Let’s Move! How to get fit (again)

A few minutes of deep breathing may be just the thing for what ails you

Few Fitness AND wellness trends have taken over My FEEDS AS Comprehensively AS Breathwork HAS in the last Few Months – it’s all guys calmly sitting cross-legged or plunging into ice baths while talking about the Wim Hof Method as far as the eye can see.

Now, if you don’t know Wim Hof from Wim Wenders, I’ll refrain from criticising your under-rock lifestyle. Created for and named after the Dutch extreme athlete, the method pairs breathing and meditation techniques with cold exposure, to influence the autonomic nervous system to promote relaxation and reduce stress. Given that

I live in a flat with a freezer the size of a large shoebox, ice baths weren’t in my future.

But a calmer, more relaxed m e through just breathing?

I needed to know more.

This brought me to a coach named Richie Bostock, the selfproclaimed “Breath Guy”. He’s an author and speaker who’s made “free medicine” his whole thing. By incorporating breathwork into my day, Bostock told me,

I’d be able to operate more from the parasympathetic nervous system – the automatic systems that govern relaxation and recovery. I’d be more centred and less reactive to the environment around me. That’s a more crucial skill than ever, given the state of the world.

‘Breathwork involves controlling your breath in a certain way if you’re feeling anxious, or perhaps if you’re feeling tired,’ he told me. ‘Or, in more advanced forms, you can use it for medical conditions.’

Sounds a bit like he’s out on a limb? Think again: one study found that practising breathwork to music for 10 minutes a day is an effective way to reduce blood pressure, no drugs required. Another more recent study found that patients with hypertension saw a substantial drop in blood pressure by adding a few 15-minute sessions of slow, deep breathing to their weekly routine.

And executing the practice is pretty simple. Bostock gave four tips to get started: