A’s TO ALL YOUR BREATHWORK Q’s

BREATHWORK BASICS

WHAT IS BREATHWORK?

The short answer is breathwork is breathing.

In all seriousness, like yoga, there are many different styles, types and lineages of breathing patterns that fall under the guise of breathwork. In breathwork, you manipulate or change your breathing pattern to have a desired effect on the body. Some breathwork techniques are more calming and regulating to the system while others are activating and help to enhance your physical performance.

The type of breathwork that I guide, as trained by David Elliott, is active breathing technique known for its transformative effects. It allows us to disconnect from our head, reconnect to the body, move stuck energy and emotions, and be an active participant in our own healing. It is a completely safe practice where we breathe through the mouth for the entirety of the practice. The continuous breathing helps to break down the emotions that build up in the body that are stagnant and unprocessed and create havoc on our physical and energetic bodies.

Breathwork is the fastest way to get out of your head and connect to both your body and your intuition. For many people, it facilitates an emotional purging, leaving you feeling lighter and clearer. In essence, you are relearning to inhabit your body, establish new pathways in the brain and cultivate emotional and relational intelligence.

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WHAT IS SOULBODY BREATHWORK?

Soulbody breathwork is an active 3-part pranayamic style breathing technique that helps you to move out of your (overthinking) mind and more fully into your (ever-knowing) heart. This style of breathwork will help you sift through the emotional and energetic gunk that keeps you in a cycle of being stuck and will help you find clarity and certainty in who you are here to be. This is a heart-centred practice that connects you to the wisdom that already sits in your heart.

One of the biggest misconceptions I see with breathwork is that it's about diving head first in to all your trauma and your inner sh*tstorm. But that's no the case, nor do I recommend it. It's too much for most of our dear hearts, myself included. Can things come up during breathwork, sure. But they come when you are ready to move through them, not before. ⁠
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My approach to breathwork is different. I see it as an invitation to meet yourself where you are today and to take a step closer to your heart. Sometimes one step is all you need. Embodiment, Connection, and healing - they are all a journey we embark on through our lifetime. So let it be that....a journey. ⁠

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WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEDITATION AND BREATHWORK?

Breathwork, while a form of meditation, is done for healing and transformation. Meditation is more about anchoring you into the present moment and is rooted in relaxation and mental clarity. While daily meditation can be transformative, breathwork is the most efficient modality I have found to push you through emotional and energetic barriers, open your heart to clarity and heal from past traumas.

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WHAT IS THE BREATH PATTERN?

The ‘active’ part of Soulbody breathwork is a 3-part breath, all done through the mouth in a circular or connected pattern. We begin by taking an inhale deep into the belly (or sacral chakra), a second inhale into the chest (heart chakra) and finish by letting the exhale out of the mouth. The beautiful part about this style of breathwork is you are in control, you set the pace and depth of the breath, which helps to set the tone for your experience. If at any point it becomes overwhelming you can come back to a normal breath to regulate.

We continue with the active breathing pattern until cued to move into an ‘integration period’, which is similar to savasana at the end of a yoga class (only better). In integration you take a relaxed, comfortable breath and allow your body to receive the breathwork experience.

WILL I HYPERVENTILATE?

No. Though the breathing is rapid and can feel awkward or uncomfortable, it is done in a controlled way. If this makes you feel uneasy, you can keep the breath soft and shallow through your practice until you feel comfortable in speeding things up or taking the breath deeper. Alternatively, working 1:1 with a facilitator, like myself can help you move through the resistance in a safe and supportive way.

Remember, it is your breath and you control your experience. The breath is the tool, not the ‘work’ itself.

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN MY BODY DURING BREATHWORK?

As you start the active breath, you begin to increase the level of oxygen in the body. You are oxygenating the blood, stimulating the hypothalamus gland, and releasing endorphins in the body. As the endorphins kick in, the brain is less and less in control though it will try to fight it for the first few minutes. Your body may start to feel electric like it is coming alive with energy. This may be all over, or local to one area. This is when the body begins to open up and energy and emotions can move freely through the body, even those emotions that have seemed stuck for lifetimes.

You are voluntarily stimulating the involuntary system and moving to a higher state of consciousness.

