Breathwork
“Breath is the key to the mystery of life, to that of the body as well as to that of the spirit”.
Lama Anagarika Govinda
On average, we take 23,000 breaths each day, breathing is one of the most important processes to occur in our body and yet most of us rarely give it a second thought.
Breathing is an automatic process, meaning that our body takes care of it for us, but the way we breathe can profoundly impact our physical, mental, and emotional
well-being.
Modern life, environmental stressors, and unresolved trauma can lead to dysfunctional breathing patterns, disrupting our nervous system and overall health. By bringing awareness to our breath - consciously inhaling and exhaling - we can restore balance, regulate our nervous system, and unlock a wide range of health benefits.
"Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky, conscious breathing is my anchor" Thich Nhat Hanh
What are the key benefits of conscious breathing?
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Relaxes our nervous system and allows us to move from fight/ flight sympathetic states to rest/ digest parasympathetic states (reduces stress and anxiety).
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Relieves physical tension.
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Regulates blood pressure; overall positive effects on cardiovascular health Increased self awareness and body awareness.
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Mood balancing.
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Enhanced energy levels.
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Improved mental clarity.
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Improved sleep.
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Better digestion (see first point re rest/ digest).
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Better lung function.
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Potential for emotional release.
"The mind and the breath are the king and queen of human consciousness" Leonard Orr
What is ‘Rebirthing Breathwork’?
These are the two pillars of Rebirthing;
The Breath:
Rebirthing uses a gentle form of conscious connected breathwork as its core practice. The breath is circular, that is to say that the inhale leads into the exhale and the exhale leads into the inhale, with no pauses in between. This breath is our most natural breath, it is the way you might witness your pet cat or dog breathing as they lie sleeping on the sofa. It is the way we would have breathed, if we hadn’t experienced anything in life that had caused us to constrict or adapt our breath in any way.
Our Thoughts are Creative:
This is the idea that the beliefs and thought patterns we hold- consciously or subconsciously- have a powerful influence on shaping our reality, emotions and experiences. In the context of Rebirthing, this principle encourages you to become consciously aware of negative or self limiting thoughts, using your breath as a safe and gentle way to discover where and how we may be holding these somatically in our body.
Some additional benefits of Rebirthing Breathwork in particular -
• Rebirthing Breathwork is a way of befriending your nervous system as a priority. It is a ‘bottom up’ healing modality if you like, tending to your body and nervous system first, working your way up to your mind and the stories and thoughts we carry, but from a place of grounded safety and trust in your body first.
• Rebirthing allows access to subconscious information that is beyond the reach of conventional talking therapies. Potential to integrate past trauma and/or suppressed beliefs, things that might be keeping you ‘stuck’ or in a state of ‘dis-ease’ in your body, preventing you from feelings of aliveness and joy and from accessing your full potential as a human being.
• When we breathe in this natural way, it is as though we are reclaiming our breath, and in
turn reclaiming our self, our joy, our self worth.
"The breath is the bridge between the body and the mind"
Thich Nhat Hanh
How I work - Breathwork
In a world where the term ‘breathwork’ can and does mean many different things, I wanted to explain more here about what types of breathwork you could expect my sessions to cover and why I have chosen to work with these modalities.
The field of ‘breathwork’ encompasses a wide variety of techniques aimed at improving physical, mental and emotional well-being and these ‘strands’ tend to fall into the following 3 categories;
* Breath optimisation (for sports people such as free divers and for singers etc)
* Regulating breathwork (practices for calm, relaxation and stress reduction)
* Breathwork for therapeutic/ transformational purposes (Holotropic, Rebirthing etc)
Throughout our time together I will incorporate techniques to support you from the second two strands above; regulating breathwork and breathwork for therapeutic/ transformational purposes (Rebirthing).
In our sessions, my intention is to meet you exactly where you are on your healing journey and to shape your time with me accordingly. All of our sessions will be client led, meaning that you, your nervous system and whatever you might bring with you on the day of our session form the all important core of what work we do together. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to this work and so our initial sessions together will be a gentle unfolding - a chance for us to connect, to explore your breath and draw on a range of practices to befriend and support your nervous system.
Through this nurturing we will compassionately lay the foundations for any deeper work that follows and you will also learn many easy yet powerful tools for regulation to take home and use in your every day life. It is vital that we take the time to cultivate feelings of safety and trust in your nervous system (to whatever degree is possible/ relevant in that moment) before we can access the true potential of the deeper work of Rebirthing.
With Rebirthing, our priority is going to be about building a profoundly positive and detailed awareness of your body, mind and emotions. For some this may be the first time in their lives they have taken the time to be this present with themselves, and with their body, and so we will move slowly, honouring your present moment capacity and welcoming every part of you that shows up to be seen and heard. I will invite you to cultivate your ‘felt sense’ (turning your focus inwards and listening to the messages that your body is sharing with you) so that you may begin to meet and know yourself on an ever deepening level.
It is in my experience that when we approach healing in this way we can experience profound shifts, and release blockages that we didn’t even know were getting in our way, without it having to cause more distress or discomfort along the way.
“I started out on my breathing journey with Yasmin not really knowing what to expect but her guidance throughout the whole experience had been extremely uplifting and wonderful! I have found the tools and techniques so helpful and am now integrating them into every day life, helping me overcome interrupted sleep patterns and anxieties. I would highly recommend Yasmin to others and opening up into the fantastic world of breath work, I feel so positive and moved after each session.”
Claire