One Good Thing: try breathwork for a free and easy way to access calm

woman with eyes closed taking a deep breath

Credit: Getty; Stylist

Frame Of Mind


One Good Thing: try breathwork for a free and easy way to access calm

By Ellen Scott

2 years ago

8 min read

Welcome back to One Good Thing, Stylist’s Sunday series, as part of Frame Of Mind, that asks experts in mental health for the one good thing we can all do to boost our wellbeing.


This week we’re chatting with Rebecca Dennis, an expert in breathwork, the founder of Breathing Tree, and the author of books including Let It Go and And Breathe: The Complete Guide To Conscious Breathing.

Hi, Rebecca! What’s your One Good Thing that you’d recommend everyone does to benefit their mental health?

Breathwork! It really is for everyone; it’s free and right under your nose. You can change the way you feel and think by bringing awareness to the rhythms, depths and patterns of your breath. 

Breathwork provides you with a lifelong set of tools to use every day to help you navigate your way through life and even transform it if you want to. It can be used to help with any task at hand, whether it’s physical performance or mental performance and focus. When you first begin to develop an awareness of your breath, it takes conscious effort and practice, but in time you’ll find it easier, and it will always be there for you when you need it. 

Sounds great. Why is breathwork so powerful?

The way you breathe is indicative of how you feel about life; it’s no exaggeration to say it’s essential to your mental and physical wellbeing. The way we breathe affects our physiology and our emotional and mental state. It’s my go-to in daily life, and the breath inspires me to see the world through another perspective, creating new pathways to create and share. I will forever be a student learning new ways to manipulate and play with the breath, and the benefits are limitless. It’s so rewarding to empower people with this gift that we are all born with but generally take for granted every day. The transformation I see in clients is profound. When I see and hear how the changes help people’s lives, it’s incredibly humbling.

Breathwork can be like therapy, but without the talking. Rather than going over the stories in our head, we are able to work with the subconscious and nervous system, listening to what the body is storing and what it needs to release. The breath connects us all, and if we could teach every child in the world to begin their day with breathwork, I believe we would live in a much more peaceful and balanced world. 

You can change the way you feel and think by bringing awareness to the rhythms, depths and patterns of your breath     

How does breathwork work?

From early childhood, you probably recall being told to ‘take a deep breath’ when feeling upset, angry or anxious. Intuitively, we all understand, even if we’ve never heard the science, that how we breathe and how we feel are intrinsically linked.

While most of us instinctively know how to breathe to survive, we’re never taught how to breathe to thrive. Very few people are aware of the detrimental effects that improper breathing can have on their well-being.

As babies and toddlers, we naturally breathe using the whole of our respiratory system, breathing from a deep diaphragmatic breath. When we first come into the world we don’t feel inhibitions or have awareness of feelings such as fear, shame, guilt or embarrassment. We express exactly how we feel and are completely present. Our minds are not flitting all over the place and we are not trying to control our emotions or feelings by holding our breath or breathing shallowly to hide or not be heard.

Between the ages of three and seven, we begin to develop emotionally, becoming more aware of our surroundings, culture and peer groups, and of authority at home and at school. In short, we become conditioned through being instructed to be good, calm down, be quiet or be brave. All these instructions lead us to hold our breath and create restrictions and suppress emotions such as anger, embarrassment, frustration, sadness, guilt, joy – even when we are trying to stop ourselves from laughing. Dysfunctional breathing comes from learned behaviour as well – children puff out their chests to look strong like superheroes; they’re told to hold their tummy in gymnastics and dance classes.

So to really harness the power of your breath you don’t need to learn new tricks, we just need to remember how we used to breathe.

woman meditating legs crossed

Credit: Getty, Stylist

And what benefits could we see if we start engaging in breathwork?

Breathing is directly linked to your autonomic nervous system – your stress (or ‘fight or flight’) response, and your rest response. Your breathing patterns change in these states and you can also manipulate your breath to enter into one of these states. For example, if you are feeling anxious or stressed, can you use your breath to help you feel calm and grounded? If you are feeling scattered or tired, can you change your state to feel more focused and energised? Likewise, you can improve your digestion, sleep and immune health through breathing.

