When we are born, the very first thing we do is take a huge deep breath… crying, breathing life into our lungs, into our physical body. When we die, the final thing we do is take our last breath. The breath leaves the body, and so does our life. All the moments in between, there our breath is, effortlessly doing its job. Many of us quite simply do not give much thought to our breath, do not purposefully turn our attention to our breath, and are certainly not mindful of our breath. And in the moments when life gets hard, we find ourselves anxious, our minds and our hearts are racing, our breath becomes very shallow. We are barely breathing, even feeling like we cannot breathe. What is happening is that we are trying to not feel. We are afraid of our feelings. Feelings can be scary and overwhelming. If you try right now to stop thinking and feeling, I bet you find yourself holding your breath. To not breathe is to not live, to not breathe is to not feel. Emotions are energy in motion. They need to move through us, as uncomfortable as it may be. When we suppress our emotions, we trap these energies. Suppressed emotions can be detrimental to our emotional and physical well-being. They become stuck within us and can build and build until we don’t even know what is bothering us anymore, we just know we don’t like the way we feel. Many of us have spent our entire lives denying our emotions, trying to not feel, and pushing down. There are many, many reasons we do this. From the moment we are born we are being programmed by society, parents, teachers, cultures. This isn’t to blame anyone, as many of these ways have simply been unconsciously passed down from generation to generation. Thankfully, now more than ever people are becoming more aware of the imperative need to embrace and process our emotions fully.
There are many different styles of breathwork that have been created and used throughout the years. In hypnotherapy, the main goal is to get to the root cause of present-day issues. The style of breathwork that I was trained in (by the Institute of Interpersonal Hypnotherapy) is combined with the transformational protocol of hypnotherapy. In this style, the client breathes fast, deep, circular belly breathes in 10-minute cycles. By doing this we are flooding the body with life force energy while engaging and opening the subconscious mind. Eventually the suppressed emotions will begin to surface, and then an event or memory will come to the conscious awareness to be healed. This is never, ever about reliving trauma. This is about moving energetic blocks for healing. This is about processing suppressed emotions that are deeply affecting us, many times at a subconscious level. This is about reframing beliefs concluded about self and others in order to shift perspectives. Ultimately, this is about forgiveness. When we let these emotions move through us, we liberate ourselves. The simple act of this style of breathing is so therapeutic on its own, yet when coupled with this powerful hypnotherapy protocol, it is truly life changing.
Both breathwork and hypnotherapy have changed my life in ways I could have never even imagined. Sharing these practices with others has become not only something I love to do, but something I feel I must do. To not share these incredibly transformational methods with others would be a huge disservice, especially when it is so needed today. While traditional talk therapy and prescription drugs certainly have their place in the world, they do little to help many. These alternative practices help to get to the very core of our issues and work on a much deeper, and often spiritual level to liberate us.
Your breath has the capacity to give life, end life and completely transform your life. I wonder what breakthroughs are on the other side of your breath?
