Explainer | Add mindful breathing to meditation and you have breathwork in its simplest form. Its benefits? Pain relief, less anxiety, help with depression

Meditation’s benefits are well documented; it can tackle a range of physical and mental health issues, from stress and insomnia to lack of concentration

Focusing on your breath during meditation keeps the mind from wandering. Breathe through your nose slowly and deeply to induce feelings of peace and relaxation

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Corporate wellness coach Viv Kan says that focused breathing, or breathwork, is one of the easiest ways to keep our mind anchored.

Published: 7:15am, 1 Apr 2022Updated: 6:18pm, 1 Apr 2022

In this anxious and uncertain period, it helps to take time out of each day to relax your body and mind and restore your focus.

Meditation, in particular, is an excellent way to relieve stress and anxiety. When you add mindfulness and slow, deep breathing to a session, you end up with a powerful technique that’s said to help with depression, burnout, high blood pressure and even pain.

What is meditative mindful breathing?

Also called breath-focused meditation or mindful breathing meditation, meditative mindful breathing is the simplest type of breathwork or breathing technique, says Thomas Amiard, a psychotherapist and breathwork specialist from Balance Health in Hong Kong.

Thomas Amiard is a psychotherapist and breathwork specialist in Hong Kong.

“It’s about focusing your attention on your breath – just noticing it at first, observing it as it is and paying attention to nothing else. This is also called one-point focused awareness, because you’re focused on just one thing, which is your breath.”

Meditative mindful breathing is a typical Buddhist practice that’s said to have been taught by the Buddha himself, according to Amiard.

“Breathwork has, in fact, been used in various mystic traditions over the millennia. In India, there’s yogic breathing or pranayama breathing – the ancient practice of controlling your breath – and we see a similar technique in Sufi and Taoist traditions.”