Biblical Breathwork

In the beginning, God breathed life into Adam, setting a powerful precedent for the life-giving nature of breath itself. Breathwork, the practice of intentionally deepening and focusing on the breath, has gained attention for its profound physical and mental benefits, yet it also holds deep spiritual significance, especially for believers. Throughout scripture, breath symbolizes not only life but the Holy Spirit, God's sustaining presence within us. This article explores how we can integrate biblical principles with breathwork, reconnecting us to the natural, restorative rhythms God designed. Rediscovering deep, intentional breathing invites us to reduce stress, strengthen our bodies, and cultivate a heart aligned with God’s peace, one breath at a time.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

While the Bible doesn't explicitly mention deep breathing exercises for health, it does emphasize the importance of breath and the role of God's Spirit in giving life. Breath in Scripture is often associated with God's life-giving power, which can symbolically connect to the practice of deep breathing for health and well-being. Here are some relevant verses:

1. Genesis 2:7 – "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."
• This verse highlights how God's breath gives life, which can be seen as a reminder of the importance of breathing for sustaining life.
2. Job 33:4 – "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life."
• Here, breath is tied to the sustaining power of God’s Spirit, symbolizing the refreshing and vital role of breathing.
3. Ezekiel 37:5-6 – "This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life."
• In the vision of the dry bones, breath symbolizes restoration and vitality, which can parallel how deep breathing exercises can renew energy and promote health.
4. Psalm 150:6 – "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!"
• This verse encourages us to use our breath in praise, which could remind us to be mindful of how we use and care for the breath God has given us.

These passages can serve as a spiritual foundation for caring for one's breath and, by extension, one's health.

Scholars and rabbis also say the letters “YHWH” represent breathing sounds or aspirated consonants. When pronounced in proper Hebrew, without vowels, it sounds like breathing: YH (inhale), WH (exhale). A baby's first cry, their first breath, literally speaks the name of God which makes the name of God your first word too!

HOW DO NEWBORNS BREATHE?

Babies naturally breathe deeply, especially during sleep. Babies typically use diaphragmatic breathing, also known as belly breathing, where their abdomen rises and falls with each breath. This type of deep breathing is the most efficient and natural way to breathe, as it engages the diaphragm fully and allows for maximum oxygen intake. This is how God designed us to breathe, before the world’s influence took hold.

Some key points about how babies breathe include:

1. Diaphragmatic Breathing: Babies’ breathing is driven primarily by the diaphragm, a large muscle at the base of the lungs. This deep, natural breathing pattern allows for optimal lung expansion and oxygen exchange.
2. Relaxed Breathing: Babies tend to breathe calmly and rhythmically when they are sleeping or relaxed, which often results in deeper, fuller breaths compared to older children and adults, who may adopt more shallow, chest-oriented breathing due to stress or bad posture.
3. Natural Rhythms: Because babies are not burdened by stress or conscious control over their breathing, they tend to follow natural rhythms. Their bodies instinctively prioritize deep, efficient breathing for maximum oxygenation.
4. Shallow Breathing When Active: While babies naturally breathe deeply during rest, they may switch to faster, more shallow breathing when crying, feeding, or being active. However, when calm, they revert to their natural, deeper breaths.

In adults, deep diaphragmatic breathing can often become restricted by stress, poor posture, or habits developed over time, leading to more shallow, chest breathing. This is why techniques like deep breathing exercises are encouraged to return to a more natural and efficient way of breathing, similar to how babies naturally breathe.

WHAT CHANGED OUR BREATHING FROM BIRTH?

Babies breathe deeply and naturally using their diaphragms, but as they grow into children and adults, several factors contribute to the shift toward more shallow chest breathing. Here are the reasons why this change happens and what typically causes the transition:

1. Stress and Emotional Factors

• Stress and Anxiety: As children grow older, they begin to experience various forms of stress, including emotional, social, and academic pressures. Stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, which triggers the "fight or flight" response, leading to shallow, rapid chest breathing as the body prepares for perceived threats.
• Conditioning: Over time, repeated stress responses condition people to breathe more shallowly, as shallow chest breathing becomes a habitual response to tension and anxiety.

