‘Nearly every physical problem is accompanied by a disturbance of breathing. But which comes first?’

~Hans Weller M.D.

 The Oxygen Advantage Method

  • Learning better functional breathing patterns can improve your general health in many ways. You will have more energy, stronger immune system, better focus and concentration, better quality sleep, a calmer mind, better recovery and sports performance.

  • How we breathe is inextricably linked to our mental state and it is a bi-directional process. Poor breathing patterns can trigger the stress response, creating feelings of fear, worsening anxiety and asthma symptoms. Equally, if we are stressed, our breathing patterns deteriorate, often resulting in faster and shallower upper chest movements and through the mouth.

    We can use breathwork as a tool to alleviate mental and emotional stress, by spending a few minutes doing focussed breathing exercises to trigger the relaxation response. Therefore, anxiety, panic attacks and a racing mind can be helped by learning, and practising, good breathing technique.

  • Having good functional breathing and practising simulating high-altitude training (2 pillars of the Oxygen Advantage) can improve focus and concentration, endurance, speed and recovery and can reduce stress, breathlessness, and lactic acid build-up during physical exercise.

Many of us have inefficient breathing patterns, but are unaware of it. Modern lifestyles, diet, poor posture, stress, many health conditions, as well as genetics, can influence how we breathe. Chronic over-breathing is very common, but can contribute to poor mental and physical health, can exacerbate existing health conditions/injuries, can affect a child's craniofacial development, and an athlete's sports performance. Poor breathing patterns can lead to excessive breathlessness during daily activities and/or during physical exercise, or your symptoms may be more subtle but are affecting your wellbeing and performance at work or during sport.

If you over-breathe, you inhale more air than the body needs and exhale too much carbon dioxide. This alters the levels of natural gases in the blood, reduces oxygen delivery to our cells and organs, including the brain, and constricts our blood vessels and airways.