In each edition we delve into the minds of those who are redefining the boundaries of health. Our goal is to share the insights and stories of those leading the way to achieve the highest attainable standard of health for everyone.

In this edition I have been speaking with Jamie Clements Founder of The Breath Space Ltdwho is helping us all to breathe and positively impact our health including addressing trauma.

The book breath by James Nestor has brought a lot of attention to the work of breath, please can you tell us a little bit about why breath work is so important to our health?

In my opinion, it’s the missing pillar of health. It is so fundamental to our overall functioning, performance and wellbeing on every level. We breathe, on average, 23,000 times every single day, with each of those breaths influencing our state and so it’s vital that we understand the powerful role the breath can play. I feel that this rise in popularity in the Western world in recent years comes down to the unprecedented rates of stress and anxiety, which are ultimately a symptom of nervous system dysregulation and the breath has been shown time and time again to be an incredibly powerful way to work against this.

Please can you share a little about why you got into breath work and why you founded The Breath Space?

I have always been fascinated by psychology and human nature. Through my late teens and early 20s I began to struggle with depression and more acutely with anxiety and panic attacks. I hit a particular rock bottom point at age 24 and found myself on a bit of a journey to find out how I could better support my body and mind. Breathwork was the most impactful part of this process and continues to provide me with so much support and healing. I founded The Breath Space with a goal to share this with people in an accessible way. Beyond that, breathwork becomes a simple and accessible gateway to a deeper understanding of ourselves and our health and that is definitely a part of my wider mission.

You are incredibly successful at building partnerships to grow your business, what is the secret to success?

Thank you! I really feel that it comes down to two key elements. Firstly, genuinely being someone that people want to work with, through kindness, compassion, authenticity and integrity. Secondly, taking a collaborative approach to partnerships, rather than a reciprocal one – give with no expectation of getting something back in return. In amongst all of this, expertise is a given – I often think about the fact that while I am continuously learning more, there will be people out there who will know as much, if not more about breathwork than me and with that in mind we have to find other areas beyond that where we bring value to the table.

I was personally very surprised by the impact of using conscious connected breath, you have seen it used effectively to support mental health and trauma, please can you tell us about the scientific evidence backing up the positive impact.

When I first started out in this space, the research and evidence was virtually non-existent and entirely based on anecdotal and experiential evidence. I personally feel that we are a little hasty to disregard anything that doesn’t have a huge stack of evidence-based, peer-reviewed research – as there will be certain things that just cannot be put into a research paper. However, I do love seeing research back up what we know anecdotally and in the last 12 months, a significant number of papers have come out to support what we have seen first hand. The evidence and theory now points to the mechanisms at play in Conscious Connected Breathwork, primarily a reduction in blood CO2 levels, and the role these can play in creating experiences of altered states of conscious and powerful mystical experiences, akin to those seen in the research on psychedelic substances. It has also been suggested that we can more readily access the subconscious mind and work with deep rooted complexes and triggers. The research continues to emerge and it is exciting to see it align with the experiential side of things.

What’s next? Will the interest in breath work continue, how do you see it fitting into other types of therapy and treatment, and what else will we be seeing at The Breath Space over the coming months?

We have seen a huge spike in interest in recent years and I do think this will continue, however, I see it evolving into a slightly more mature practice, that is more integrated with the wider health and therapeutic systems. In terms of The Breath Space, I recently launched a new project, Breathwork Mastery, alongside James Dowler which we are creating to be the most comprehensive consumer breathwork course in the market. Alongside that, more retreats and events in person to keep bringing people together in community!

Please will you tell us an interesting fact about yourself?

In my late teens and early 20s, I featured as an extra in shows like Downton Abbey and The Crown and even as a naked body double for a famous actor.