2. Posture Changes

• Sitting and Sedentary Lifestyles: As children grow older, they spend more time sitting in school, at home, and in front of screens. Poor posture (slumping or hunching over) restricts the diaphragm's ability to move freely, encouraging shallow chest breathing.
• Muscle Tightness: Over time, slouching, tight clothing, and inactivity can cause muscle tightness in the chest, abdomen, and back, further inhibiting diaphragmatic breathing and reinforcing shallow breathing patterns.

3. Social and Cultural Conditioning

• Self-consciousness: As children become more aware of their surroundings and begin to feel self-conscious, they might unconsciously adjust their posture, sucking in their stomachs to appear thinner or to "stand tall." This restricts the diaphragm and encourages shallow chest breathing.
• Breath-holding or Suppression: In some cases, children may begin holding their breath or suppressing their breathing as a response to fear, discipline, or social pressures. This behavior, if repeated over time, can alter natural breathing patterns.

4. Lung Development and Growth

• Developmental Changes: As children grow, their lungs and ribcage expand and change shape. While this growth should ideally support deeper breathing, environmental factors (such as stress, posture, and habits) can counteract this, leading to shallow breathing becoming more common.

5. Habits and Learned Behavior

• Modelling Adult Behavior: Children may begin to mimic the shallow breathing patterns of adults around them. If caregivers or role models consistently breathe shallowly due to stress or posture, children can unconsciously adopt similar patterns.
• Lack of Awareness: Most people are not taught or made aware of how to breathe properly. Over time, deep diaphragmatic breathing is replaced by shallow, unconscious chest breathing due to lack of education on the importance of breath control.

6. Physical and Environmental Factors

• Tight Clothing: As children grow older, they may wear tighter clothing that restricts abdominal and chest expansion, further promoting shallow breathing.
• Chronic Illness or Respiratory Issues: Allergies, asthma, or chronic respiratory conditions can lead to compensatory shallow breathing, where the individual uses quick, shallow breaths to avoid discomfort.

7. The Role of the Nervous System

• Sympathetic Dominance: As adults face increasing responsibilities and challenges, many people operate in a state of sympathetic dominance (stress response), where the body's default mode is to stay on alert. This keeps the breath shallow and rapid, as opposed to the parasympathetic state, which promotes deep, calm breathing.

When Does the Shift Happen?

The transition from deep diaphragmatic breathing to more shallow chest breathing typically happens gradually during childhood and adolescence. There isn't a specific age when it occurs, but it often begins when children start attending school, sitting for long periods, and facing social and emotional pressures. By adulthood, shallow breathing has become habitual for many, often without conscious awareness.

How to Relearn Deep Breathing

By becoming more conscious of our breathing and relearning how to engage the diaphragm, we can restore the natural, efficient breathing patterns we were born with. As adults, it’s possible to retrain the body to return to deep, diaphragmatic breathing through practices like:

• Breath awareness
• Breathing exercises (e.g., diaphragmatic breathing)
• Correcting posture

ORIGINS OF BREATHWORK

Deep breathing exercises, as a formal practice, appear to have origins in various ancient traditions, particularly in Eastern spiritual and health systems. While people have always breathed deeply during physical exertion or relaxation, formal techniques emerged in several key cultures:

1. Yoga (India)

One of the earliest and most influential origins of deep breathing practices comes from ancient India. In yoga, a core component is "Pranayama," which refers to breath control. "Prana" means life force or energy, and "yama" means control. Practitioners believed that by controlling the breath, they could influence both physical health and mental states. Various pranayama techniques include deep diaphragmatic breathing, alternate nostril breathing, and rhythmic breathing, but they were always attached to contorting your body into a certain position and holding your hands in specific ways called mudra’s. It was never just breathwork alone. Yogi’s also believed their spiritual practice of yoga and pranayama could yoke them to their gods, that they could become god-like, and they could access the spiritual realm through these practices too.

