5 Reasons Why Breathwork Is Good For Business in 2024

January 10, 2024
5 Reasons Why Breathwork Is Good For Business in 2024

Breathing happens without you thinking and unless you are a professional athlete, you don’t give it a lot of thought. Until now…

A new study by researchers at Stanford University has shown that breathwork is actually more effective in reducing stress than meditation. So how does it actually work?

The science behind breathwork

Our body is always under the influence of two complementary nervous subsystems. You have the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS), which is responsible for increased alertness and the famous fight-or-flight response, and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS), which is associated with calmness and more relaxed states.

In short:

Sympathetic “stresses” you;

Parasympathetic “relaxes” you;

Even though these nervous subsystems are autonomous, they can be modulated or “tricked” using techniques, such as breathing exercises.

So how does breathing affect the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic nervous systems?

A breathing technique is always

characterized by an inhalation followed by

exhalation. It has been proven that inhalation

stimulates the Sympathetic System, while

exhalation stimulates the Parasympathetic System.

If the inhalation component is shorter than

the exhalation, there is a net positive activation

of the Parasympathetic System, which has an

impact on both the heart and brain levels.

Which means you are “calming” the body

more in comparison to “stressing” it.

Whilst if the inhalation component is longer

than exhalation, there is a net positive

activation of the Sympathetic System and

you are “stressing” the body more in

comparison to “calming” it.

Which breathing technique works better?

This will depend on people’s personal needs. If you need to relax and destress, it's recommended you do a longer exhalation. But if you want to increase your energy (aka good stress) then a longer inhalation is for you.

It’s important to note that there is good and bad stress. Good stress is short-term, and it focuses your energy and enhances performance. Bad stress, however, is the kind that wears you out and/or leaves you feeling hopeless.

At EMOTAI we give both relaxation and energy exercises. In a relaxation exercise, you are reducing your bad stress whilst in an energy exercise you are activating the good stress!

Breathwork as a Means of Increasing Productivity and Wellness in the Workplace

In past blog posts, we shared how bringing wellness strategies into your company will help with the positive work culture and is one of the goals HR leaders are looking into in 2023.

Most businesses focus on providing meditation apps or learning resources, but what if we just take one step back and make it more simple? Breathwork is one of the simplest ways for people to learn how to manage their stress and their emotions. Here’s why you should consider implementing breathwork tools instead:

  1. The learning curve is not as steep. And if you have the right tools like EMOTAI, that ease participants into the breathing technique and increase the difficulty accordingly, then it’s a great first step! Learn more about EMOTAI here.
  2. It’s more effective! As we mentioned in the beginning, it has been proven breathwork is actually more effective at reducing stress.
  3. It has more immediate effects. Meditation typically takes longer and needs more practice in order to get the desired effect. With breathwork, immediately after one exercise, people feel the impact on their minds and body.
  4. It creates a habit. When people do it often enough and learn the right way to do breathwork, which is through diaphragmatic breathing, they will start subconsciously doing it in the middle of their day. This means it will start to have an impact throughout the workday instead of during (and after) each exercise, meditation, or workshop.
  5. Breathwork can be used to increase productivity! As we mentioned before, people can actually use breathwork in order to increase their “good stress”. We often see people doing it after eating a meal like breakfast and lunch to increase their energy or, in the middle of the afternoon in order to finish their tasks for the day.

In the end, breathwork is one of the best, if not the best, tools you can provide to your employees.

So what are you waiting for? Book a demo today to learn how EMOTAI can help your business be more human and your employees happier.

Want to try some breathwork techniques yourself? Check out our guided videos on our LinkedIn page. If are you curious to learn more check out the references from this blog here.

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