Corporate wellness offerings have evolved significantly in recent years, extending beyond traditional perks like gym membership or free health care. Many companies now recognize the importance of taking a holistic approach to corporate wellness, by tending to their employees’ physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. 

By offering tailored wellness programs that cater to the diverse needs of their staff, organizations can create healthy and happy work environments where employees feel supported to succeed. From smoking cessation programs and on-site yoga classes to flexible working arrangements and mental health support, the range of offerings available today can assist employees with work-life balance, stress reduction, and improved productivity and performance.

As businesses continually strive to enhance their wellness offerings to optimize both employee well-being and overall returns, breathwork has emerged as a valuable addition to many corporate wellness packages, due to the many benefits it offers. In this article, we will take a closer look at the concept of breathwork and explore the benefits this practice can bring to workplace wellbeing.

Image by Erik Brolin on Unsplash

What is Breathwork?

With roots in yogic practices like Pranayama, breathwork refers to various breathing techniques that facilitate the release of stored stress, anxiety and toxins in the body. 

Despite being an involuntary and often unconscious bodily mechanism, when undertaken in a controlled and conscious manner, breathing can calm the nervous system and offer a range of benefits that help promote overall harmony and well-being. Some common breathwork techniques include the following:

  • Alternate nostril breathing
  • 4-7-8 breath
  • Lion’s breath
  • Holotropic breathing
  • Breath of fire

The Benefits of Breathwork 

From alkalizing blood pH and elevating mood to its anti-inflammatory effects, the benefits of breathwork have been medically documented.  When it comes to the workplace and employee well-being these benefits extend to the following:

Stress Reduction

Many factors can impede employee performance at work, with stress being one of the most significant. This has been confirmed by studies that reveal the inverse relationship between high stress levels and significantly lower productivity levels. 

In contrast, the implementation of breathwork exercises such as deep breathing in the workplace has been researched and recommended as a way to substantially lower blood pressure and stress levels for at least 50% of the adult population in the U.S. who suffer from high blood pressure. These findings highlight the potency of breathwork as a tool for helping employees reduce stress and in turn, boost their productivity at work.

Improved Mental Health

A growing area of concern for many employers is the state of their employees’ mental health. According to a survey by Business Group on Health, 77% of large employers report an increase in mental health needs among their workforce, with another 16% anticipating an increase in the future. 

One study into breathwork found that breathwork interventions were associated with lower levels of self-reported or subjective stress compared to non-breathwork controls, concluding that breathwork may be an effective practice for improving stress and mental health. By integrating breathwork classes into their corporate wellness packages, employers can address this rising concern and support employees with their mental health. 

Enhanced Performance

While setting clear expectations, simplifying the onboarding process and rewarding and recognizing employees can go a long way in boosting employee performance, strategies such as these often fall short as they do not address the psychological or emotional aspect behind poor performance.

In a study published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, it was found that the incorporation of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MSBR) techniques in the workplace, such as breathing exercises, could help improve attention, as well as cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physiological domains, which ultimately enhance job performance, workplace relationships, and well-being.

One reason cited for this is that these practices could result in a positive reappraisal of work situations, shifting perceptions from stressful to benign or meaningful instead. This could lead to enhanced coping abilities and the reassessment of work demands as manageable and stressors as within one’s control, leading to decreased strain, and enhanced performance.

Better Sleep

Poor sleep quality can greatly impact employee well-being and productivity. Studies in this area have found sleep to be linked to job satisfaction and work emotion. For example, insomnia is linked to heightened feelings of hostility and decreased attentiveness and job satisfaction. Low sleep quality is also found to contribute to conflicts at work as well as feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, and hostility within the workplace.

Breathwork can be a powerful tool to help combat such issues in the workplace and assist employees with their quality of sleep and overall well-being. This is highlighted in a study that found that self-regulation of breathing significantly improved sleep quality, and reduced insomnia symptoms in participants. Participants reported improved sleep onset, increased total sleep time, and fewer awakenings during the night.

By incorporating breathwork practices into their corporate wellness offerings, organizations can help their employees reap the many benefits ranging from enhanced mental and emotional health to overall well-being, ultimately fostering a workplace where they are supported to thrive and perform at their best.