2. Traditional Chinese Medicine (China)

In China, deep breathing exercises are integral to practices like Qigong and Tai Chi, which date back thousands of years. These systems emphasize cultivating "Qi" or life energy, and breath is considered the primary way to circulate and balance this energy within the body. The Chinese believed that proper breathing could enhance physical health, longevity, and spiritual clarity, and that certain techniques could also help them to access the spiritual realm.

3. Meditation Practices (India, Tibet, Southeast Asia)

In both Buddhist and Hindu traditions, breathing exercises are central to meditation practices, often used to focus the mind, reduce stress, and enter deeper states of consciousness. In Buddhism, particularly in mindfulness meditation (such as Anapanasati), attention is placed on the breath to calm the mind and divine information by accessing a spiritual realm. Meditation when used in this way is designed to empty your mind and body, so you can have a spiritual experience. The bible teaches us that we are meant to be completely filled with the Holy Spirit, and when we are empty vessels we are open to demonic oppression.

• Matthew 12:43-45 - “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

4. Ancient Greece

Ancient Greek philosophers like Hippocrates and Galen also wrote about the importance of breath in maintaining health. They recognized that controlled breathing could help balance bodily systems and improve mental focus. However, formalized deep breathing techniques were not as extensively developed in the West as in Eastern traditions. Hippocrates focused on the health benefits of breathing exercises and neglected any spiritual aspect of it which is why his methods were, to put it simply, just breathing deeply. He did not have any crazy techniques that forced you to contort your body into weird and uncomfortable positions.

5. Indigenous and Shamanic Practices

Various indigenous cultures worldwide also have deep breathing practices connected to healing and spiritual rituals. For example, some Native American and shamanic traditions incorporate deep, rhythmic breathing into ceremonies aimed at connecting with the spiritual realm or inducing altered states of consciousness.

6. Modern Adaptations

In more recent centuries, these ancient practices have influenced modern techniques, including some types of progressive muscle relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing in stress reduction, and therapeutic breathing exercises used in psychology and medicine. Western approaches like the Buteyko method (for asthma and respiratory health) and Holotropic Breathwork have roots in these older traditions, adapted for contemporary wellness and psychological healing. As a Christian you need to be vigilant about the type of breathwork you partake in if it is offered through various, seemingly innocuous, therapies.

Much of the breathwork we see today stems from these eastern philosophies, rebranded and marketed to the western world as casual stress relief practices. Some breathwork techniques, like Holotropic Breathwork, even mimic hallucinatory drugs to evoke psychoactive experiences similar to the effects of DMT and LSD. But these practices are far from casual, or beneficial, and as Christians we should not be partaking in them.

• 1 Corinthians 10:21 – “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.”

Satan would not waste his time with something that didn’t work, or had no use or purpose. He seems to have taken a very keen interest in breathwork, because he has woven it into every other false religion. Satan can’t create anything new, he can only counterfeit God’s truth. If he has gone to such lengths to counterfeit breathwork, it means there must be a biblical truth behind it. What all of those other religions have in common is that they use breathwork to access the spiritual realm.

Biblically speaking, our God resides in the Third Heaven, while the Second Heaven is the spiritual realm where demons reside. By practicing breathwork in these counterfeit ways, people are illegally accessing the Second Heaven and I believe this gives demons legal rights over you. From my time in the occult I can tell you first hand that the more I accessed the spiritual realm, the more suffering I endured in life. It is something I had to deeply repent of, and praise Jesus He delivered me from it.

BENEFITS OF DEEP BREATHING EXERCISES

Deep breathing exercises offer a wide range of documented physical, mental, and emotional benefits. Here are some of the key benefits supported by research:

1. Reduces Stress and Anxiety

• Deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and reducing the "fight or flight" response, which helps lower levels of stress hormones like cortisol. Studies have shown that it can significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety.

2. Improves Oxygen Supply and Circulation

• Deep breathing increases the oxygen supply to the brain and other organs, improving circulation, boosting energy levels, and supporting overall organ function.

