Between 2006 and 2011, I captured the Sydney skate scene through the annual videos I produced that became a part of the Ookvision Saga. These videos featured the likes of Dane Burman, Dean Palmer, Jake Hayes, Nik and Steve Stipanovic, Billy Lukins, George Kousoulis, Vanessa Miles and many more. The big takeaway from videography was to cherish every moment of skating and being with my mates. This led me on a journey to learn about taking care of my own health and well-being.
Words by Nathan “Ook” Ho.
After the heads of my VX1000 became irreparable, I moved between Japan and Sydney, where I worked as an English and special education teacher, and in my private practice as a clairvoyant healer, medium and transformational coach. I started learning about meditation and mindful breathing to help me make stronger connections with my intuition in my spiritual work. I could see the benefit of teaching mindful practices to my students to help them concentrate, de-stress, regulate emotions and relax in the classroom. Teaching in special education meant that I needed to accommodate diverse student needs – all different abilities, backgrounds, beliefs, and communication styles. Teaching them to breathe was the most universal and accessible relaxation method to teach.
Recently, I started a holistic health and wellbeing service for skateboarders, called ‘OOKVISION’, which was birthed from my vision of wanting to bring out the best in each moment for all skateboarders. It combines all my experiences and offers them to the skateboarding community in the form of facilitating breathwork, cold exposure, mentoring and transformational coaching.
Breathing, what’s the big deal?
Everybody breathes, so what? While we can all breathe to survive, did you know that we can also learn to breathe to thrive? Do you breathe through your nose or your mouth? Developing a practice of nose breathing can also support you to breathe in more oxygen, sleep better, relax deeper and radiate greater peace and calm. Mouth breathing, on the other hand, is less efficient because it is shallow, dehydrates your mouth and puts more strain on the body to circulate oxygen and blood.
To put this into perspective, you can liken mouth and nose breathing to regular and premium grades of lubrication used in skateboard bearings. They both do the job they’re intended to; both get you (and your oxygen and blood) from A to B, but consider which one moves faster, lasts longer, saves energy and is more efficient and beneficial in the long term.
What is breathwork?
Breathwork involves specific practices with your breathing to help you to breathe more efficiently, raise your energy, calm yourself down or bust through frozen emotional states. Imagine charging yourself up using breathwork before your skate, staying focused and in the zone mid-skate and calming your body and mind afterwards.
A solid breathing practice can enhance your blood flow and oxygen intake, increase muscular and cardiovascular endurance, clear out emotions and thoughts, and balance your hormones. Just like how you can practice a certain trick and apply it to specific terrain so that it becomes natural, you can do the same with your breathing. Some different breathwork practices involve big inhales, exhales and breath holds, breathing at different speeds, emphasizing lengthened inhales or exhales, or train you to breathe less overall. Find what works for you, as all breathing practices have their purpose.
The body and breath.
Breathing directly impacts the brain, emotional response, nervous system, and physiology. If you are skating and breathing through your mouth, you would be stimulating the part of your brain responsible for your survival instincts. Your heart rate increases, and breathing becomes shallow, contributing to your body producing more adrenaline. Circulating blood and oxygen requires more energy. Anxiety heightens as your mind switches to rational thinking and creates extra mental chatter in your mind.
Over-breathing from the mouth causes the body to draw oxygen from the muscles and tissues. Glucose goes into the bloodstream, increasing insulin and sugar cravings, which emerge as short bursts of energy that quickly run out. Shortly after, things can start to feel shaky, as exhaustion kicks in and it may become difficult to focus.
Breathing deeply through your nose while skating acts like a brake to the range of heightened emotions, mental activity and the overwhelming sensations and exhaustion that are associated with being in survival mode. Breath control can translate to greater breath capacity, endurance, focus and stress management. Imagine being able to breathe yourself to be in the zone and stay in it longer through your breath. Imagine regulating your breath to intervene in a mid-session freakout, so you don’t have to focus your board to let your frustration out.
As a starting point, you may like to practice a breathing rhythm of inhaling through your nose for a count of five and exhaling through your nose for a count of five. You could do this anytime, while waiting in a line, skating to a spot, on public transport, or travelling in the car. It may feel uncomfortable at first, just like when you first stood on a skateboard. It’ll become more natural with patience and practice, and you won’t even have to think about it.
Cold exposure.
Through learning breathwork, you can learn to stretch your own limits, deepen your focus and regulate your body temperature to find comfort in the cold and warm yourself up afterwards. If you’ve ever rolled your ankle or had an injury while skating, I’m assuming you’ve put ice on it to decrease the inflammation. Did you know that taking a cold shower and immersion in ice water has many physical and mental benefits too? These include increased blood circulation, enhanced mental clarity, faster metabolism and muscle recovery, relaxation, and immune system stimulation.
Getting into cold or ice water may feel uncomfortable at first, but relaxed breathing with a focus on long exhalations helps you stay calm and surrender to the experience. The lower the temperature, the less time you need to spend in the water. A good rule of thumb is generally two to three minutes for anything between zero and six degrees. Emerging from the ice bath can be exhilarating because of the release of many feel-good chemicals in your body. After a hard day of skating, your sore legs will appreciate the cold of an ice bath.
Recently we caught up with our good friend George Kousoulis [owner of Sunday Hardware] to guide him through breathwork and an ice bath. “I was a bit nervous to get into the ice bath, but I was comfortable and eager to give it all a go,” George said. “Afterwards, I felt refreshed, recharged and felt a good feeling of self-accomplishment. It showed me a whole world I didn’t know existed. It might sound funny, but it taught me how to breathe!”
Ook guides George Kousoulis to breathe his way through a sunrise ice bath.
I hope that this article has given you some cool, breath-taking insights into the realm of breathwork and how it can benefit you. If you’d like to know more, reach out to me at @nathan_star33.