Improving Focus and Concentration with Breathwork

With an ever-increasing demand for our time and attention, the ability to concentrate and stay focused has become more important than ever. Many of us turn to caffeine, energy drinks, and other stimulants just to get through the day – but these often are addictive, and cause anxiety and withdrawals. In this post we will talk about why we are so distracted and how we can use breathwork to improve concentration and focus. So if you’re sick and tired of being a slave to the notifications on your phone and not being able to get things done, read on! 

The Attention Deficit Pandemic

 Do you have a hard time paying attention?  That makes two of us.  Our technology-filled world has drastically impacted the amount of attention we can pay on any given task. In this day and age, our ability to focus has declined considerably from what it used to be; our attention span is worse than ever. Although this trend can be largely attributed to the excessive use of smartphones, how those around us use technology also affect our lack of focus. 

The use of technology and devices has been linked to poor attention and focus in both children and adults. According to a recent survey, 8 out of 10 parents reported their children spending too much time on devices, with 62% saying screens cause conflict in their home. Moreover, studies have shown that using digital devices can negatively affect academic performance in children due to distraction from schoolwork and reduced sleep quality.

For adults, 98% of the workforce say they are interrupted at least 3 or 4 times a day with an average of 23 and 15 seconds needed to recover from an interruption. Nearly three hours a day are wasted on distractions.  This overuse has been linked to anxiety and decreased engagement and productivity at work. 

How often are you walking, eating, working or exercising and looking at your phone? Do you see other people doing the same thing on a regular basis?

Difficulty paying attention is endemic and will require a societal shift to remedy.  Of course, any change starts with you. You should take measures to protect yourself from overindulging in tech by taking breaks and being aware of how much time we’re spending on devices. Yet, we only have so much willpower. We need tools to help us improve our focus, get back into our bodies and into the present moment. Instead of having your fourth flat white of the day while checking your phone, try another way to improve your focus and concentration: Breathwork.

What is Breathwork?

Breathwork is the practice of controlling your breathing rate, rhythm, and depth to bring about a change in your mental and physical state. Breathwork increases concentration and performance levels by providing the tools to manage stress and calm the mind at any time.  It can also activate the mind’s intrinsic creativity and resourcefulness.

To Focus and Concentrate: Control Your Stress Response

Practicing specific breathwork exercises can help you to improve your focus and concentration in as little as five minutes.  It is as easy as getting control of your stress response.

Everyone has a unique physiological response to stress – often referred to as the “fight-or-flight” response. When we encounter a stressful situation or an increased level of mental pressure (i.e., a presentation, sales pitch, or big project at work), our body responds by releasing hormones and chemicals such as adrenaline and cortisol. This jolt of hormones can cause physical symptoms such as increased heart rate and breathing, feeling tense or jittery, sweating, and shallow mouth breathing.

These physical reactions are the body’s way of preparing itself for action to protect us from danger. Chronic stress causes high blood pressure, promotes the formation of artery-clogging deposits, and causes brain changes that may contribute to anxiety, depression, and addiction.  However, our body’s stress response can be used to our advantage in certain situations. For example, when faced with a challenging task or situation, we can use the surge of adrenaline and cortisol to give us a boost of mental energy. 

Where we go awry is that many of us never deactivate our stress response. Under normal conditions, we handle the “threat,” and then give our parasympathetic nervous system time to rest and digest. When the body fails to return to its pre-stress state after tension has been removed, it can cause anxiety. In other words, long-term anxiety can be caused by our bodies not properly responding to heightened levels of stress and never recovering afterwards. Unfortunately, in today’s world of always on and constantly connected, many of us never down-regulate.  We’re always in fight or flight and that’s why we cannot focus and concentrate. 

Breath Techniques to Control Your Stress Response:

With the demands of everyday life, it can be difficult to put a lid on stress and anxiety. Luckily, we have breathwork to help us out. We’re what after is breathwork that gets us into the parasympathetic state and allows our bodies to relax and feel calmer. By taking deep breaths and/or using breath holds as part of a regular practice, we can actually start to feel relief from stress more quickly – allowing us to go about our day with clear heads and open hearts. 

Here are some simple breathing techniques you use when you need to calm down and focus:

1. Cadence Breathing or Heart Coherence Breathing– This involves controlling the length and rate of your breathing while counting each cycle of breath in and out. Count for 5 second inhale, pause, and then 5 second exhale.  Do this for 2-5 minutes.

