What is Breathwork?
The power of the breath, is wildly underestimated.
It’s not to say that people don’t understand the importance of the breath, even though that’s hardly ever thought of either. Its power though, is a hidden birthright endowed to each and every one of us as humans.
Our breath has the power to move our body as it is demanded to. From climbing up a flight of stairs, to sprinting as fast as you possibly can.
Each breath is a fresh surge of life compelling us forward through time itself.
And that’s just what’s happening while we’re not even paying attention to it.
What happens when we harness that power? What happens when we use the breath to billow that energy and turn the power inward? Where does that energy go?
It moves.
That’s the exploration of breathwork.
I was first introduced to the power of breathwork, by an app recommended to me by a friend.
Fast forward a week to me lying on the floor in my apartment, some type of electricity surging from my neck to my fingertips and toes, in a state of blissful presence. Existing merely as a body floating three stories above the earth, the walls and floor of my third floor apartment: gone. I was just part of the universe in that moment of time and space.
And how did I get there?
With a 15 minute sequence of modified breaths and breath holds.
Activating breathwork engages the Sympathetic Nervous System, aka, fight or flight, while in a place of stillness and safety.
This causes energy within to stir, often bringing up memories, or creations, or what can even be described as visions.
While these experiences can be intense, and often result in a release of some sort (laughter, tears, yelling), you aren’t in any danger. You are in full control of your experience: Simply letting go of the technique and returning to calm, natural breaths stops the experience and sensations subside in a matter of minutes.
Some other things happen too but we’ll talk about that later.
After diving into different types of breathwork on my own for about two years, I decided one day (during breathwork) that I should learn how to guide people through breathwork myself, and demonstrate the power of the breath to those who seek deeper within themselves.
I landed on a style called Conscious Breathwork, taught by Master Facilitator, Claudia Nanino. This style was different than anything I had ever practiced on my own, and brought me to a place I didn’t know I could access. I spent the next 10 months, over 250 hours under mentorship with a cohort led by Claudia. 13 of us joined together and practiced and learned together. Talked about our experiences and what breathwork had done for us. I was humbled to find not only this group of people in my cohort, but the entire breath work community. This group of people just quietly working away at themselves, secretly trying to figure out the purpose of life and find love and purpose and meaning.
My faith in [everything happens for a reason] grew much stronger. Breathwork combined with my daily meditation practice took me to unknown depths of letting go, and trusting.
My relationship with my breath changed forever, and it is my mission to show others this power and bring them to a deeper sense of self.
breath is life, yo