Can you really breathe your way out of burnout?

Suzanne Duckett felt harried and overwhelmed. Could a breath coach really help?

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THE sound of a chime dings loudly, to tell me it’s time for my next breath in. I am lying on the floor, with one hand lightly on my chest, the other on my belly, trying to relearn how to breathe properly — for the sake of my mental health, more than anything. For the first time in what feels like weeks, even months, a sense of calm floods over me. I realise how close I have been to burnout. I have become so rushed in my life that I even race through my breathing. And I’m not the only one. According to research the vast majority of us are breathing far too fast, taking in 12-16 hurried breaths per minute. We are doing something which should be second nature, completely wrong – and it could be seriously harming our mental and physical health. I, for one, have been feeling completely at the end of my tether in every way – I juggle motherhood with running my own business, am having major building work at home, and am constantly feeling overwhelmed by work. So in a bid to bring myself back from the brink of my own burnout, I book in with Nahid de Belgeonne, aka ‘the nervous system whisperer’. Nahid is a coach in Somatic Movement (which connects the mind and body), and a breath and yoga practitioner. She specialises in chronic anxiety, stress and trauma issues as well as helping CEOs and high-flying creatives. But I must admit, I was sceptical about what a ‘breath coach’ could do for me.