Is the answer to children’s anxiety right at the end of our noses?

Louisa Rasmussen, Happy Marlo’s Resident Breathwork Practitioner

Why is breathwork so powerful for children? We asked Louisa Rasmussen, Happy Marlo’s in-house breathwork expert, to explain why breathwork helps kids feel calmer and more resilient.

In the time it takes to read this article, you will inhale and exhale between 30–46 breaths. Each of these breaths will have a direct impact on how you feel. If they are short and shallow, you might become stressed out. But, if you breathe through your nose and into your belly, you will feel calmer and more at ease. In short, being mindful about how we breathe, means we can become more happy and focused.

We all have memories from our childhood of feeling nervous before a school concert, an important exam, or going to that popular kid’s sleepover. These feelings inevitably impacted how we experienced and related to those environments. But, imagine how differently things might have turned out if we had known that we could change how we feel by changing how we breathe.

To help us understand how this magical process works, we asked Louisa — our resident breathwork expert and highly qualified specialist — to explain the science behind our body’s best-kept secret.

What is Breathwork?

Breathwork is an ancient practice that teaches us how to consciously re-wire our breathing pattern. “It might sound complicated, and ‘breathwork’ is a funny term” says Louisa, “but when I say breathwork, I essentially want to make sure people get the basics of breathing right.”

“We kind of have it upside down. We need to remember that the quality of our oxygen comes first, and the quality of the food and water we intake comes second. Oxygen is the number one fuel for the cells in our body. How we breathe directly affects how we feel because it’s a connected system, every breathe we take will move things in our body.”

But, because breathing is such an unconscious process, we can pick up ‘bad habits’ without even realising. For instance, Louisa highlights that “neuroscientists are seeing a new phenomenon known as ‘tech apnea,’ which means when we are on our phones, we start holding our breath without even realising it.”

To help children develop the three fundamentals of optimal breathing, Louisa focuses on nasal breathing, belly breathing, and balanced breathing.

What is the Science Behind Back-to-Basics Breathing?

1. Nasal Breathing

When we breathe through our nose, our paranasal cavities use tiny hairs known as cilia to filter and humidify the air before it enters our lungs. Studies estimate that they protect us from 20 billion pathogens each day! But, when we struggle with breathing issues, such as asthma, we often get into the habit of breathing through our mouths (e.g. every time we use an inhaler).

Louisa’s own childhood was clouded by asthma and allergies so she understands these issues first hand. If we breathe mostly through our mouths, we can worsen these conditions because we are less protected from pollen and dust.

It was after Louisa’s Stage IV breast cancer diagnosis that breathwork became an integral part of her healing journey. “I started meditating a lot and breathing better by going back to the breathing basics. This knowledge would have been really helpful when I had asthma as a child, but it’s important for all of us whether we have respiratory problems or not.”

BREATHING TIP: To help your child breathe through their nose, ask them to pretend they are smelling a flower. Then, imagine a tiny petal is lightly stuck in the nostril, and you blow air out to remove it.

2. Belly-Breathing

When we breathe into our belly (the diaphragm), we activate the “rest and digest” (parasympathetic) part of our nervous system. In contrast, when we breathe into our chest, we activate our “fight-or-flight” (the sympathetic) mechanism.

Louisa explains that this is because our phrenic nerve sends messages from our diaphragm into our brain stem. “If we are breathing high and fast into our upper chest, the messages will be more anxious and erratic. But if we are breathing slow and low (belly breathing), this is more calming as we have calming receptors at the lower lungs.”

We also need to be mindful of ‘paradoxical breathing.’ This is when the belly moves in as we inhale. If our children are breathing paradoxically, their shoulders may also rise when they take a breath.

BREATHING TIP: Ask your child to sit or lie down and place their hands on the belly. As they do so they should imagine a balloon inflating and deflating inside their tummies, watching their hands rise and fall as they do so. This will help encourage deep belly breathing.

3. Balanced Breathing

Did you know that animals who breathe slower live longer? Slowing down our breath is a fantastic way to reduce inflammation, improve our immune system and send an ‘all-good’ message to the brain and body.

One of the main techniques Louisa teaches is ‘coherent breathing,’ otherwise known as balanced or equal breathing. It involves taking slow and even, inhales and exhales.

BREATHING TIP: To help children practice balanced breathing, encourage them to count to four on each breath in, and each breath out.

The Best Part? Kids Tend to Be Better At Breathing Games Than Adults!

Yup, it’s true! Breathing is an unconscious process that we are all born with, but unfortunately we often pick up bad habits along the way. As a result, the older we are, the more ingrained these habits will be, making it harder to correct.

Breathing games can help bring children back to the present moment, improve their concentration, and help them respond to stress in a healthy way. Most importantly, breathwork can help everyone feel more in control of their wellbeing. The trick is to practice breathing techniques when we feel calm. That way, we can familiarise ourselves with them, making it much easier to employ these back-to-basic tips when we feel overwhelmed or afraid.

Breathwork is a core part of Happy Marlo’s superpower-wellbeing toolkit and Louisa will be providing more Marlo Breath Moments on our app. For now, sign up at www.happymarlo.com for taster sessions and information on our live events!

Additional Resources & Sources

Books:

Stephen B. Elliot (2005). The New Science of Breath: Coherent Breathing for Autonomic Nervous System Balance, Health and Wellbeing. Coherence Press.

Richard P. Brown, MD & Patricia L. Gerbarg, MD (2012). The Healing Power of the Breath: Simple Techniques to Reduce Stress and Anxiety, Enhance Concentration, and Balance Your Emotions. Shambhala Publications.

James Nestor (2020). Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. Penguin Random House.

TedxTalks:

Nirvair Kaur (2012). How breathing works. TED-Ed.

Max Strom (2015). Breathe to Heal. TEDxCapeMay.

Lucas Rockwood (2018). Change Your Breath, Change Your Life. TEDxBarcelona.

Articles:

St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center. (2010). Slow breathing reduces pain. ScienceDaily.

J. Scott Young., Craig S. Cashwell., Amanda L. Giordano. (2011). Breathwork as a Therapeutic Modality: An Overview for Counsellors. Counselling and Values.

Lloyd Lalande., Matthew Bambling, Robert King & Roger Lowe. (2012). Breathwork: An Additional Treatment Option for Depression and Anxiety? Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy.

Xiao Ma., Zi-Qi-Yue., Zhu-Qing Gong., et al., (2017). The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults. Frontiers in Psychology.

Jhuma Sankar., Rashmi Ranja Das. (2018). Asthma — A Disease of How We Breathe: Role of Breathing Exercises and Pranayama. The Indian Journal of Paediatrics.

Resources for Children:

William Meyer (2019). Big Breath: A Guided Meditation for Kids. New World Library.

Christopher Willard and Wendy O’Leary (2020). Breathing Makes it Better. Bala Kids.

Nick Ortner and Alison Taylor (2018). My Magic Breath: Finding Calm Through Mindful Breathing. HarperCollins.