Effective Breathing Techniques For Pain Relief (That You Can Do At Home!)

Modern science is great at providing temporary relief to acute medical problems. It is not that great at providing long lasting natural solutions to chronic pain.

This does not come as a surprise when you look at the purpose of modern medicine. 

The goal of a doctor is to get you back up on your feet as fast and as cost-effective as possible, so you can go back to work.

What if the source of your pain, physical or mental, is rooted in your current life situation?

Modern science can give you a tool to suppress the symptoms (at a heavy cost).

What if there was a natural way to relieve pain and anxiety?

Natural Ways To Relieve Pain

In Europe, the number one solution (and often – the only available solution) for pain relief is “take a paracetamol”.

A paracetamol (acetaminophen) is a non-opioid, anti-inflammatory drug that reduces pain and low fever for up to 6 hours.

Does the pain last longer than 6 hours? Take another paracetamol.

Does the pain not go away after 30 minutes? Take a second paracetamol.

You can probably guess what is next: you build a dependency on pain killers like paracetamol.

This is so common that some countries, like the United Kingdom, have coded restrictions in their laws on the maximum number of pills a pack of paracetamol can contain, and how many packs one customer can purchase over the counter.

And the root cause of the pain? It is still there because you have done nothing to address it.

If you want more permanent pain relief, there is a solution. And it is something more close to your body: your breath!

In this post, we will teach you three effective breathing techniques for pain relief that reduce stress and release trauma.

Mind-Body Connection Through Breathing

Breathing exercises are a powerful tool to relieve pain and you may wonder. How does it work?

The short answer is the Vagus nerve. 

This wandering nerve travels through our body and connects our heart, brain and our lungs.

As you may have already experienced for yourself, it is hard to control the mind and we cannot directly control our heart. 

We can, however, control our breathing and as our lungs are connected to our mind & heart through the vagus nerve, we can indirectly control them.

It’s a secret that has been known for thousands of years in Asia under various names (Pranayama, qi gong, to name a few).

It is now finally catching on in the mainstream with news outlets like the BBC reporting how breathing techniques are a powerful healing aid.

Breathwork is a potent method to establish & enhance the mind-body connection (and in this article you will learn a few breathing techniques for pain relief to get you started!)

Psychosomatic Pain: What Is It & Why Does It Matter?

You can see a painkiller as a chemical bandaid for pain. But, unlike a wound, pain does not always go away on its own. 

Pain can appear out of nowhere and linger, and make your life really uncomfortable, really fast.

Here is the catch: the underlying cause could be psychosomatic in nature!

Psychosomatic pain is caused by chronic stress or mental issues.

As you are struggling with work, paying the bills, keeping your family afloat or whatever is going on in your life that naturally is a challenge, stress builds up in the body.

While you try to keep it together for the outside world, you tense your jaw, face, chest and other parts of your body. Your nervous system shifts to an almost permanent state of flight or flight.

All of this tension, stress, is stored in various parts of your nervous system, including the solar plexus (the big bundle of ganglia nerves located just behind the stomach).

Can you see where this is going? (and why you want to pick up some breathing techniques for pain relief in your toolbox)

What Happens If You Ignore Pain?

If this comes as a surprise, don’t feel too bad. We have been taught since we were young that what does not kill you, makes you stronger and to just get up and keep going.

When you think about it, this approach is eerily similar to Monty Python’s famed Black Knight. 

In this comedic sketch, the Black Knight is a fierce warrior that King Arthur has to duel to pass. 

As the fight goes on, the Black Knight continues to lose various body parts but refuses to yield. Instead, he keeps repeating “It is only a flesh wound” until he has no more legs to stand on.

The moral of the story?

Yes, you can stubbornly keep going, but it will catch up, eventually.

If you do not release the trauma that is stored over time in your solar plexus and other parts of the body, the pain and discomfort continues to get worse. No amount of popping pills will work.

The good news is that there are various breathing techniques for pain relief that you can do from the comfort of your own home.

Meditation and Breathing Techniques for Pain Relief

The following visualization & breathing exercises are taken from the Soothing Breathing chapter from Stig Severinsen’s breathwork book Breatheology: The Art of Conscious Breathing.

These breathing techniques for pain relief are highly effective and can be done anywhere, anytime.

Double Exhalation (Evaporate Pain)

This breathing technique combines the powerful Relax on Demand with visualization to reduce or even evaporate pain.

Instructions

1. Sit or lie down in a comfortable, relaxed position
2. Take an inhale through the nose and deep into the belly
3. After a short pause, exhale gently through the mouth for twice the length of the inhale
4. During the extended exhale, focus your attention and investigate the pain. Accept it, embrace it, and match it with your exhale and visualize it fading away with your breath.

Learn more about the science behind the extended exhale: Slow breathing for reducing stress: The effect of extending exhale (G Birdee · 2023)

Vitalizing Vibrations (Bee Breathing or Bhramari)

The Bhramari breathing technique combines conscious breathing with sound. The oscillations created by making sounds resonate within the sinuses, body & mind, massaging them to boost endorphins, reduce stress and increase pain tolerance.

Instructions

1. Sit or lie down in a comfortable, relaxed position
2. Take an inhale through the nose and deep into the belly
3. Exhale gently through the mouth and create a deep, soft “hmmmm” or “heeee” sound, similar to a bumblebee.
4. Visualize how the resonating sound is the bee traveling through your body, replenishing each cell to relieve your pain

Learn more about the science behind bee breathing (Bhramari): Humming (Simple Bhramari Pranayama) as a Stress Buster (G Trivedi · 2023)

Healing Hands

Healing hands is one of the most effective ways to naturally relieve pain. In this breathing exercise, your breath becomes your personal osteopath, chiropractor or therapist, gently guiding you to let pain flow out of your body.

Instructions

1. Sit or lie down in a comfortable, relaxed position
2. Take an inhale through the nose and deep into the belly
3. Breathe out gently and place one hand on the painful area to create awareness.
4. Imagine how the pain flows out of the body as you breathe out.

Learn more about the science behind guided imagery for pain relief: Enhancing Chronic Non-Cancer Pain Management: A Systematic Review of Mindfulness Therapies and Guided Imagery Interventions (BM Pinto · 2024)