3. Lowers Blood Pressure

• Slow, deep breathing can help lower blood pressure by reducing tension in the body and promoting better circulation, which helps regulate heart rate.

4. Enhances Lung Function

• Regular deep breathing exercises help strengthen the diaphragm and expand lung capacity, improving respiratory health and lung function, which is especially beneficial for those with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

5. Promotes Emotional Regulation

• Deep breathing can help regulate emotions by calming the nervous system. It reduces impulsive reactions and allows for more mindful responses, fostering emotional balance and resilience.

6. Improves Focus and Mental Clarity

• By increasing oxygen to the brain and promoting relaxation, deep breathing enhances mental clarity, concentration, and cognitive performance, making it useful for improving focus in stressful situations.

7. Boosts Immune Function

• Deep breathing can enhance the function of the immune system by lowering stress and improving lymphatic circulation, which supports the removal of toxins and promotes better immune response.

8. Reduces Symptoms of Depression

• Several studies have shown that deep breathing can reduce symptoms of depression by increasing feelings of well-being and calming the mind.

9. Promotes Better Sleep

• Deep breathing exercises, especially when done before bedtime, can help people relax and fall asleep faster. It also improves sleep quality by reducing stress and promoting a restful state.

10. Supports Digestion

• By activating the parasympathetic nervous system (rest-and-digest), deep breathing helps promote healthy digestion by improving blood flow to the digestive organs and reducing stress-induced gastrointestinal symptoms.

11. Decreases Pain Perception

• Deep breathing exercises can help alleviate pain by encouraging the body to relax and release tension, as well as by triggering the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers.

12. Detoxification and Cleansing

• Deep breathing helps expel toxins from the body by improving oxygen exchange and promoting better circulation, which helps in eliminating waste products and improving detoxification processes. Oxygen is an alkalizing agent, and it can help to restore fluidity to hardened and congested lymph.

13. Reduces Muscle Tension

• When stressed, muscles often tense up, leading to discomfort or pain. Deep breathing helps relax the muscles and reduce overall physical tension.

14. Improves Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

• Heart rate variability, an indicator of the balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems, improves with deep breathing exercises. A higher HRV is associated with better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of heart disease.

15. Balances Autonomic Nervous System

• By practicing deep breathing, you help balance the autonomic nervous system (ANS), promoting a state of equilibrium between the sympathetic (stress response) and parasympathetic (relaxation response) systems.

16. Increases Presence

• Deep breathing promotes focus on the present moment, enhancing self-awareness and reducing rumination or worry about the past or future. It can help you to be more present in the moment and less distracted when enjoying time with loved ones.

17. Helps Manage Chronic Conditions

• Deep breathing is beneficial for managing chronic conditions such as asthma, hypertension, chronic pain, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), as it helps manage stress and improve physiological responses.

These benefits illustrate why deep breathing exercises are often incorporated into natural health practices, mental health therapies, and physical wellness routines.

BIBLICAL BREATHWORK FRAMEWORK

While the Bible does not specifically instruct on how to perform deep breathing exercises, many biblical principles can guide your approach to it. You can incorporate scripture, prayer, and gratitude while performing deep breathing exercises to cultivate both physical and spiritual well-being.

Here’s a simple way to approach deep breathing exercises from a biblical perspective:

1. Prepare Your Heart Posture:

Begin by inviting God's presence, acknowledging that breath is a gift from Him. This is about your heart posture being directed to worship the Lord. It has absolutely nothing to do with your physical posture, which is the complete opposite of eastern philosophies! You do not have to contort your body into weird positions, just sit or stand comfortably, and direct your focus to God.

Scripture Focus:

• Psalm 46:10 – "Be still, and know that I am God."

As you prepare to breathe deeply, center your thoughts on God’s presence and allow yourself to be still, calming your body and mind.

2. Breathe In – Acknowledge God's Life-Giving Breath:

Slowly inhale through your nose for a count of 7, filling your lungs fully. Use your diaphragm and breathe deeply so that your whole belly expands, rather than just your chest/lungs.

