What’s so special about breathwork?
First of all, the way you breathe determines the way you live.
Our breath patterns give us information about our inner state. Is the breath deep or shallow, quick or slow? Am I holding my breath? Every emotion has a breath signature, as do conditions like chronic stress or fatigue. Simply getting curious about the natural breath is where breathwork begins.
The breath is the only autonomic function that is both unconscious and conscious.
Our unconscious breath rules our lives. It is intertwined with our nervous system, guiding the way we feel, behave, and express ourselves.
When we breathe consciously, it becomes a powerful tool and a gateway to the nervous system. A single deep breath subtly alters our physiology (give it a go!). A few minutes of deep breathing can be equivalent to taking a psychoactive substance.
The breath can also expand consciousness, allowing access to more subtle layers of reality.
Cultures across the world have worked with the breath for millennia, to alter physical and mental states, access deeper layers of the subconscious, enter trance, and connect with a divine sense of the universe. Breath practices are present in yoga, Qigong, Zen Buddhism, and many others knowledge systems that have often been safeguarded and kept in secrecy.
There are many styles of breathwork.
There are many styles of breathwork, from gentle practices to down-regulate the nervous system before bed, to activating pranayama for focus and energy, to detoxifying practices, to practices to cultivate compassion. Singing, chanting, and even smoking can be considered breathwork. My weekly classes explore different styles of breath practices.
Breathwork is about self-empowerment.
Breathwork experiences can expand consciousness and quiet the thinking mind in a similar way to psychoactive or psychedelic experiences. However, breathwork experiences are not assisted by any external substance, so the power is all within you.
In essence, breathwork reconnects us with embodied wisdom.
The respiratory system is rooted in the words re- and -spirit, expressing the breath as a symbol of returning to spirit, of reconnecting with life.
Breathwork can facilitate the release of emotions or energy stuck in the body, allow insights to arise, and lead to significant shifts in perspective. In essence, breathwork reconnects us with a kind of embodied wisdom - what’s often referred to as our ‘inner wisdom’, ‘inner healer’, or ‘true Self’, which lies underneath all layers of cognitive conditioning. By working through these layers, there is the opportunity to live a life closely aligned with who we are and the gifts we are meant to share.
What happens during a circular breathwork session?
The rest of this explanation will focus on a specific style of circular breathwork called Neurodynamic Breathwork. This can be practiced 1-1 or in a group, but always in the care of a trusted facilitator.
During a session, you practice a style of deep circular breathing designed to enter an expanded state of awareness. In this state, deep physical and emotional healing processes may arise. This style of breathing involves an evocative music journey and is based on principles of Holotropic Breathwork and transpersonal psychology.
If you are new to breathwork, you will be guided through a comprehensive introductory talk. Then you lie down, close your eyes, and the journey begins.
The two key principles of breathwork are trust and surrender.
The best advice during a breathwork session is to trust the process. The more you trust in your inner wisdom to guide you, the more you are able to let go of the rational mind. By trusting in your innate intelligence, you give yourself permission to surrender into the experience.
Common experiences during a breathwork session include:
Sensory experiences. Sensations such as tingling, cramps, tension, heat, cold, and numbness are all possible. These are all forms of physical release. If any tension arises, it is useful to amplify the tension by breathing into it, thus allowing it to process and release. What you resist persists, and the way past is through.
Emotional experiences. Physical sensations often reveal underlying emotions that are stored in the body, but have been suppressed or remained unnoticed. During a session, you have permission to feel and express the full spectrum of the human experience, from anger to grief to joy to pleasure, and everything in between.
Biographical experiences. Memories may emerge from any point in your life, or from beyond your own life into what some may interpret as past life or ancestral memories. Biographical material often points toward unprocessed emotions ready to be released, or triggers insights around key life moments or decisions.
Perinatal experiences. It is possible to relive a part of your own birth process. This can take many forms, such as a blissful oceanic experience of being in the womb, or a feeling of fighting your way through the birth canal to be reborn. These tend to be empowering, healing, and life-changing experiences.
Transpersonal experiences. Transpersonal refers to transcending the self, and these experiences can take many forms. Dreamlike visions, becoming one with the universe, identifying with a plant or animal, and receiving insights or information are all examples of transpersonal experiences.
Yoga nidra states. Yoga nidra, or yogic sleep, is a profound state of rest and relaxation in which you lose track of time and space. This is closer to a trance state than a deep sleep. Often you return after the session feeling deeply rested, restored, and aware.
What happens after a breathwork session?
After a breathwork session, you are slowly guided back to the present moment. This is a time for gentleness, tea, snacks, and simply being with yourself. There is time for sharing experiences if you feel like it, or journaling if that feels better.
If you are breathing in a group, you will have a longer time to draw, paint, collage, or express your experience in another way before you attempt to express it in words. You may treasure the ineffability of the experience and choose to share very little verbally, or you may find it important to speak aloud an experience in detail. Both are welcome.
The prolonged effects of breathwork can’t always be grasped in words. Oftentimes, particularly after continued practice or after a retreat, there is a sense of something shifting in yourself, in your life, or in how you relate to your everyday life.
Some common experiences following a breathwork session or retreat include:
heightened creativity / sexual / life force energy
increased self awareness
greater presence
more self-love, self-compassion, and self-acceptance
a sense of empowerment
heightened connection with nature
feeling a weight lifted / something released
more fun / playfulness in life
Some potentially less comfortable experiences include:
increased sensitivity
a sense of fatigue / needing to rest
difficult or suppressed emotions rising
things that aren’t serving you in life becoming clear
Giving yourself time and space for integration is crucial.
Integration allows you to cultivate the gifts from your experience and opens opportunities for sustained growth and transformation.