Ep. 3 Beginner Breathwork
The Blueprint - A podcast by Jason Smith
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I began practicing breathwork in 2020 at a low point in my life with high stress. I found myself not sleeping well, I was tired all the time, and had an overwhelming feeling of anxiousness. Remember, it's not I am anxious" it's "I feel anxious". I've been anxious my whole life but didn't know that was the feeling I was experiencing. I thought the feeling of anxiousness and overthinking was normal. Then I discovered the work of Joe Dispenza, started MEDITATING, and realized I could overcome the anxiousness and the overthinking. I went down the spirituality rabbit hole and that led me to neuroplasticity, breathwork, binaural beats, and learning about the reticular activating system and nervous system regulation. I even found a breathwork certification online and became certified in XPT Performance Breathing. Through all my research, reading, podcasts, and audibles I was introduced to Wim Hof who is known on social media as the ICE MAN. Wim's story is compelling and his pain became his purpose. To train you to become more RESILIENT to the daily stress you experience through BREATH. If you are ready to jump in let's figure out your BOLT score. Determining Your BOLT Score Body Oxygen Level Test (Bolt) which determines how quickly do you get breathless during physical activity. Even think about how quickly you become breathless when taking a flight of stairs and you consider yourself in great shape, but you can still gas out quickly. Directions: Make sure you are in a seated position and in a safe space. Normal breath in through the nose. Normal breath out through the nose. Then pinch the nose. Set your stopwatch on your phone, watch, or other device When you feel the first indication to breath release your nose and go back to breathing normally. A low BOLT score of 10 seconds means you will gas out sooner during physical activity A high BOLT score of 30 seconds or greater means you have good breathing technique As you apply breathwork in your daily routine and begin to regulate your breathing dysfunction you will increase your CO2 tolerance and increase your BOLT score. Which means less breathlessness or gassing out early in a workout!