The Power and Magic of Breathwork
Understanding the Power and Magic of Breathwork
Breathwork is a gentle, yet powerful tool for healing and for spiritual awareness. With the support of group energy, beautiful and evocative music, and an intensified breathing process, we gain entry into so many places in our own consciousness that are difficult to access in normal life. And yet these places hold both buried treasures of our soul and history as well the unresolved parts of our past that may continue to block aliveness, creativity and intimacy. Breathwork has been part of my personal and professional healing practice since 1986, and continues to amaze me with what it can set free inside us.
All four levels of our human experience (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) benefit from Breathwork.
On the physical level
We know that humans can survive 10-14 days without food and four days without water. But without air we will only last about four minutes. Every cell of our body needs oxygen continuously and 90% of the nutrition we need comes from that oxygen. We also need the breath because 70% of the toxins in our body are eliminated through breathing. The breathing method we use in Breathwork floods the body with oxygen, and it can release constrictions and "body memories" thus allowing more life-force to flow through us.
On the mental level
The brain uses more oxygen than any other part of us! Breathwork has the effect of quieting the constant inner chattering so that the brain can rest and our awareness can go deeper in consciousness and into the whole body. In other words, it "reduces the primacy of cortical functions/logical mind and relaxes psychological defenses." It's good to know though that we will only "relax defenses" to the extent that we feel safe and supported to do so.
On the emotional level
As a culture, we learn at an early age to repress our emotions and "disease" is often a result of holding back the healthy expression of emotion.
Big emotions are natural at any stage of life but when we are young, we learn from the grown-ups around us what is "okay" to feel and/or express and what is not. If an infant or a toddler gets upset and there's a grown-up who can stay calm and present with them, then the small person allows the release of the feelings and comes back to a natural, peaceful state. The grown-up models the deep breath and the quiet soothing voice and manner and the child takes that in and learns to self-regulate. But when the grown-up instead is triggered by the child's emotions (we've all been there!) and then invalidates and even punishes them, then the message is "Don't feel! Push it down or numb it out because it's not okay. There's something wrong with you for having feelings." And if we have learned to block one emotion, then it will be hard to fully feel any emotion.
And yet, living authentically, being truly intimate with others, and accessing our zest for life, all depend on our ability to feel, understand and express our emotions. Breathwork facilitates the experience of our feelings in a safe place and in an honoring way.
On the spiritual level
In many languages the word for "breath" and "spirit" are the same. In English, think of respiration, aspiration and inspiration. We use a sacred form of respiration because we aspire to be inspired. By the end of the session, that intention is so often fulfilled in ways beyond what we imagined. In the words of T.S. Eliot, we "arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time."
“There is one way of breathing that is shameful and constricted.
Then, there's another way: a breath of love that takes you
all the way to infinity.”
~ Rumi