Have You Ever Noticed How Sound Changes Your Breath? Think about standing beside the sea listening to the waves, hearing birdsong on an early morning walk or putting on a piece of music that instantly makes you feel calmer. Equally, think about the sound of an alarm, a car horn or someone shouting unexpectedly. Before you've even had time to think, your breathing has already changed.
Read MoreIf I asked you to stand on one leg for 10 seconds, could you easily? It sounds incredibly simple, yet this small challenge has become an important measure in healthy ageing research. Standing on one leg requires far more than good balance. It relies on your brain, nervous system, vision, inner ear, muscles, joints and feet all communicating with one another in a remarkable display of coordination.
Read MoreAfter experiencing one of the most significant pain flares she's had in years, BreathGal founder Mel reflects on what pain taught her about breathing, nervous system protection and healing. A personal exploration of how pain changes the way we breathe, why the body moves into protection mode, and how breath can help us find moments of steadiness, connection and support during difficult times.
Read MoreWaking up at 3 a.m. and wondering why? In this blog, BreathGal founder Mel explores the often overlooked connection between breathing, hormones, the nervous system and sleep. Discover why women may notice changes in sleep throughout their menstrual cycle, during perimenopause and menopause, and how breathing patterns can influence the quality of your rest. A practical and evidence informed look at the hidden factors that may be contributing to early morning waking.
Read MoreOver the last few years breathwork has become much more visible and widely talked about, which in many ways is a really positive shift because it means more people are beginning to understand that breathing is not just a passive background process but something closely linked with how we regulate stress, process emotion, experience anxiety, and move through everyday life.
Read MoreThis is something I get asked a lot, especially by people who have spent years feeling like their breathing just does not feel quite right. Sometimes it is someone with asthma, sometimes someone with anxiety, sometimes somebody who is constantly sighing, holding tension in their chest, waking up exhausted, or feeling like they can never quite get a satisfying breath in.
Read MoreRoad rage is rarely about traffic itself. It is a nervous system response shaped by stress load, breath changes, and reduced regulation capacity. Learn what is actually happening in your body when you react in traffic and how breathwork can help you regulate in real time.
Read MoreIt is common to feel like nothing is happening during deep dive breathwork, but from a nervous system and somatic perspective, subtle states often mean the body is processing. Learn what is really happening in your body and why these quieter moments matter.
Read MoreHave you ever felt a lump in your throat that just won’t go away, a tight jaw, or like you want to scream but can’t? This sensation isn’t just in your head—it’s actually a real physical phenomenon, caused by tension in the throat muscles often linked to stress, posture, and suppressed emotion.
Read MoreAsthma Is Often Linked to Breathing Dysfunction — Not Just the Lungs But in many cases, it’s also linked to breathing dysfunction — especially the way we breathe on a daily basis.
Read MoreWhy Healing Stalls and How Deep Dive Breathwork Releases Repeating Patterns
Why do some people spend years doing healing work and still end up in relatively the same place? You may have tried therapy, courses, self-help books, and even breathwork before — yet the same patterns resurface: anxiety, indecision, repetitive relationship dynamics, or internal self-doubt.
Read MoreAlways Feeling Frustrated? How Functional Breathwork Helps Regulate Your Nervous System
Do you find yourself getting irritated over small everyday things? Maybe it’s traffic crawling along, or asking your child to tidy their room for the third time only to find it still messy. You can really feel it in your body — that heat in your chest, the tight jaw, the tension in your shoulders — and you just want to shout. That’s frustration showing up physically, even before your mind has a chance to catch up.
Read MoreBreathwork is one of the simplest yet most powerful tools you can use to improve your health, wellbeing, and emotional resilience. But if you’re new to it, you might be wondering: Where do I start? How do I practice correctly?
This guide gives you a clear, structured path to begin your breathwork journey, with practical exercises and explanations so you can feel confident incorporating breathing practices into your daily life.
By the end, you’ll understand the basics, know a few practical exercises, and feel confident about incorporating breathwork into your daily life.
Read MoreAre you ready to transform your energy, calm your mind, and improve your overall health? I’m Mel Breathgal, a breath coach based in Steyning, West Sussex, and I specialise in helping people unlock the power of their breath. Whether you live in Brighton, Hove, or elsewhere in West Sussex, I offer online Healthy Breathing Workshops and online or face-to-face 1:1 sessions designed to meet your unique needs.
Read MoreA year ago I wrote about the moment grief snacked me in the face at Christmas. I was standing in a supermarket aisle, listening to a family going about planning their Xmas and something inside me broke wide open. And the grief poured out right there in that aisle. (I had lost my mum the year before).
Read MoreMany of us get a stuffy nose in winter. Cold air, central heating and seasonal colds make nasal congestion common, which in turn pushes people toward mouth breathing, poorer sleep and less efficient oxygen use. Before reaching for sprays, there is a simple, non pharmaceutical technique used in breathwork training that can help open the nasal passages quickly by using your own breath. This nose unblocking exercise is used in Oxygen Advantage teaching and is a safe, effective first step for many people.
Read MoreThis is the month when people tell me, “I just can’t catch my breath.”
And it’s no surprise — the days are darker, the pace is faster, and we’re all trying to fit more into less time. The breath is often the first thing to go when life gets full. It becomes shallow and quick, shoulders rise, and before you know it, your body is running on stress.
As the air turns colder, our bodies instinctively tighten up. We hunch our shoulders, breathe a bit higher in the chest, and feel that drop in warmth and energy.
Breathwork can do more than calm the mind — the way you breathe actually influences how warm and alive your body feels.
Conscious connected breathing is a deep, intentional form of breathwork that helps you access more clarity, emotional release, and energetic balance in the body. Unlike regular day-to-day breathing, which is often shallow or automatic, conscious connected breathing encourages a continuous, connected flow of breath, often through both inhalation and exhalation without pauses. This sustained, conscious breathing allows your body and mind to enter states of deep relaxation and heightened awareness.
Read MoreIf you have been exploring breathwork, you might have typed into Google: “Is conscious connected breathing dangerous?” It is a question I hear often and it deserves a thoughtful answer.
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