and exhale through pursed lips. 
4. With regular practice your diaphragm gets stronger and you’ll breathe slower. 

Research shows this method lowers blood pressure and reduces heart rate.

Origin:

Diaphragmatic breathing (often called "belly breathing") originates from ancient Eastern practices like yoga (Pranayama) and Chinese martial arts/meditation (Qigong and Tai Chi).

How it works: 

1. Box breathing, or square breathing, involves equal durations of inhalation, holding, exhalation and then holding again. 
2. Start by expelling all the air in your lungs before slowly inhaling through your nose for 4 seconds. 
3. Hold your breath for 4 seconds. 
4. Exhale through your mouth for 4 seconds and hold your breath again for 4 seconds, before repeating.

Origin:

Box breathing has roots in the ancient Indian yogic practice of sama vritti pranayama (meaning "equal breathing"). In the modern era the method and term "Box Breathing" was coined by author and former Navy SEAL Mark Divine in 2006 to help elite operators stay calm under extreme stress. The method creates a rhythm where you count each breath phase equally.

How it works: 

1. With the tip of your tongue placed against the roof of your mouth, behind your front teeth, exhale completely through your mouth. 
2. Close your lips and inhale through your nose for a count of 4. 
3. Hold your breath for a count of 7 and then exhale completely through your mouth for a count of 8.

Origin:

This technique is rooted in Pranayama, ancient yogic practices of breath control. It was developed and popularized in 2015 by Dr. Andrew Weil, who designed it as a "natural tranquiliser for the nervous system" to combat stress and induce sleep.

How it works:

Sudarshan Kriya uses specific rhythmic breathing patterns that work with the body’s natural cycles. This practice combines four distinct components that progress from slow to medium and then fast cyclical breathing patterns. It requires an experienced practitioner to train you in the proper technique. 

Origin:

Sudarshan Kriya (SKY) was introduced in 1981 by spiritual leader Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. He developed the rhythmic breathing technique during a ten-day period of silence in Shimoga, India, after realizing a gap between deep inner silence and everyday outer expression.

How it works: 

Holotropic breathwork is an active, guided somatic breathing practice designed to induce altered states of consciousness without drugs. The technique combines accelerated breathing with rhythmic music to promote emotional release, self-discovery, and psychological healing.

Origin:

Developed in the 1970s by psychiatrists Stanislav and Christina Grof,  holotropic breathwork originated from Grof's earlier research into LSD-assisted psychotherapy. This technique was created as a drug-free method to safely access non-ordinary states of consciousness for deep psychological and emotional healing.

How it works:

Rebirthing is similar to holotropic breathwork and used as an alternative therapy specifically focusing on the breath as a healing tool. It’s a somatic breathwork practice. Typically lasting 60–90 minutes, it involves relaxed, connected inhales and exhales without pauses, known as circular breathing, under the guidance of a certified facilitator.

Origin:

Rebirthing breathwork was developed in the 1970s by Leonard Orr, who was one of the original pioneers of using the conscious breath as a healing tool. Influences for this practice were drawn from Stanislav and Christina Grof, who developed Holotropic Breathwork at the same time.

Breathwork can be a powerful tool for stress reduction, psychological healing and overall wellbeing. The simple practice of conscious breath is something that can be practiced by anyone, but for those seeking deeper, psychological or emotional healing, you will need to seek the guidance of a trained expert.

At Mana, we integrate breathwork into everything we do on retreat. We have specific retreats that provide more heavily practiced one-on-one somatic breathwork, including the Mana Healing Retreat, Mindful Focus, and Men’s Mental Fitness Retreat. However, we also offer daily breathwork classes and guided evening wind down sessions within our core program, the Foundation Reset.