What is breathwork?

“Are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?” – Mary Oliver

Breathwork is the practice of consciously working with the breath, generally for relaxation, meditation, or therapeutic purposes, and to unwind tension patterns in the physical, mental, and emotional body.

While conscious breathing practices have roots in indigenous cultures and traditions, the term breathwork now encompasses a wide variety of practices to affect the body and consciousness, from yoga pranayama and anxiety-reduction techniques to breathing exercises for enhanced oxygen delivery, and practices that catalyze expanded states of consciousness.

As a breathwork facilitator and teacher of yoga and meditation, I draw on a wide variety of breathing practices to support holistic wellbeing for my clients. However, the primary modality I offer is conscious connected breathwork to access to the deeper dimensions of the body, psyche, and spirit, in support of therapeutic healing, insight, and self-discovery.

In a breathwork session, you will be guided in a 3-part breathing technique – a 2-part inhale into the abdomen and chest, followed by a relaxed exhale. Adjustments to the baseline breathing pattern are welcome as you explore the relationship between your breath and embodied experience, and you will be invited to explore breath holds and retentions, to pause and rest in awareness, and to welcome any body movements or sounds that want to express. I offer guidance and support with verbal invitations for awareness, touch (optional), and energetic attunements. A thoughtfully curated soundtrack will support you in getting out of your head, and into the deeper dimensions of your body, psyche, and spirit.

While talk-based therapy can bring about meaningful self-discovery and awareness, more than an intellectual understanding of our psyche and experience is often needed for healing. Breathwork is a form of experiential therapy in which the patterns and memory of the body, nervous system, and psyche can be accessed, with the potential to affect profound transformation in our day-to-day lived reality and experience.

Through the process of conscious connected breathing – and with the care and guidance of a skilled facilitator - breathwork supports:

Somatic Healing & Embodiment

Without conscious awareness, the breath is constantly responding to the events and conditions of life. In experiences of overwhelm, fear, and stress, the breath becomes rapid and shallow, or suspends, as if frozen – a response of the “fight, flight, or freeze” system. In experiences of safety, comfort, and ease, the breath flows more freely and completely, signaling to the body that it can “rest and digest.”’

Throughout a lifetime of chronic and acute stress – including early childhood experiences that were overwhelming, traumatic, and exceeded our ability to cope – most adults have developed chronic tensions patterns in which the movement of the breath is restricted, contributing to a baseline of stress in the system (allostatic load) and some manner of dissociation and disconnection from the body. The pendulum swings between anxiety and depression, often with reduced capacity to engage with the world and others, and often with increased physical ailment and ‘dis-ease.’

Done in a safe and supportive setting, conscious connected breathwork helps actively discharge accumulated tension so the body can (finally!) enter a state of deep rest and relaxation, and reclaim the vital energy that was previously bound in those tension patterns.

Benefits include:

• An experience of coming home to one’s body and inhabiting it with greater ease, joy, and comfort

• Completion of unprocessed emotional energy in the body

• Reduced anxiety; release of accumulated stress

• Alleviation of depression; increased physical vitality, energy, and inspiration

• Enhanced nervous system regulation and greater capacity to consciously respond to “triggers” instead of unconsciously react

• Alleviation of many physical ailments including gastrointestinal issues, headaches, insomnia, and more

• Respite from mental rumination; deep relaxation and stillness

• Greater mental clarity

• More ease and authenticity in relationships

Expanded states of Consciousness

As an expanded-state therapy, breathwork provides an accessible way to explore non-ordinary states of consciousness in which profound insight, clarity, and inner-wisdom can be discovered and embodied.

While expanded states can be accessed through deep meditative states, chanting, rituals like sweat lodge, taking plant medicines and psychedelics, or even through flow states induced by activities like running and surfing, breathwork is one of the easiest and most accessible ways to shift patterns of the mind and open the doors of perception so that you can see yourself and life from entirely new perspective.

In contrast to psychedelic work, breathwork is accessible, safe, legal, and can be dialed up or down in real-time to ensure the experience is one that can be productively integrated for the highest outcome possible.

Benefits include:

• Heightened self-awareness, perspective, and insight; new possibility

• Creative inspiration (personal projects, work, life’s purpose, etc.)

• Release of energetic weight and the burdens and pains of others

• “Soul retrieval” and re-integration of aspects of our innate self that have been exiled

• Embodied experience of the energetic field of life and one’s own body

• Connection to the Source/God/Nature/Spirit

• Less fear and existential anxiety

• More awe, delight, and ability to live from the heart

A healing Guide: My Approach

“Whoever travels without a guide needs two hundred years for a two-day journey.” – Rumi

I support people in discovering the power of their own breath for healing and insight, and breathwork can be a personal practice that serves lifelong well-being and growth – no shaman, priest, therapist, physician, or plant medicine required. However, an experienced guide can be of profound benefit when entering into deep somatic release processes (potentially touching trauma) and into expanded states of consciousness, providing a safe and secure relational environment in which the breather can journey into the deeper dimensions of experience.

I regard this work as sacred and approach the space of healing and remembering with utmost respect, care, integrity and humility. My work is informed by a capacity to see deeply and over 20 years’ experience in the healing arts, with training at the intersection of science, somatic psychology, and the more spiritual dimensions of experience. My path has included deep studies in somatics (body-centered therapy and trauma), Yoga (subtle body anatomy and breath), meditation (Vipassana and Zen-traditions), Core Shamanism, Internal Family Systems, and Hakomi Therapy.

There are many different styles of breathwork available, from Holotropic and Rebirthing to Transformational and Bio-Dynamic. I do not believe in a “one-size-fits-all” approach to breathwork and draw on a wide toolkit to respond to the unique embodied story of every individual I support.

You will not be pushed to “break through” or “push through,” and there is no expectation for major cathartic release (although welcome should it arrive!). I believe the most transformative experiences are the ones that we have the capacity to integrate and bring forward into our daily lives, and you can expect a gentle yet extremely powerful space to go deep with attuned presence and energetic tracking of your experience, supportive verbal cues and touch, shamanic energy work, rich music to enhance the journey (ie, no pop music!), and a loving and experienced guide.

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ARE THERE ANY PRECAUTIONS TO CONSIDER?

While this kind of breathwork is valuable to anyone interested in healing and personal growth, there are some conditions that may require modification or additional support, and some conditions that are not recommend. These include:

• pregnancy

• high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, or glaucoma

• epilepsy

• bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or dissociative identity disorder

• history of severe PTSD or complex trauma

• active spiritual emergency

If any of these apply to you, you are welcome to contact me to discuss potential modifications and to assess whether this work will be beneficial.

*A note on trauma. While breathwork is a somatic healing modality that can be supportive in trauma resolution, it may NOT be appropriate for some histories of significant trauma. Please contact me if you have any questions about how to proceed mindfully and compassionately in your breathwork journey.

Breathwork INstruction & OVerview:

This 28-minute video serves as an introduction to breathwork, for both in-person and virtual breathwork sessions. The breathwork technique is demonstrated, as well as ways to deepen and enrich your experience.