The Vegan Breathing Coaches

06/10/2026

A little over two years ago, I was hospitalised owing to a problem with my gall bladder. After undergoing a range of ultrasound and MRI scans, the consultant was concerned about a mass which he couldn't quite identify. He wanted to rule out anything more sinister and elected to operate on me as soon as possible.

Any kind of operation is daunting, but as I was wheeled towards the operating theatre, the thought of what may or may not lie ahead fed my anxiety. To make things worse, my operation was delayed at the last minute owing to a critical case which was deemed to be a priority. I was told I would have to wait a further hour or two.

I lay waiting on the trolley bed hooked up to the BP and heart rate monitor and decided to use the time to calm myself down by using the slow and light breathing exercises I had learned during my training as a breathing coach. This is when I became truly aware of the power of breathing. Almost immediately, I saw my heart rate and blood pressure begin to fall. To get such direct feedback in a real life situation was revelatory. I realised that in any given situation, we have the ability to change our physiology through simple proven techniques.

The time of my operation eventually arrived. All went well and the surgeon removed my gall bladder and to my relief, the suspicious mass turned out to be nothing untoward ❤️.

~ Graham

11/09/2026

It comes as no surprise that slow nasal breathing reduces anxiety. What this latest study reveals, however, is how the nose communicates with the brain. It has a link to the amygdala such that the speed of breathing can either instigate anxiety (fast breathing) or calm the brain and thus the body via slow breathing.
Imagine training your breathing to make the latter your default! It is absolutely possible. I've done it and I'm extremely grateful 🙏
~ Annette Henry

A slow breath in and out does the trick for many people when calming their nerves and dealing with anxiety, a disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. Pranayama, Taoism and meditation have long used slow nasal breathing to ease a negative mood. How this simple act works its magic, however...

05/09/2026

So you do breathwork?

This is something we're often asked. And the answer depends on how you define 'Breathwork'.

We think of breathwork as a breathing activity that is undertaken to bring about a change of state. For example, if we wish to calm our nervous system after a stressful event or during a particularly hectic period of our lives.

So the answer to the question is yes, we do. But it's not the only thing we do.

As functional breathing instructors, a large part of what we do is help people to retrain and optimise their everyday moment-by-moment breathing. It may come as a surprise to hear that an increasing number of people today have developed breathing patterns that predispose them to suffer from frequent bouts of anxiety, brain fog, and poor sleep, not to mention worsen respiratory conditions like asthma. And there's a good chance that they've not made the link, because their breathing has become so habitual it's become the norm.

Breathwork is great. Breathing exercises can bring phenomenal results. But if the way someone is breathing 24/7 is compromised and left unaddressed, a temporary intervention will not lead to healthy moment-by-moment breathing.

If you feel this applies to you, find out more about the support we can offer in our Breathing Space at https://www.henryandhenryeu.com/breathingspace

31/08/2026

Consistency is the secret ingredient to better breathing 🫁.

If you’ve ever wondered how to stay motivated and keep practicing after your course ends, Annette and I have the ultimate solution....Introducing the Better Breathing Membership—launching today!

Designed to support you at every stage, becoming a member will help you to reinforce your habits and deepen your practice, whether you're a beginner or a 1-to-1 graduate.

Click the link below to join us! 🚀

Find out about about our Membership plans for the easiest way to maintain on-going practice

27/08/2026

We know that some of the people we've worked with use myotape to help them or their children breathe nasally at night and sleep better.
We don't sell myotape, but we are now in a position to offer a discount for anyone who wants to buy it. By clicking on the link below and proceeding from there to 'shop', you'll see the code name ANNETTEHENRY and a 10% discount will be applied when you make a purchase.
https://buteykoclinic.com/?ref=ANNETTEHENRY

27/08/2026

How well do you sleep? What about anxiety, do you tend to often feel anxious? Do you frequently have cold hands and cold feet?

A few years ago, it would have sounded to Annette Henry like the most absurd fiction to link the above (and more) to the way she was breathing, not least because she never considered that her breathing was anything other than fine. But her breathing wasn't optimal and retraining it had multiple positive, long-term effects.

The blog post describes what has changed for her as well as how and why breathing can be so pivotal.