2. Box Breathing – This technique requires the inhalation, holding, and exhalation to be equal in length. You start by inhaling to the count of four, hold your breath for a count of four, exhale for a count of four, and hold with empty lungs for a count of four before repeating the cycle again.

3. Alternate Nostril Breathing – This practice is done by placing your right thumb over your right nostril and inhaling deeply through the left nostril. Then closing off the left nostril with your ring finger, exhale through the right nostril before switching sides with each inhalation-exhalation cycle.

4. Abdominal Breathing – This exercise focuses on deep breathing from the abdomen instead of shallow breathing from the chest area by using conscious awareness to slow down our breathing rate. To do this exercise, lie down or sit comfortably before placing one hand on your chest and another directly below your ribs on your diaphragm; inhale slowly filling up air through your belly, chest, and then neck.  Exhale the opposite way for several counts. 

These simple yet powerful techniques will help you improve your focus and concentration by putting you in control of your stress response. 

How To Spend More Time In The Flow State

Have you ever experienced a state of heightened focus and clarity while working on a project, doing something creative, or playing a sport? That feeling is what experts refer to as the “flow state,” an optimal state of consciousness where we reach peak creativity and performance levels. 

This state of intense concentration is characterized by complete absorption in an activity, feeling energized and empowered as opposed to hindered from overwhelming effort, having a heightened sense of clarity, staying focused beyond distractions, and experiencing inherent enjoyment within the task itself. All the things that allow you optimal engagement in the task at hand to go above and beyond your previous performance.

The flow state is the ultimate form of focus and concentration. It is exactly what was happening when Michael Jordan hit buzzer-beater shots in game seven of the NBA World Finals, when Danny Way launched himself 75 feet over the Great Wall of China on a skateboard, or when Ian Walsh became the first person to paddle into massive Jaws. It is characterized by a feeling of complete immersion in an activity with the passage of time seemingly slowing down.

This phenomenon was first described in the 1970s by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who used the term “flow” to describe this state of peak performance and creativity. In his research, he found that people felt happiest when they were engaged in activities where their skills and abilities were matched with a task’s difficulty level.

Achieving goals and making dreams become reality can seem daunting at times, but attaining a flow state can make those ambitions more attainable. A flow state allows us to focus our attention and concentration on the task in front of us and experience a sense of being ‘in the zone’. Time passes quickly and feelings of joy, creativity and productivity naturally follow – which can make tackling even the toughest goals manageable. 

Create Your Own Peak Experience 

Since then, further studies have been conducted to explore how this flow state can be accessed and maintained to reap its benefits. One major way to induce the flow state is breathwork. Breakthrough breathwork – patterns of super-ventilation followed by breath-holds – can bring about the flow state. 

Using intentional, deep breathing and breath holds can help you turn off the monkey mind. Super-ventilation temporarily reduces blood flow to parts of the brain like the prefrontal cortex that control focused thinking, planning, and decision-making.  This gives other parts of the brain a chance to activate. By tapping into the subconscious mind – the TV that always replays memories, beliefs, values and wisdom in the background of our daily lives – we can remove blockages and create new neural pathways. Through breathwork, we can gain greater knowledge of ourselves and create positive changes that lead to better well-being in the long run. Breathwork is a safe way to explore what lies beneath the surface of our minds and reach a new level of understanding and creativity.  

That’s why CEOs and entrepreneurs are using directed breathwork sessions to increase their concentration and focus on certain problems or plans. These business leaders ask specific questions or focus on specific challenges before they do breathwork and then use the breathing practice to access ideas, solutions, and thoughts from their subconscious mind. By accessing the subconscious through breathwork, we can gain a greater understanding of ourselves, break free from negative patterns, and create positive changes. The safest way to learn these techniques is to work with a professional breathwork instructor.

Minimise Stress + Access the Flow State for Increased Focus and Concentration

As science advances, we are able to validate the ancient practice of breathwork and its effects on mental and physical health. In terms of concentration, breathwork provides a dose of hormonal energy that can help with focus and clarity within moments. Stress is often a major cause of distraction, but breathwork reduces the stress response and helps clear the mind. Lastly, breathwork can support accessing the flow state and different regions of the brain to come up with innovative solutions to problems. Clearly, there are many advantages to be gained simply by tapping into the power of the breath. Explore how breathing techniques can benefit your overall health, read our blog to learn more.