Meditate on Scripture:

• Genesis 2:7 – "Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life."

As you breathe in, reflect on how each breath is a gift from God, a reminder of His life-giving Spirit within you.

3. Hold – Rest in God’s Presence:

Gently hold your breath for a count of 7, resting in the peace of God’s presence.

Scripture Focus:

• Isaiah 40:31 – "But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles."

This brief pause represents waiting on the Lord and trusting Him in every moment that His promise (reflected as the next breath) is just a moment away.

4. Breathe Out – Release Tension and Worry:

Exhale slowly and fully through your mouth for a count of 7. You belly should contract flat, all the way in as if your were squeezing your abdominal muscles tightly.

Meditate on Scripture:

• 1 Peter 5:7 – "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."

As you exhale, release any tension, anxiety, or worries to God, trusting Him with your burdens.

5. Repeat in a Rhythm of Gratitude and Prayer:

Continue this pattern of breathing for several minutes, allowing each breath to become an act of gratitude, prayer and worship. You can silently thank God for His provision, reflect on His goodness, or meditate on more verses as you continue breathing so that you are filled with His Word and the Holy Spirit.

Example: Combining Breathing with Prayer

• Inhale: "Thank You, Lord, for Your life-giving breath."
• Hold: "I rest in Your peace and presence."
• Exhale: "I cast my burdens onto You."

This practice can help align you with God's peace, providing not only physical relaxation but also a moment of spiritual nourishment.

Let’s take it one step further.

By practicing deep breathing in this way, you’re returning to breathing the way God designed you to breathe before you were tainted by the world! You’re following His original design, in a way that promotes health and healing. It’s not a counterfeit, it’s the real thing.

Genesis 2 tells us that God breathed life into Adam’s nostrils, and you’re breathing in through your nose to reflect that. With every inhale and exhale, you’re speaking the sounds of the name of God – YH-WH. You’re literally worshipping the Lord with every breath, and the deeper each breath, the louder the worship! That is fulfilling Psalm 150:6 by praising the Lord with your breath, and by worshipping God in this way His promise of health and healing is fulfilled with each breath that you take. Just like in Ezekial 37:5-6, the extra oxygen brings healing to weary bones, illness, and disease.

THE BREATH OF LIFE

Biochemist Otto Heinrich Warburg, a prominent cell biologist of the 20th century, identified excessive acidity in the body as the underlying factor in cancer development. Warburg studied the way tumors metabolize and how cells respire, noting that cancer cells can survive in environments with a lower pH, sometimes as low as 6.0, due to lactic acid and increased CO2 levels.

Warburg believed in a strong link between pH levels and oxygen availability: a higher pH, or an alkaline state, increases oxygen concentration, while a lower pH, or an acidic state, reduces it, making oxygen essential for cellular health. In 1931, he received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his groundbreaking research. As the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (now the Max Planck Institute) for Cell Physiology in Berlin, he focused on tumor metabolism and the respiration of cancer cells.

In his lectures, Dr. Warburg emphasized, "Cancerous tissues are acidic, whereas healthy tissues are alkaline," explaining that an abundance of H+ ions results in acidity, whereas an excess of OH- ions produces alkalinity. His book, The Metabolism of Tumours, established that cancer consistently involves two conditions: acidosis and a shortage of oxygen. He famously stated, "Lack of oxygen and acidosis are two sides of the same coin." He observed that, "All normal cells require oxygen, but cancer cells can live without it." Warburg warned that if a cell is deprived of 35% of its oxygen for 48 hours, it could become cancerous.

Dr. Warburg concluded that oxygen deficiency, which leads to an acidic body environment, is the primary cause of cancer. He also discovered that cancer cells are anaerobic, meaning they do not use oxygen, and cannot survive in highly oxygenated, alkaline conditions which means deep breathing exercises to increase oxygen levels is one of the greatest protocols you can do for cellular health.

Now that's modern science confirming God’s truth!