From a Breathwork perspective, depression and anxiety are, at least in part, the result of habitual inhibition of breathing. Breathing is inhibited as a way of suppressing awareness of uncomfortable somatic effects (feelings, emotions and body sensations) which have been "made wrong" or rejected. These somatic effects are associated with troubling or traumatic life experiences. [see healing trauma for more details].
A growing body of empirical psychotherapy research shows suppression and avoidance of inner experience plays a role in the occurrence and persistence of both anxiety and depression. "Experiential avoidance" refers to attempts to suppress, manipulate or avoid, uncomfortable inner experiences (for example, intrusive thoughts, uncomfortable body sensations, difficult emotions) as a way of controlling moods and emotional states.
In a study which examined the effects of suppressing negative emotions compared with accepting them, it was found that suppression did not relieve subjective distress, even though that is its intended goal. Compared with acceptance, suppression was associated with poorer recovery from negative feelings, increased sympathetic nervous system arousal (stress), and decreased parasympathetic (relaxation) responding.
Experiential avoidance has been found to be strongly correlated with anxiety-related psychological distress (body sensation fears, anxiety sensitivity, suffocation fears) as well as being implicated in worry and generalized anxiety disorder. Also, people reporting greater experiential avoidance seem to experience diminished positive emotional experiences, less life satisfaction, reduced meaning in life and have less frequent positive experiences on a day-to-day basis.
These findings are consistent with a growing body of research demonstrating suppression of thoughts, memories and emotions produces a paradoxical rebound of unwanted thougths, memories and emotions during post-suppression periods. In other words, suppressing uncomfortable inner experiences leads to more of the same, which then results in the need for even more suppression. Breathwork with its focus on acceptance and integration is a way to step out of this cycle and heal depression and anxiety.