breath work

noun

variants or breathwork
: conscious, controlled breathing done especially for relaxation, meditation, or therapeutic purposes
Yoga is a 5,000-year-old physical and philosophical discipline from India that joins the mind and body together through breath work, or pranayama, and postures, or asanas.Hilary E. MacGregor
Some general principles of breathwork are: make your breathing slower, deeper, quieter, and more regular whenever you think about it; deepen the exhalation phase of breathing by squeezing more air out of the lungs at the end of each breath … and keep your attention on the breath more of the time.Andrew Weil

Examples of breath work in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Kundalini yoga is focused on calisthenic movements, breath work, and chanting. Olivia B. Waxman, TIME, 23 Oct. 2024 Aidan Lyon, a philosopher at Leiden University in the Netherlands and the author of Psychedelic Experience: Revealing the Mind, has argued that breath work, meditation, and even engaging with a piece of art could count as psychedelic experiences. Shayla Love, The Atlantic, 20 Oct. 2024 Yoga consists of three parts—the physical poses (asana), meditation (dhyana), and breath work (pranayama). Cory Martin, Verywell Health, 23 Sep. 2024 The flow through the movements is seamless, requiring concentration, control, and breath work. Angelica Bottaro, Verywell Health, 13 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for breath work 

Word History

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of breath work was in 1922

Dictionary Entries Near breath work

Cite this Entry

“Breath work.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/breath%20work. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.

Medical Definition

breath work

noun
variants or breathwork
: conscious, controlled breathing done especially for relaxation, meditation, or therapeutic purposes
Western practitioners believe yoga's deeply relaxing breath work allows the body's healing abilities to take over.Norine Dworkin, Psychology Today
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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