If you’ve ever been to a yoga class, you’ve heard an instructor remind you to control your breath. In the ancient yogic teachings, the practice of directing the breath is called Pranayama, and it teaches you to breathe consciously, with awareness, and with intent. Within the teachings, there exists many different exercises that can help you tap into your breath as a means of building self-awareness and focus during meditation or yoga.
Today, breathwork has evolved to include many new techniques that focus on the use of breathing exercises as a means of therapy and self-healing.
Breathwork is more than an exercise of breathing correctly or with intent. Breathing techniques are tools for major transformation and healing. Breathwork encompasses a broad range of whole-being therapeutic practices and exercises used to relieve mental, physical, and/or emotional tension.
Let’s find out how it can benefit your mind, body, and spirit.
Body
When you think of breathwork, you probably think of the physical aspect of breathing—the inhaling and exhaling of air. Breathing is a vital part of life; it helps deliver oxygen into your bloodstream and remove carbon dioxide.
Completing a full breath cycle involves your whole body—your chest, belly, back, and mind. It takes effort to coordinate all elements of the breath, even though the simple process seems effortless.
The physical benefits of deep breathing are often immediate. By breathing deeply, you can activate your parasympathetic nervous system, and in turn, slow down your heart rate and lower your blood pressure—creating a feeling of calm. You also rely on your diaphragm instead of your chest, inviting your neck and chest muscles to relax and engage your abs and a larger amount of oxygen to reach your body’s cells and organs.
When your body is operating under “fight-or-flight” response or stress, it releases a surge of hormones (such as cortisol and adrenaline) that causes your breathing to speed up, increases your pulse and blood pressure, and puts you in a state of hypervigilance. Deep breathing can help reverse this response and relax your body.
Try this: Next time you practice breathwork, focus on the physical aspects of your breath:
- Watch your chest and belly rise and fall.
- Notice the temperature and moisture of your breath.
- Tune into the muscles and bones moving in your body.
- Observe how your body feels when you shift from shallow to deep breathing.
Mind
In addition to reversing the physical stress response in your body, deep breathing can also help calm and slow down the emotional turbulence in your mind. In fact, there are studies that show breathwork can help treat depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
Breathwork can help you reach a deeper state of mind. While in this state, you may be able to access buried emotions, grudges, and traumas, and ultimately release yourself from their grip on your mental state. Breathwork is often used to help those who have mental health issues and is seen as a way to calm and focus your mind.
Try this: Next time you practice breathwork, focus on your mind:
- Be aware of the thoughts in your head, but don’t attach to them.
- Feel what emotions come up.
- Notice your inner voice.
- Visualize the intention you set for your breathwork practices.
Spirit
Breathwork can also be spiritual. When you practice, you can move beyond your body and mind, and connect with your core spirit—your Self. In other words, you can remove your ego and connect to your true Self and the Universe. Many people who practice breathwork experience spiritual awakenings or attunements to their inner being. Some people connect to their ‘Third-eye’ Chakra and are able to see visions.
Some of the many benefits of Breathwork include:
- Releases Toxins from the your body.
- Increases Energy and Boosts Immune System.
- Strengthens Your Lungs.
- Increases Self-Awareness.
- Eliminates Chronic Pain
- Improves Sleep.
- Helps with Digestion Process.
- Releases Trauma and Fear.
- Explores The Altered States of Consciousness.
- Increases Self Love.
- Releases Stress and Anxiety.
How Can Breathwork Support Me?
When we become aware of how we are breathing, we may begin to notice that we are holding tension and trauma in the body which then constricts our breath and causing us tension unconsciously.
If this has occurred for many years , or even a lifetime, which is often the case for many of us, then we can experience discomfort and dis-ease in the body which can manifest itself in such things as anxiety, digestive issues, insomnia, aches and pains, headaches, high blood pressure.
So if we can begin to be more aware of how we are breathing and start to breathe in a more conscious way, we can then start to open up and release any of these restrictions to allow ourselves to live a healthier, happier and more fulfilling life.
1-0n-1 Breathwork Sessions
I offer 1-on-1 Breathwork sessions to help you learn how to breathe more consciously and effectively, so that you can begin to release the physical and emotional tension that you have been holding onto and enable you to live a more empowered way of life, equipped with the techniques to help combat stress and anxiety etc.
These Guided Breathwork sessions can take place either in person or online, whichever suits you best and each session lasts from between 45 and 90 minutes, depending on how deep you want to go.
All you will need is a nice comfy place to sit or lie down and a smile on your face 😊
- 60 min Guided Breathwork Session = £50
- 90 min Guided Breathwork Session = £75
Session Packages:
- Package of 3 x 60 min Guided Breathwork Sessions = £125