"When go through your day-to-day life feeling like you don’t have control and you start to gain more control back, it gives you the mindset of “Okay, I got this.”
Max Gomez
Nov 22, 2021
EFR 551: Decrease Anxiety and Improve Focus Using Only Your Breath and with Max Gomez
00:00:00
00:00:00
EFR 551: Decrease Anxiety and Improve Focus Using Only Your Breath and with Max Gomez
Max Gomez is the Co-Founder and CEO of Breathwrk, a human performance company whose mission is to empower people through breathwork.
After trying breathing exercises on his therapist’s couch, Max realized that breathwork not only helped him manage his depression and anxiety, but it improved his sleep, endurance, and focus. Having studied neuroscience in college, he was thrilled when he discovered the science behind breathwork.
Thus, Max was inspired to create an accessible app that teaches science-backed breathing exercises to people of all ages.
In this discussion, Max and Chase talk about how breathwork benefits the mind and body, the difference between breathwork and meditation, and how to integrate breathwork into your daily life. Max shares a few simple breathwork exercises you can start practicing today and tells his inspiring entrepreneurship story, highlighting how he overcame constant rejection.
Follow Max @maxgomez7
Follow Chase @chase_chewning
Key Highlights
For Max, breathwork was necessary to function in his daily life without anxiety attacks, lack of focus, and depression holding him back.
Put simply, exhaling longer than your inhale will activate your parasympathetic nervous system which makes you feel calm.
Max generally practices energetic breathwork in the morning, equal parts breathing throughout the day, and calming breathwork before events that might make him anxious.
In the Breathwrk App, there are various breathwork exercises that help you calm down, get energized, fall asleep, wake up in the morning, and focus better. Plus, the app breaks down the science behind breathwork’s benefits so you can learn while you practice.
You don’t need to practice breathwork every single day in order to benefit from it. You can do it on a case by case basis, in moments where you need it.
It’s very important to be aware of your posture and to be intentional while practicing breathwork.
Powerful Quotes by Max Gomez
I just want people to be more conscious of [is]… actually controlling your breathing and where that can take you and knowing that you can have control of your mind and body with your breath.
When go through your day-to-day life feeling like you don’t have control and you start to gain more control back, it gives you the mindset of “Okay, I got this.”
When you have an automatic function like breathing, we don’t think about it and we take it for granted. So, you need something to constantly remind you hey, this is how you should breath right now or hey, if you’re feeling anxious, breathe like this.
One of the easiest things to do is to change the way you breathe.
Episode resources:
Ever Forward Radio is brought to you by WHOOP
Get real-time feedback on your Sleep, Training, Recovery, and Health, plus in-app coaching features to help you optimize performance. 😴 💪 🧠 ✅
SLEEP BETTER: Validated through third party research, WHOOP monitors sleep stages, quality, debt, and more - plus, provides bed and wake times based on needs.
TRAIN SMARTER: Count more than steps or calories. WHOOP measures the effort and stress you put on your body throughout your entire day.
RECOVER FASTER: WHOOP calculates a base Recovery score every morning that quantifies your readiness to perform that day.
NEW! FEEL HEALTHIER: The all-new Health Monitor gives you an overall look at your health, like when metrics improve or deviate.