Richie Bostock - Exhale: How to Use Breathwork to Find Calm, Supercharge Your Health and Perform at Your Best

Introduction:
Change your breath, change your life

Beginning a journey with the Iceman

Discovering and defining Breathwork

Get acquainted with your breathing muscles

Learn to recognize different types of breather

Take the three Breathing Tests and find out how you breathe

Introducing the 21-day programme to optimize your day-to-day breathing

Morning Motivator breathing to wake up the body

Afternoon Boosters breathing for energy

Stress Busters breathing for relaxation

Evening Calmers breathing for sleep

Mental wellbeing anger and frustration; road rage; nervousness; anxiety and panic attacks; performance anxiety; mental rehearsal; decision-making; creativity; focus and concentration; meditation

Sports performance nasal breathing benefits; high-altitude training; post-training recovery

Physical health better sex; quitting smoking; headaches and migraines; asthma; high blood pressure; pain; hangovers; nausea and motion sickness

The Wim Hof Method autoimmune diseases; endometriosis; chronic pain and fatigue; irritable bowel; altitude sickness

Integrative Breathwork the extraordinary healing power of the breath

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First published by Penguin Life 2020

Text copyright Richie Bostock, 2020
Illustrations copyright Tina Evangelides, 2020

Names and identifying details have been changed. Any resemblance to actual persons is entirely coincidental.

Advice in this book does not replace medical advice. Breathing techniques can have a powerful physical effect on your body. If you have any underlying health conditions, please seek your doctors advice before trying the techniques in this book.

The moral right of the copyright holders has been asserted

Cover photograph Getty Images

Designed and typeset by Couper Street Type Co.

ISBN: 978-0-241-98668-4

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For my parents, Yujin and David;
this book exists because of you

Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being

Genesis 2:7

and then man forgot.

Richie Bostock

Have you ever asked yourself why you breathe? You may think this question has a pretty obvious answer we need to breathe to survive! But is there more to breathing than simply to bring oxygen into your body?

You breathe somewhere between 17,000 and 29,000 times per day, or 6 to 10 million breaths per year. If you did anything else that often, youd probably have a pretty good idea how and why you did it. So it always surprises me how little understanding there is about this essential act of living that we do every moment of every day.

In fact, most of us are so unaware of our breathing that we dont notice how, either over time or even in a single moment, we can develop dysfunctional breathing habits that are slowly destroying our health and happiness, manifesting in physical and mental symptoms from fatigue, headaches, digestive issues and sleep disorders to chronic stress and anxiety.

It is estimated that roughly 60% of all emergency ambulance calls in larger American cities involve breath-related disorders. To quote Donna Farhi, a world-renowned yoga instructor, A casual glance of any city street will reveal the extent to which tight belts, tight bodies and tight schedules are literally taking our breath away.

But there is good news. Watch how a toddler breathes, and notice the open and flowing nature of their breath. With some understanding and practice, you can easily retrain your own breathing mechanics back to their original and optimal state. Its just like learning any new skill. And this book is here to help you do just that.

And it doesnt stop there. Think of the breath as your bodys very own in-built Swiss Army knife. Here, you have a tool that can help you in so many situations, and improve your physical and mental health and performance and emotional wellbeing. You might be a sleep-deprived parent, a stressed business executive, an elite athlete or anyone in between. By simply learning how to use your breath as a tool, the way nature intended you to, you will experience dramatic changes in your life. Think about it if this promise is as simple as taking a few breaths in a certain way, what are you waiting for?

So, what I present to you in this book is the essential knowledge and techniques from my years of learning and working with the breath. Ive distilled the expertise from many modern Breathwork masters, elite athletic trainers, psychologists, therapists, researchers, doctors and health practitioners into a simple step-by-step guide for you to start to breathe with purpose.

I believe this knowledge, stemming from both ancient wisdom and scientific innovation, should be known by everyone. We all breathe, after all. This book serves as a starting point to help you unleash the full power and potential of your breath. You already have it, so you might as well start using it!

I start out in with the sole intention of inspiring you to consider this the start of your own exploration into a whole new world of exciting possibility.

As a young child, I loved any book, movie or TV show about a person who had extraordinary abilities. From movies about superheroes gifted with supernatural strength or speed, to books about wizards and witches who could perform incredible magic, I loved the idea that people have secret powers beyond belief. I think secretly I was hoping that one day I would tap into some dormant superpower that was just waiting to be revealed.

Years later and I still cant fly or lift mountains. However, in youll discover how an interesting turn of events in my life took me on a path of exploration to discover and research a real-life superpower that, as it turns out, is something that everyone has in their possession, but very few people actually know how to use. A superpower that can:

• Give you more natural energy than your next espresso.
• Help you to think more clearly and be more creative.
• Turn off your busy mind and find calm, even in the most stressful situations.
• Access meditative flow states in a matter of minutes (even if you have never meditated before).
• Increase your athletic endurance.
• Help you to sleep better.
• And make you feel blissfully happy.

Sounds pretty incredible, right? Well, you already have it, waiting to be unleashed, and its quite literally right under your nose.