During sessions, clients feel their nervous system slowing down and gain a tangible sense of dropping into their bodies (often in the first few moments). They learn to discharge energy in a safe way, experience awakenings in their intuition, and clarity on their next steps.

WHAT ARE THE SOME OF THE COMMON BENEFITS OF THIS STYLE OF BREATHWORK?

Like a regular meditation practice, breathwork has been shown to have a profound effect on the body. Some of the known benefits include:

Like meditation, breathwork can help increase parasympathetic tone (moving you from ‘fight or flight’ to ‘rest and digest’).
Active breathing practices, like Soulbody Breathwork, can help reduce stress, anxiety, grief, depression and anger.
It can increase energy levels and boost your body’s immune system.
It does wonders for increasing your self-awareness, presence, happiness, and access to joy.
It can increase our capacity for self-love by bringing us into our body and seeing our truth.
It can help improve sleep, releases trauma and fear stuck in the body,
It can help reduce pain, releases toxins from the body.
It can improve digestion
It helps you explore altered states of consciousness, consciously!

CAN I PRACTICE BREATHWORK I HAVE A MEDICAL CONDITION?

If you have any medical conditions or are currently taking medication, please consult your doctor prior to practicing Breathwork. It’s recommended that you consult with your healthcare provider (including any mental health provider) prior to practicing breathwork if you are unsure if breathwork is right for you.

Breathwork can result in intense physical and emotional release. Therefore, it is not advised for persons with a history of cardiovascular disease, including angina or heart attack, high blood pressure, glaucoma, retinal detachment, osteoporosis, any significant recent physical injuries or surgeries, severe mental illness, diagnosis of schizophrenia, seizure disorders or are using major medications, blood thinning medicine.

Breathwork is not advised for persons with severe mental illness or seizure disorders or for persons using major medications. It is also unsuitable for anyone with a personal or family history of aneurysms. Pregnant women are advised against practicing Breathwork without first consulting and getting approval from their primary care physician. Persons with asthma should bring their inhaler and consult with their primary care physician and the Breathwork facilitator before their first session.

ABOUT BREATHWORK SESSIONS

WHAT DOES A TYPICAL SESSION LOOK LIKE?

While the technique remains mostly the same across all sessions, what you will experience and heal will vary from session to session, and person to person.

I open with a grounding meditation to come fully into the practice. Depending on if we are at an event or in a private session we’ll dig into self- inquiry questions to set the tone for the session. We may work with themes or particular issues as well. This will allow you to set an intention for the practice, and then we begin!

You’ll be in ‘active breathing’, as described above, for 20-35 minutes depending on the length of the session. Trust me, this will feel like 5 minutes once it’s over. Then we move back to normal breath and integration. This is where I personally feel as though all the magic happens. Your body is open and expanded, you are connected to your highest self and an open channel for information, messages or just feelings of bliss.

You will be tender and open following the session. I always recommend to go easy and be kind to yourself for the days following the session.

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WHAT CAN I EXPECT TO FEEL IN A SESSION?

Breathwork is energy work and as you begin the breath pattern, your body may start to feel like it is coming ALIVE with energy. It’s also very common at some point during the session to feel like you are being pushed up against some resistance (stuck or stagnant energy) that might show up in the form of tightness, tensions , or emotional releases. By advice? Keep breathing, you want to get that energy moving.

Here are some common feelings and reactions the body can experience throughout your session:

Temperature Fluctuations - it is normal for your body temperature to fluctuate from hot to cold as fear is being released from the body
Body Stiffening - The body can tighten and contract in places that commonly hold blockages - the mouth and lips, the hands and arms (tetany), the legs and feet, the hips.
Tingling - It is very common for the body to begin tingling either all over or in certain areas, depending on where energy is moving.
Movement - during the session your body may shake, vibrate, move around. Listen to your body!
Releases - you may feel the need to release energy through crying, laughing, screaming. All of this is a part of the energetic release.
Muscle tightness - energy can collect in the body and create a traffic jam. The area may become knotted, tight, or sore. This usually passes within a few minutes of returning to a relaxed breath.
Emotions - the process is about releasing the emotions that are on the surface. With the breathwork practice, we are getting under the fears and anxieties that are stuck so this may get uncomfortable. I encourage students to commit to the practice and soften the breath if things start to feel too uncomfortable.

