Transformational Breath® and the Physiological Benefits
How Transformational Breath® influences the body
Transformational Breath® uses a specific breathing pattern which consists of a long deep inhalation, a short, relaxed exhalation with no pausing. It requires an open mouth to help keep the jaw relaxed and take in greater volumes of air, especially in the abdomen. In general, the inhalation is about three times longer than the exhalation.
During a Transformational Breath® session the rate and volume of breath increases and oxygen supply increases. This happens because oxygen is getting to the end portions of the lungs called alveoli faster than it can be taken away in the blood. This in turn enhances the diffusion of oxygen in the alveoli resulting in increased amounts in the blood. Increased concentration of oxygen in the blood, results in higher concentration of oxygen in tissues and inside the cells. The increase of oxygen in the cells will aid the demise of bacteria and cancer cells, while improving the health of our own cells and bodies.
We cannot get too much oxygen, air contains 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, 0.93% argon and 0.03% carbon dioxide along with other minor gases and water vapour. The gases in air have a different concentration outside the lungs versus inside the lungs. Inside the lungs the air is humified as it travels to the alveoli and water vapour dilutes the other gases. Alveolar oxygen concentration is 14% but during a Transformational Breath® session that percent can approach the atmospheric concentration of 21%. Something else to remember is alveolar air is only partially replaced with each breath, oxygen is constantly being absorbed from the alveolar air and carbon dioxide is constantly diffusing into the alveoli. Our oxygen intake during a Transformational Breath® session increases but always at a safe level.
Increased blood flow results in more nutrients and oxygen being delivered to the cells and the removal of carbon dioxide, along with other metabolic wates are also enhanced. With an increase in oxygen the cells increase their metabolic rate and produce more energy (ATP). There is more oxygen in the tissues and more energy production.
Transformational Breath® enables the breath to become ‘activated’, a state that may include variations in temperature, tingling in the extremities, minor cramping called tetany, light-headedness, and other symptoms. Although the symptoms are like those of hyperventilation, this is not what is happening during ‘activation’. In hyperventilation the exhalation is either longer than the inhalation or it is more forceful. This results in moving more carbon dioxide out of the blood, which raises the pH level, making the blood more alkaline. The body works best at a normal pH level between 7.35 and 7.44, in Transformational Breath® there is no change in pH levels. Breathers use a conscious, purposeful inhalation and relax on the exhalation, the breath is expelled as the body relaxes so that carbon dioxide is expelled proportionately, and hyperventilation does not occur.
The Physical Health Benefits of Transformational Breath®
There are many reports of physical health benefits resulting from Transformational Breath®. Judith Kravitz, the founder of Transformational Breath®, cured herself of throat cancer in 1979 without drugs or surgery. In her book Breath Deep. Laugh Loudly, Judith cites numerous healings from all kinds of ailments. From drug and alcohol abuse, Attention Deficit Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to respiratory conditions such as asthma, Transformational Breath® regulates the whole system. Judith notes a high percentage of her asthmatic clients suffering childhood trauma and pronounced feelings of mother abandonment sometimes dating all the way back to birth and earlier. She writes;
‘another recurring theme with asthmatic breathers is a fear or history of suffocation, drowning or other life-threatening events in which a dramatic loss of air supply was experienced. Such experiences set up what I call the asthmatic breathing pattern, putting into pace the belief system that I can never get enough’.
Such people are usually engulfed by feelings that they cannot get enough love, attention, food, money, and energy. Judith explains;
‘that during a Transformational Breath® session, those moments may be re-experienced but now with am more mature level of understanding and higher perspective of compassionate awareness’.
Super charged emotions associated with those beliefs are integrated. Along with Judith’s claims there are numerous clinical studies which demonstrate the power of diaphragmatic breathing in treating a variety of diseases and medical conditions.
How Transformational Breath® affects mental health
Elif Clarke, an NHS psychologist and senior Transformational Breath® trainer, explains how this form of breathing successfully treats Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She explains how Peter Levine discovered that trauma is initiated when there is a threat to survival and the outcome is that the body freezes. When fight and flight are not options, the animal freezes and immobilises, like “playing dead”. This makes it less of a target. This applies to the human body too. However, this reaction is time sensitive. It needs to run its course, and the massive energy that was prepared for fight or flight gets discharged, through shaking and trembling. If the immobility phase doesn’t complete successfully, then that charge remains trapped, and from the body’s perspective it is still under threat. So, in Transformational Breath, the kicking and pounding with sound that we use help the person to process and integrate the trauma memories and emotions. Therefore, Transformational Breath® may also encourage the person to relive the trauma within a safe and secure therapeutic relationship. Once the physical arousal is reduced, the person becomes able to process traumatic memories, and they will no longer feel that they are under constant imminent danger.
P.J.S Dougherty testifies to his own emotional integration during a breath session, which he undertook as research for his writing. He says;
‘minutes later, tears were streaming down my face. One deep breath had caught me by surprise, blindsiding me with unexpected emotion. "I can tell all about someone's personality just by how they breathe," Tobin had hinted earlier. She had read my breathing perfectly, accurately predicting my release. I found myself in the midst of an emotional dam burst—finally processing feelings that had likely been stuffed down and ignored for years, fermenting as unhealthy negative energy’.
There are numerous clinical studies demonstrating how Transformational Breath® affects mental health such as performance anxiety in singers, which I have referenced at the end of this article.
Transformational Breath® Workshops and Retreats
At Integrative Associates, we host Transformational Breath® Workshops and Retreats throughout the year. These Transformational Breath® sessions are created and designed to cater to both experienced breath-workers and complete beginners. Helena Boland, our lead Transformational Breath facilitator also offers one to one bespoke sessions for our clients. Our sessions are held that the Whalebones Wellbeing Centre, which is an intimate oasis located within a woodland area of High Barnet. It is quite literally a retreat located within the hussle and bussle of London life.
References:
Randomized Control Trial. J Rehabil Med 2008 Feb;40(2):119-25. doi: 10.2340/16501977-0140.
Patients with acute spinal cord injury benefit from normocapnic hyperpnoea training. Siska Van Houtte 1, Yves Vanlandewijck, Carlotte Kiekens, Christina M Spengler, Rik Gosselink
Randomized Control Trial. Am J Gastroenterol 2012 Mar;107(3):372-8. doi: 10.1038/ajg.2011.420. Epub 2011 Dec 6.
Positive effect of abdominal breathing exercise on gastroesophageal reflux disease: a randomized, controlled study A J Eherer 1, F Netolitzky, C Högenauer, G Puschnig, T A Hinterleitner, S Scheidl, W Kraxner, G J Krejs, Karl Martin Hoffmann
Oxygen Benefit on Cancer Prevention. Article Published: 17 August 2016 Tumour hypoxia causes DNA hypermethylation by reducing TET activity. Bernard Thienpont, Jessica Steinbacher, Hui Zhao et al. Nature volume 537, pages63–68 (2016)
For further reading see https://www.transformationalbreath.com/science
International Symposium on Performance Science Program Proof August 30 | 02 September 2017
EXPLORATION OF TRANSFORMATIONAL BREATH® FOR ANXIETY MANAGEMENT IN PROFESSIONAL VOICE USERS: EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ARTICLE by Wheble, Philippa et al
Transformational Breath positively influences general well-being: Facilitator Helmut Pfeil of Austria conducted a study that found 57% of subjects reporting a "significant increase in well-being after a 6-session protocol". The research used a series of standard health questionnaires (SF-36 and FEW-16) to assess feelings at baseline, after 3rd session, and after the full six sessions.