Rory Warnock: What I Wish People Knew About Sustained Performance
Leading wellness coach Rory Warnock says breathwork and nervous system regulation are key to unlocking long-term mental and physical health.
Our IQ drops when we’re stressed. And we know how important it is to have a high IQ – and EQ – in the workplace. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is connected to having a higher heart rate variability (HRV) and having a high HRV has been scientifically proven to improve decision-making. If you can improve the choices you make, you’ll live a better life.
One of the beauties of breathwork is that we have access to it 24/7. If you’re feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed in the moment, there are techniques that can help you down-regulate and feel more balanced so you can execute when it matters the most. If you feel agitated, with a high heart rate, then slow and deep breathing can help you come back to a more parasympathetic state, which is where we need to be to perform.
There are many papers showing that deep breathing can be used as a physiological and psychological reset. It’s one of the hardest things to do in the moment, when you’re in that headspace of go, go, go and everything is moving so fast. But one of the most effective ways to come to a balanced state – to ensure that you can think more clearly and perform more effectively – is just using one, two, three reset breaths. And very simply, the reset breath is a full nasal inhale with a relaxed, long, slow exhale.
Often we think of breathing techniques from a reactive perspective – techniques that we can use in real time to feel more clear. But what are the proactive techniques? We can use functional breathing [using the nose to draw in light, slow and deep breaths] to help us breathe in an optimal way every second of every day. By breathing in a functional way, we’ll reduce that nervous system stress, improve oxygen into the tissues, the cells, the brain and help improve cognition as well.
I’ve worked with everyone from Olympians, Paralympians and members of the Sydney Swans to the heads of leading banks. Whether it’s one of the Swannies running out onto the field in front of 80,000 people or a banker making a billion-dollar deal – the stimulus and the stress, the threat and the fear is different but internally it’s received the same. The benefit that they’ve all found from breathwork is the ability to clear the mind and bring up new thoughts.
