12/31/2025
A question we get asked often is:
What is the difference between breathwork and meditation, and which one is right for me?
In truth, the two are very similar: both are mindfulness practices, and both promote benefits to the body and mind.
We have found that meditation is more difficult for many to practice with regularity than breathwork, since meditation involves sitting in one place for prolonged periods of time.
Meditation improves attention span, helps reduce memory loss, promotes self-awareness, lowers your biological age, improves REM sleep, and helps stop overeating.
Meditation presupposes correct breathing, while breathwork, on the other hand, actually focuses on changing HOW you breathe so that you ARE able to breathe correctly.
Breathwork is like a workout for your nervous system, and when you regulate your autonomic nervous system through breathwork you experience immediate stress relief and more confidence.
So, when you are trying to figure out whether meditation or breathwork is right for you, ask yourself:
What do I want to gain from my mindfulness practice?
What benefits apply best to my situation?
What can I feasibly and sustainably practice everyday?
And don’t be averse to someday practicing both because, as mentioned, there are benefits to learning how to live in the present AND learning how to breathe properly.