Restricted breathing also mirrors what you are holding onto emotionally and physically. Our physiology and psychology are intrinsically connected.

I fervently believe that conscious breathwork is the ultimate key to our wellbeing, health and inner calm. 

Are there any common pitfalls of breathwork? How can we avoid them?

Procrastination and resistance play a large part in the pitfall of keeping a regular breathing practice. Deep breathing for some people can also bring in feelings of anxiety or air hunger. Understanding first how you’re breathing and what muscles are being underused or overused will help to create a sustainable, fulfilling breath practice.

We often fall into the trap of thinking we must make sweeping changes to improve our wellbeing, when making small changes over time proves much more successful in the long run. Remember though, small changes won’t return instant gratification, they need to build over time, and mastery takes patience. But a small daily practice of breathwork can suddenly have a transformational impact when a threshold is crossed.

In order to create a successful, regular breathwork practice habit, I suggest starting with a small guided practice of 15 minutes. My advice for making this habitual is to begin your day with a morning practice. Make space in the morning, set your alarm and rather than pick up your phone and start browsing, take yourself to your breathing space. Try not to beat yourself up if you don’t do this every day but really commit to trying to. You may find it easier to make your practice habitual in the evening so play with it and see what works best for you. 

OK, so making a habit is key. How do you personally do your One Good Thing?

When I wake up in the morning I immediately check in with my breath before checking texts or emails or beginning my day. I scan over my body and I will practice breathwork for a few minutes and then throughout the day I will be continuously doing so. Whether I’m exercising, working or relaxing, I am always bringing myself back to the breath. It’s my greatest companion. This is how I do my one good thing, and I’m incredibly excited to be helping busy Londoners find their sense of calm at King’s Cross, where I’ll be hosting a series of morning breathing workshops this summer. 

And how has doing this changed your life for the better?

I would go as far as to say that breathwork has not only changed my life, but it saved my life. In my early years, I lived with debilitating depression, anxiety and panic attacks. I tried numerous methods and therapies but everything felt like a temporary fix. I was prescribed medication from my early 20s, but it never truly worked, and 15 years ago I reached a very dark place.

Two months later, I walked into a conscious connected breathwork class and, excuse the pun, it blew me away. I could feel every cell in my body; it was cathartic, visceral, and I knew I found something extremely powerful. I continued with breathwork in one-on-ones and workshops, and within months, with the support of my doctor and therapist, I came off the medication and really got to the root of the depression and panic attacks. I am not going to say it was a walk in the park, but I now absolutely love life and am grateful for every day, even the hardest ones. I no longer have those dark episodes, and I was able to access and heal deeply buried trauma from my childhood.

I have this feeling of liberation and freedom, and although those times were dark they also gave me incredible light and strength. I was able to completely reset my nervous system and now regularly attend public speaking events – something I never dreamed I would have said yes to! I am also a mother, which is my greatest gift, and I am able to share the tools I have learned with my son. Over the course of 15 years, I’ve practised several other methods, but breathwork has always been the biggest support on my healing journey. Breathwork has helped me transform my life, I’m hugely passionate about sharing it with the world and passing on the knowledge and wisdom I’ve learned over the years. Every breath is sacred and every breath is an opportunity to make change and be the change you want to see.

Rebecca Dennis will be hosting a series of breathing workshops at King’s Cross, including two live workshops on 28 and 29 June, as well as a series of recorded workshops screened daily on the Screen on the Canal from 30 June. For full details head over to the King’s Cross website.


Frame Of Mind is Stylist’s home for all things mental health and the mind. From expert advice on the small changes you can make to improve your wellbeing to first-person essays and features on topics ranging from autism to antidepressants, we’ll be exploring mental health in all its forms. You can check out the series home page to get started.


Images: Getty; Stylist

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