[WATCH] Breathing through an iki Breathe necklace helps reduce anxiety

5 hours ago

Clarence Ford speaks to Clinical Therapist and partner of iki Breathe, Lori Shifrin and Steven who joined the chat to explain his experience as an anxiety-ridden man who's found relief using an iki Breathe necklace above other forms of therapy.

Listen below.

October equals Mental Health Awareness month - one thing to be aware of is iki Breathe - an underrated form of therapy that highlights breath work to reduce anxiety.

Shifrin says that as a therapist, she's "seeing a pandemic of mental health as many adults and kids live with anxiety."

She notes that anxiety is a natural response to life's stressors "but can have a physical and mental impact."

The majority of people Shifrin's treated have anxiety and obsessional disorders which are "typically driven by fear, social media, financial strain, educational and societal expectation and those what-if moments."

Shifrin explains that usually anxiety-ridden thoughts are negative and can become a pattern - affecting your outlook on life. So, when you're triggered by certain thoughts or factors, your nervous system might respond with physical factors like breathing heavily or panic attacks.

While you can deal with anxiety through talk therapy, Shifrin says it's not the only type of therapy that can help.

Breathing can help too...

The type of therapy Shifrin is involved with excludes talk therapy and focuses on breathing using iki Breathe - a necklace made of bamboo.

After learning about this necklace and its technique from a recovery center in the United Kingdom, Shifrin brought iki Breathe to Cape Town.

So, how does it work?

You wear the iki Breathe necklace around your neck while inhaling into your stomach through your nose and exhaling through the iki Breathe necklace (like a whistle without the noise) for seven seconds and repeat until you feel calm and relaxed - like this.

The benefits of deep and mindful breath work using an iki Breath necklace are:

• Calming the body and reducing stress and anxiety

• Improving lung function

• Strengthening muscles used for breathing

• Lowering blood pressure

• Boosting the immune system by improving lymphatic flow and increasing the production of immune cells

• Helping with gut health

Shifrin notes that with this type of anxiety-reducing therapy, breathing accompanies every experience while Shifrin teaches you techniques to avoid being distracted by anxious thoughts.

How are we going to reason with something that may or may not happen so we focus on shutting down those thoughts completely.

Lori Shifrin - Clinical Therapist

Steven says, iki Breath changed his life.

I couldn't lead a normal life, go to work or function. I was so desperate to find help so I kept on going to doctor after doctor until I found a recovery centre in the UK which is one of the few companies using iki Breathe which helped me recover through breathing and shutting down negative thoughts.

Steven - iki Breathe

*If you or anyone you know needs mental health help, contact Lori Shifrin or contact the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG).

Scroll up to listen to the full conversation.

This article first appeared on CapeTalk : [WATCH] Breathing through an iki Breathe necklace helps reduce anxiety