What is Breathwork?
Breathwork is the intentional practice of controlling your breath to impact your mind, body, and spirit positively.
Breathwork has become very popular over the past few years, but what is it? It refers to consciously and intentionally controlling your breath to bring about positive changes in your mind, body, and spirit. It involves various techniques, from simple deep breathing to more advanced methods, to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and enhance overall well-being.
Changing the rhythm of your breathwork can significantly impact your emotional and physical state, allowing you to harness the power of breath for various benefits.
Conscious Connected Breathing or (CCB) is a technique that involves taking deep, continuous breaths without pauses between inhales and exhales. It aims to release pent-up emotions, stress, and tension, potentially leading to calm and emotional release. CCB can also facilitate a deeper connection with oneself, others, and nature.
There are various healing benefits, like releasing stuck emotions and transforming old beliefs and stories about our lives. It's a deeply self-care practice that peels off false layers and makes space for our unique, authentic self. It can assist in releasing trauma from your body and nervous system.
There are many styles of Breathwork. I studied with Valery Mathews, founder of the BC Academy and she is located in Bali, Indonesia. I also took one of Dan Brule's course online.
THE "ART" OF BREATHWORK
The Art of Breathwork can be divided into three key areas: Breath Awareness, Breath Regulation, and Breath Transformation. Together, these components form "The Art of Breathwork," a term developed by Dr. Philippa Wheble and Dr. Ela Manga, the founders of Breathwork Africa.
**A - Breath Awareness:**
Begin by closing your eyes and simply observing your breath. Take a moment to check in with yourself—notice if your breath is deep or shallow, calm or anxious. Pay attention to how your chest and abdomen rise with each inhale and fall with each exhale. Observe any subtle sensations and allow your body to breathe naturally.
Enjoy the rhythm of your breath, almost as if you are being breathed. When you feel ready, open your eyes and notice how this practice of breath awareness has influenced your posture, feelings, emotions, or patterns. This is a powerful tool for self-awareness.
**R - Breath Regulation:**
Using breath as a tool for self-regulation involves various breathing techniques that cater to specific needs and benefits. By consciously directing our breath, we can achieve results such as cooling, warming, energizing, relaxing, focusing, and enhancing mental clarity.
These techniques are simple, effective, and easily integrated into daily life. The Sanskrit term "Pranayama" refers to breath regulation techniques, which means "Life Force Expansion or Control." If you want assistance incorporating balancing, energizing, and relaxing breathing techniques into your daily routine, please feel free to reach out.
**T - Breath Transformation:**
When we use breath as a tool for self-transformation, we awaken to breath intelligence and our capacity to relax in challenging situations. We can evoke a transpersonal experience through various techniques, activating life force energy to facilitate adaptation, develop new perspectives (neural pathways), and promote physical healing.
This approach temporarily disrupts cellular chemistry to help release blockages and stagnant energy caused by trauma and stress. It is a powerful method integrating insights from modern consciousness research, science, transpersonal psychology, and worldwide mystical traditions.
*Transformational breathing techniques are to be practiced under the advice of an experienced practitioner.