If it seems odd to anyone that I've redirected my focus in recent years from nutrition to breathing, I absolutely get it. Compared to brightly coloured wholefoods, breathing seems …dare I say boring? And coupled with scepticism because “I'm alive so I must be ok” the impact of how we breathe i...

17/08/2026

Hello! Annette Henry here with a question for you (do respond if you have answer .. it's likely to be inspiring ✨️)

Have you ever had the experience of your life changing significantly for the better, and that what had been missing was right there all the time? For me, this pretty much sums up 'finding' Graham Henry , the man I married just 15 years ago ... the same man I initially met over 40 years ago!

It's happened again, albeit very differently, and this time, it's been 'right under my nose' from day one. Granted, in the early part of my life, I was almost certainly doing it perfectly well, but life intervenes and changes us mentally, emotionally, and physically. I'm talking about the effects on my breathing. Retraining how I breathe has been a gentle, subtle, and quite beautiful revolution to me. Since I now have a few years' experience to relate, I've written about it in a blog post in the hope that others who may benefit can gain some belief and inspiration for themselves.

If it seems odd to anyone that I've redirected my focus in recent years from nutrition to breathing, I absolutely get it. Compared to brightly coloured wholefoods, breathing seems …dare I say boring? And coupled with scepticism because “I'm alive so I must be ok” the impact of how we breathe i...

09/08/2026

For the avoidance of all doubt, it would be grammatically more accurate to talk about breathing lightLY. Are the pedants among us a little happier now? (Yes, we are 😆).

Light breathing is often the cornerstone of an individual's breathing retraining. Why? Because many of us are over-breathing whether that's due to breathing through the mouth, breathing a little bit too fast, too hard, too shallowly or, more likely a combination of a few or all of the above. More often than not, this is a consequence of various aspects of modern life. It's typically self-perpetuating, not just because the stresses of modern life persist and not just because it's become a habit.

Over-breathing leads to the loss of too much CO² and subsequently a change in the brain's respiratory centre. Despite the simplistic labelling of carbon dioxide as a waste product and nothing more, any scientific publication on the subject will confirm that it's essential to us.

The consequences of the unfavourable balance of gases are far-reaching and can impact on sleep, anxiety, resilience, oxygen delivery to cells (cold extremities and / twitching can be an indication of this). The body is constantly having to work hard to counteract these effects, expending energy that could be used elsewhere.

Practising light breathing with tolerable air hunger several times a day is one of the simplest (although not always easiest) ways to address this.

08/08/2026

Do you know this exercise? Apparently it's used by some military personnel to encourage calm focus, and although we tend not to include it in our classes, quite a few of the people who do breathing retraining with us like the exercise as an intervention when needed.

So, what is it? It involves breathing in for a count of, say, 4 (the count can be higher or lower if appropriate), holding the breath for the same count, exhaling for the same and then holding it again for the same count. Hence the 'box'). The sequence is then repeated several times. The beauty of this exercise is that while the inhale and subsequent breathhold are upregulating, the exhale and subsequent breathhold are downregulating such that it creates a balance between the two and therefore the calm focus referred to above.

Are there any downsides? Only if it's used inappropriately. It's not unusual to want to go big and use 6 or 8 seconds as the count. There are certainly people who can do this successfully, but anyone with less than optimum breathing (a far higher proportion than you might imagine) will over-breathe to achieve those numbers, may even feel dizzy and then conclude that it doesn't work 😏

There's more about breathwork versus breathing retraining in a recent blog post focusing on 4-7-8 breathing.
www.henryandhenryeu.com/post/4-7-8-breathing

07/08/2026

'Take a deep breath' is good enough advice when feeling calmer is called for. However, the interpretation of it is often incorrect. 'Deep' really means deep, a long way from the top, not 'big'. A true deep breath goes in gently through the nose and mostly engages the diaphragm, not the upper chest and shoulders. Breathing out slowly, through the nose, helps to put the nervous system into rest and digest, which adds to the calming effect.
Ideally, the diaphragmatic movement should be more of a 360° affair than a simple in and out movement of the belly. Belly breathing is a good start, but ensuring that the in-breath also expands the lower ribs at each side along with some movement at the back will give you more.
Good diaphragmatic breathing:
- stabilises the spine
- improves functional movement
- increases lung volume and oxygen uptake
- helps with lymphatic drainage and
- calms the body