Breathe with Intention
How do you think about the way you breathe? At what moments in your life is the rhythm of your breath at the forefront of your mind? If you’re like us and many others, you think about your breath mostly when you undergo stress, be it mental or physical. Whether we are conscious of it or not, our breathing habits play an important role in our overall bodily health and mental well-being.
Breathe Bar is building a community of people who know that they must put on their own oxygen mask first before they can help others around them. We want to help you prioritize yourself. Reclaim the power breathing.
There’s a lot of misinformation about what oxygen bars actually are and what they do. However, they are increasingly popular and people are beginning to catch on. Whether you understand the science behind O2 bars or not, if you’ve tried it, you know it’s something special.
At Breathe Bar, we’ve done our homework. We’ve researched how providing the lungs with an abundance of oxygen can help you to de-stress and reset. We discovered exactly what elements of going to an oxygen bar make the visit worthwhile and then honed in on those points. As we refined the process for Breathe Bar, we added parts of our personality and expertise to create an experience you won’t find anywhere else.
We take our cues from scientific research rather than following trends and fads.
We invite you to read the following to gain a deeper understanding of why we do what we do.
The Research
Fact #1: A healthy set of lungs is able to absorb an average of 21% of the oxygen in each breath. The amount of oxygen our lungs can absorb is limited by our individual metabolism and by the percentage of oxygen in a given breath. In healthy individuals, this will result in 88-99% blood oxygen saturation, which is all the oxygen you need.
Despite lofty claims made by a lot of other oxygen bars, an oxygen treatment (especially a scented one that you might find in an airport) on its own does not provide any significant health benefits according to the medical community. So what’s the benefit of an oxygen treatment?
at Breathe Bar we see oxygen merely as a tool, an ingredient in the recipe for replenishment, refreshment, and self-prioritization.
And it’s not the only ingredient we’re offering:
Fact #2: Controlled, focused, and mindful breathing is widely studied and concludes an impressive list of health benefits. Some of these include:
Helps calm the brain
Regulates blood pressure
Helps with emotional control
Positively affects memory
Additionally, findings may conclude that focused breathing boosts the immune system, and improves energy metabolism.
How Breathe Bar uses O2 treatments to promote Focused Breathing.
1. Curating a breathing experience for your senses.
We want you to focus on the sensation of the pure O2 move through your nostrils. It reminds you that you are doing something intentional with your breath. Even if you drift away in thought, your body is being reminded that you are there to breathe deep. Hear the steady rhythm of the O2 machines and dampen visual stimuli in order to concentrate on your breath.
2. Removing distractions and triggers
Deep breathing is easier said than done. Take this dare to find out what we mean. Set your phone timer on for 20 min (As long as our shortest O2 nap), and set it across the room. Lie in a comfortable position somewhere in your home away from distractions (I already lost all the parents with young children), and breathe. That’s it. Can you do it? Did you make it past the 5 min mark?
We have done enough counseling with people to know that this challenge is almost never accomplished without a considerable amount of practice. Our minds are just too busy and acclimated to constant stimulus. Sometimes, we need help to remove distractions and get started with the practice.
3. Promoting consistency and a rhythm of self-prioritization.
Our nap chairs are not in isolated rooms where you would never see another soul. Instead, we have created a community of people who care about their health and the balance of their time and resources. We are encouraging you to join a culture of health-oriented people who practice rest. It's crazy how much EVERYTHING seems to get in the way of self-prioritization, so consider your time at Breathe Bar a scheduled date with yourself amongst like-minded friends.
Mindful breathing takes discipline, and discipline flourishes where community and camaraderie are plentiful.
Breathe Bar is just the place for you to tap into the strength of community to reclaim the power of breathing.
our bottom line
We are not claiming that simply getting an oxygen fix every once in a while is going to solve your body's problems. Instead, we are passionately advocating that you believe in the power that your own body has as you imbue each breath with simple intentions. In the midst of a world of smartphones, a fast-paced culture, countless traumas, and everything else life has to throw at us, we are creating a space that is safe and helpful in slowing you down to breathe.
Sources
DiSalvo, David. “How Breathing Calms Your Brain, And Other Science-Based Benefits of Controlled Breathing.” Forbes. Accessed 5 March 2019.
Feldman, Greg, et al. “Differential effects of mindful breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and loving-kindness meditation on decentering and negative reactions to repetitive thoughts.” Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 48, no. 10, 2010, pp. 1002-1011.
Ng, Chong G., et al. "The Effect of 5 Minutes of Mindful Breathing to the Perception of Distress and Physiological Responses in Palliative Care Cancer Patients: A Randomized Controlled Study." Journal of Palliative Medicine, vol. 19, no. 9, 2016, pp. 917-924.