The Power of Breathing

Around 20,000 breaths are what we take every day - On average, we inhale 300 million liters of air over the course of our lifetime. Breathing keeps us alive, but it does much more than that: it activates or calms us. Breathing is controlled unconsciously and can at the same time be influenced consciously. The power of breathing exercises is rooted in many spiritual traditions.

The control of breathing is used to enhance performance and plays an essential role in relaxation and regeneration. Science is also intensively engaged with the neurological and psychological effects of breathing on the interaction between body and mind. “Just because something is automated does not necessarily mean that it is working well. It only means that it functions,” says Timo Niessner. Most people even have an unnatural way of breathing. “It is said to be over 95 percent,” says the breath coach and apnea diver, “this has a lot to do with the relatively high pace of the Western world. We adapt to this pace, and that also changes our breathing. This leads to a kind of chronic overactivation of our sympathetic nervous system.”

Untapped potential - Breathing too quickly and too shallowly causes our body to perform compensatory actions that result in biochemical changes – such as the pH value in the blood. “This can have effects on our physical and mental health.” This is exactly where Niessner begins: “Through breathing, health can be positively influenced. Nutrition and exercise are practically hyped in this regard, but how often do we breathe every day?”, he emphasizes the often untapped potential.

New Routines - There are millions upon millions of breaths that accompany us throughout our lives. How essential breathing truly is often only becomes clear when it does not flow naturally. Breathwork brings the practice of working with one’s own breathing into focus. In order to create a stronger connection between mind and body, the first step is to intensify self-awareness. This can be achieved, for example, with the help of a breathing journal in which experiences and emotions are reflected daily over the course of a week, according to Niessner. “For dealing with your own breathing, you don’t have to sit on a yoga mat – quite the opposite, you should try to integrate these topics into everyday life. This can be done anytime and anywhere: at the breakfast table, on a bicycle, on the train, or during sports, breathing is omnipresent.”

Keeping a breathing journal - To better understand your own breathing, you should ask yourself various questions and devote time to observing your habits: How do you breathe in the current situation? Where does the air flow? How can the focus be changed? How does abdominal breathing feel compared to chest breathing?

The goal is to observe your own flow, to experiment with changing breathing rhythms, to analyze the effects of such changes, and to better differentiate between mouth and nasal breathing. Niessner also encourages the use of mental techniques and becoming aware of mental processes – it is a process of self-exploration. Within this framework, it is important to find out what works best for you in order to establish new routines in everyday life in the long term. In the podcast “Atempause,” one can dive much deeper into the subject through breathing sessions or units with very different questions – such as breathing and sports or breathing and sexuality – and later even train to become a breathwork coach. The range of Niessner’s students extends from psychologists and physiotherapists to yoga teachers and entrepreneurs from a wide variety of industries.

Learning to let go - The breath coach actually found his way into the topic many years ago through scuba diving: “With my more than 100 kilos, I simply used too much air underwater. With breathing techniques, I was able to reduce this consumption drastically. At the same time, I became calm during the exercises, even fell asleep. That’s when I thought: wow, a lot is really happening here.” The growing passion for apnea diving—where one remains underwater as long as possible with a single breath without aids—was part of a journey to himself. It taught him, among other things, how to let go and how to adopt new perspectives.

“Our breathing changes depending on our physical condition, our level of stress, our thoughts, and our emotions,” says Niessner. And so, as part of a personal journey, everyone must find the breathing exercises that suit them best individually. How quickly changes can become noticeable is demonstrated in lessons on what he calls “Restorative Breathing”: At the beginning, the focus is on functional breathing, the function of the lungs, and lung volume. Progress in significantly expanding the latter becomes apparent quickly—“some participants in my courses have already achieved an increase in volume of over 40 percent after just one or two days.” His role remains in the background: “I see myself more as a guide than a teacher; everyone gives themselves their own impulses.”

About the person - Timo Niessner is a breathing expert, mental trainer, business coach, and author of the book “Frei atmen.” The sports economist once began combining breathing techniques from apnea diving with well-founded methods of business coaching and offers, among other things, online courses and breathing sessions in his podcast “Atempause.”

7-day breathing journal: for download!