You may experience some of these or you may experience none. Your experience will change from session to session and person to person. Know that all of these experiences are temporary and you can use your breath to move through them. Again, the beautiful part about breathwork is if it ever becomes too uncomfortable, you can return to a relaxed breath, it doesn’t ‘ruin’ the session.

I encourage my clients to let any resistance or reaction in the body during the session be an opportunity to speak to the body. Ask your heart what it is ready to release or let go of or offer it sweet words of reassurance as it moves the energy through the body.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I PRACTICE BREATHWORK?

Breathwork is completely safe to practice everyday, that being said I personally don’t do a full length experience daily. I will often do shorter (7-15 minute) practices throughout my week to shift energy or as an energetic tune-up. I will do longer sessions when I am looking to go deeper, find clarity on something or move through something that feels stagnant.

WHAT IF I’M NERVOUS ABOUT TRYING BREATHWORK?

I’ve been practicing breathwork for 4 years and still get nervous before going into most sessions. What I’ve come to realize is that it can be challenging to invite myself fully into my heart and my body, considering I’ve spent most of my life disengaging. Instead I invite you to use the session to simply take a step closer, the journey home to ourselves is just that, a journey, not a destination that we arrive at after one breathwork practice.

Stepping into breathwork doesn’t mean you will blow the lid off of any and all trauma you’ve experienced in your lifetime. It also isn’t an invitation to dive head first into it, in fact I don’t recommend that at all. Instead, think of it like a flower that is blooming, with breathwork we peel back the layers of ‘untruths’ or beliefs that don’t serve us to get to the core of who we are.

I intentionally create a safe environment for you to meet who you really are and to explore who you are here to be. You are nurtured and held through the entire experience.

One of the reasons I was most drawn to the modality of breathwork in the first place is it puts you, the breather, in a sovereign position in your own healing. You are in control of your breath and, therefore, your experience. If it ever becomes ‘too much’, you can relax the breath. That, in and of itself, is part of the journey - meeting your body where it is now and attuning yourself to its needs.

IS_____ NORMAL? WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Aside from ‘How often to practice breathwork”, this is the most common question I get asked after a breathwork session. The answer is YES, whatever you are experiencing is normal (I mean, what IS normal though?).

Our thinking mind loves to analyze and make sense of the experience we are having, but sometimes it is just that - an experience. Breathwork is energy work, so sometimes, what you experience in breathwork is energy moving without it having to have any particular meaning.

More often than not, clients will turn to me to tell them what’s behind what happened to them. I can tell you what is common but I encourage you to, again, talk to your body and ask what the experience meant to you. Your body is incredibly intelligent, ask!

WHAT IF I DIDN’T FEEL / EXPERIENCE ANYTHING IN A SESSION?

It is normal to THINK you didn’t experience anything during your session. It is usually the thinking part of your brain that is expecting big, out of body experiences when sometimes the healing can be more subtle than that. TRUST that breathwork, like other forms of energy healing, is working under the surface EXACTLY how it is meant to.

This quote by RUMI sums it up perfectly:

“My boat strikes something deep. At first sounds of silence, waves. Nothing has happened; Or perhaps everything has happened. and I am sitting in my new life.”

WHAT EXPECTATIONS SHOULD I HAVE FOR MY SESSION?

Like anything, when we come to a breathwork session with certain expectations, we may be disappointed by the perceived outcome. Trust that the breath and the energy are doing EXACTLY what it needs (notice I said what it needs, not what you want). Breakthroughs do not have to be loud or profound, they can be peaceful and subtle.

I invite clients and group participants to come with an open mind, an open heart, and to be open to BIG possibilities.

CLOSING NOTE

My own personal experience with breathwork has been profound and this is why I believe in this modality so deeply. As a facilitator, I am just that. I am not healing you, you are doing that yourself. I am there to hold a safe space for you to be in your body in a new and vulnerable way and to process through the emotions and energy that you are ready to release.

I believe deeply that we are already whole and breathwork helps walk you home to your wholeness. I also believe that everything we need to live the life that we most desire and everything we need to be the person we most want to be is already inside of us. With this breath, you are unlocking your body’s own ability to heal itself and step into the vision you have for yourself.