When I learned about breath work, I felt as if the world had been keeping its biggest secret from me. It was that good. Like whoa. Simply activating something as basic as my breath in a certain way can give me these results?!
Breath work is incredible. Let me tell you what went down during one of my transformational breath work sessions.
I was in LA at a weekend workshop to develop the business strategy to support this blog. While I didn’t realize it, I went there with so much tension, lots of expectations and carrying a lot of weight on my shoulders.
I was committed to “figuring it all out” that weekend, I was so fixated on “making this work” and was walking in with immense pressure on myself. We needed a second income and I needed to do this right.
I also had been home with 3 small children, no help for months, I was exhausted and taxed and hadn’t had a moment to just be and really connect to myself in a really long time.
This whole time I was under the impression that we were going to be focused solely on business strategy. I did not realize that her master plan was to crack us open through breathwork so that we could do the REAL work that goes into creating a purposeful brand.
What happened
We were told to lay down flat, close our eyes and guided through a deep breathing process with really soulful music that took us on a journey.
As we did this repetitive breathing process over the course of, I dunno, maybe 30 minutes give or take, to say I went on a journey to all realms would be an understatement!
As I moved through the breathing, it felt it was stripping every part of my consciousness and purging everything out of my system as some sort of cathartic release. I literally saw colors, I got chills, I convulsed, I felt body aches and I literally cried hysterically in a way I don’t think I’ve cried since I was a child. Not to mention, I was in a room with 13 women I’d never met before!
It was so intense and truthfully, the release and processing took place over a few days. For a few days I was so incredibly drained as my body was expunging so much tension and blocked emotions, that it exhausted me.
The results
However, after a few days passed, I felt so much lighter and had such clarity on so many areas of my life that I didn’t have before. I also had such deep awareness as to where I was holding onto pain and what elements of my life are not serving me.
- I had a fresh perspective on how to approach all areas of my life and felt I had so much momentum and fresh energy to take on the world.
- I also felt more enlightened and as though I had stepped into a higher version of myself and really elevated my consciousness and wellbeing by releasing so much that my body was holding on to.
- I also had more energy, better mental and creative focus and more inner peace.
It was really powerful and truly incredible!
I have done a few other breathwork sessions that were not so intense on the surface, but were highly supportive in reducing anxiety, helping me sleep, helping me have more awareness or release low vibrational energy, emotions or feelings.
What is Breath Work
Breath work is guided, sustained, rhythmic breathing techniques that typically take place for about 20 minutes or longer.
Benefits include
- mental clarity
- increased energy,
- clarity in emotions
- deeper awareness
- better sleep
- reduced anxiety & stress
- purging of negative emotions & thoughts
- boost in immunity
- increased confidence
- supporting overcoming additions
- support managing grief
- increased joy and happiness
According to Parsley Health, breath work also alkalizes your pH which results in increased muscle tone and reduces inflammation in the system.
There are different types of breathwork practices that you can do on your own and others that require a facilitator. I do my own mini breathwork now and again at home to help alleviate anxiety and help induce sleep, but for a more in depth experience, you’d want to work with a facilitator.
There are other types of breath work approaches and techniques.
Some breath work practices are rooted in yogic traditions such as Pranayama or the breath and movement sequences of Kundalini yoga. Other breath work practices are entirely secular and were developed to help people heal their minds or bodies or even to withstand extreme physical conditions.
Theres Shamanic breath work, vivation, transformational breath, holotropic, rebirthing, clarity and more.
Healthline breaks down the breathing techniques and breath work forms in a comprehensive format if you want more insight.
Here are a few types of breathing exercises that are used in various practices:
How to start your breath work journey
I found a youtube video from a breath work teacher, Pushing Beauty, that you can do now to experience it. She seems to have videos for different experiences, so check her out!
I recently practiced with an incredible breath work teacher, Tanya Saunders and had a truly beautiful experience.
Looking for support from a mama who’s been there and get’s it? Need a Mama who can listen and give you the feel good next steps to take to get you in alignment and flow?
