What is Breathwork? 3 Types of Breathwork that will change your life.
You’ve been hearing it everywhere. Everyone seems to be talking about it, even your mum has heard about the Wim Hof Method on BBC TV!…
It’s a new practice coming into societies ‘norm’, and the average household, but breathwork has been around longer than you may think, with its roots deeply rooted in science.
Why now?
We have forgotten how to breathe. Shallow, short, anxious breathing has become a habit for most of us.
Crazy lifestyles, city living, Covid pandemic, increased stress, and burn out.
It is through this crisis that self-healing practices are being re-birthed. We are remembering that we can heal ourselves and find wellness again through looking within rather than relying on external medication.
We are remembering that breath has a direct impact on the quality of life we have.
We are learning in mainstream what the yogi’s, and shamanic cultures have know for many years, that when we change our breath, we change our life.
What exactly is Breathwork?
The conscious control of breathing to influence your physical, mental or spiritual state.
Our breath is one of the only functions of our autonomic nervous system that we can self regulate (meaning we can control it), and it acts as the bridge connecting and controlling all of our autonomic nervous system and regulates all of our bodily functions.
Think of the breath as your gas pedal which controls the speed of your vehicle (your body) or speed it up. (connect to our parasympathetic nervous system - calm, rest, digest, or our sympathetic nervous system - activate high energy and functioning).
When we learn breath control and change our rhythm of breath, we directly impact our physical, emotional and spiritual body, in just a few breaths.
3 MAIN TYPES OF BREATH YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT
Functional Breathwork - We take 23,000 breaths a day approximately which is why functional breathing is important to maintain on a daily basis. Most of these days have dysfunctional breathing, so we have a huge opportunity to improve our health just by correcting how we breathe. We want to create the right levels of oxygen efficiency in the body to perform our basic functioning, cellular repair, autoimmune and gut health and general energy production. Nose/belly breathing is the way we should be breathing 24/7 and is the foundation of our breath and wellness practice.
Daily Breathwork - These are anything from a 2 minute - 20/30/40 minute breath technique with a particular outcome in mind. Wim Hof Method for peak performance, pranayama or yogic breathing, techniques to support sleep, rest, mental clarity etc are all examples of using a specific rhythm to create a desired state in the body and over time can create positive change.
Transformational Breathwork - There are many different types of Breathwork techniques and schools available which teach powerful and activating Breathwork styles such as , Shamanic Breathwork, BBTRS (Biodynamic Breath & Trauma Release System), Conscious Connected Breathwork, Holotropic Breathwork, Rebirthing Breathwork. Each technique has a slightly different focus in their intention and state that they aim to access which ranges from experiencing states of psychedelic, trauma releasing, spiritual awakening, altered states of consciousness. What all of these approaches have in common is the intention to move and release energy flow in the body to be able to access states of healing, transformation and awakening of consciousness.
How Do I Get Started?
It’s personal and depends on what you are looking to achieve. I believe that you cant really go wrong. Once you start a practice of breathwork, one style or experience will lead you to another and you will find your practice that suits you best.
My first experience of a particular type of Breathwork called Rebirthing, and was an individual session with an amazing Facilitator where I experienced a very personal, intense and deep healing that changed my life. Equally, I love and enjoy the collective experiences that are shared in a group setting, and the powerful energy that group work holds.
Either way, if you are considering your first session, my advise is to choose your Practitioner carefully, please ensure whoever you work with is trained to hold space accordingly, and is trauma informed if you think you may need that support.
If you would like to chat further about working together, find out more about what an individual or group session offers, or the benefits of creating a practice with us, please contact me directly.
Our Rhythm of Breath practice offers a variety of Breathwork techniques and body-based approaches to help you breakthrough old patterns, release blocked emotion and find freedom in your mind, body and spirit.
Reach out on social media or by email: lynsey@rhythmofbreath.com.au