Laurie Buchanan

Many people think that building better habits or changing their actions is all about willpower or motivation. But the number one driver of better habits and behavior change is the choice architecture of our environment.

Our environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. Despite our unique personalities, certain behaviors tend to arise for everyone under certain conditions. In church, for instance, we tend to speak in whispers. On a dark street, we’re wary and guarded. In this way, the most common form of change is not internal, but external — we are changed by the world around us. Every habit is context-dependent.

Breathwork is a way of changing our breathing patterns in order to influence how we feel and improve our mental and even physical health.

When we’re stressed or anxious, we tend to take shorter, more frequent breaths, mimicking our mental state in the way we breathe. When we inhale, we send a signal to the brain. When we take quick breaths, the brain thinks something is wrong, similar to the flight-or-fight response.

On the flip side, when we make a conscious effort to slow our breath, we send a signal to our brain that all is well. Instead of the sympathetic nervous system, the parasympathetic system kicks in, quietly scaling back on all those physical responses, while also ushering in a sense of relaxation and calmness.