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Some of you may ask, we have been breathing all our lives so, why do we need yet another breathing “trend” that has been popularized by celebrities like Christy Turlington or Gisele Bündchen? Truth is, Breathwork is an ancient technique much similar to practices like yoga and Tai Chi that incorporates Western psychotherapy principles to help you foster self-awareness and nervous system relaxation. Changing the way you would typically breathe in order to reach deeper states of consciousness and awareness is what Breathwork is all about and while it can take many forms, but the basic principle is to use such an exercise to boost your physical, mental and spiritual well-being.
The technique has proven effective mitigating a plethora of condition related to chronic health concerns because it evokes numerous physiological and chemical effects like changing heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormone levels (cortisol) it can helping you achieve a greater sense of self-awareness and capacity for self-healing even alleviate issues such as:
- Mental health problems like depression, stress, anxiety, including anger issues
- Trauma and post-traumatic stress
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Labor pains
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms
- Asthma
- Insomnia
- Help with quitting smoking
- Remove mental fog to boost creativity thanks to enhanced consciousness
- It has been shown to help alter the immune system, high blood pressure, and metabolic function
- Help in the management of a condition known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adults as well
There are many forms of Breathwork techniques, but the ones that are commonly used and for the sake of first-timers, they include:
Holotropic Breathwork – With the guided help of a certified practitioner, this technique, which is often conducted in groups combines accelerated breathing with evocative music to help you enter a state of mindfulness in order to activate the natural inner healing of your essence, consequently enhances a set of core self-capabilities.
Clarity Breathwork – This practice is designed to not only clear old energies, patterns, conditioning, negative thoughts, and emotions, but it’s also geared at opening new doors for a better life, inner peace, greater awareness of self, forgiveness, and self-love. To fully reap its benefits, you will need the guidance and support from a professional Clarity Breathwork Practitioner who will identify complex issues in your life, consequently, be there to walk you through the many feelings, thoughts, and body sensations that you are bound to experience during a given session.
Biodynamic Breath and Trauma Release System Breathwork – As the name suggests, this body-oriented therapeutic approach uses breathing, movement, touch, sound, conscious emotional expression and meditation to promote tension release, consequently, arrest the trauma-related “fight or flight” responses. It can help individuals who have PTSD, trauma, stress-related illnesses, anxiety and depression, OCD, burnout, ADD and ADHD, chronic pain, etc.
The effects of Breathwork are apparent, so clear with your physician and join a class today to realize these wholesome benefits.
