What is breathwork? A complete guide to getting started

Did you know that you take in around 20,000 breaths a day? Whether you’re awake or asleep, you inhale and exhale without needing to think about it consciously. But if you’re under stress, your breathing rate and pattern will change, which puts your body into a “fight or flight response’. Fortunately, you can reduce your blood pressure and anxiety by using simple breathing practices to change your breathing patterns like deep breathing, nostril breaths, diaphragmatic breathing, circular breathing, the breath of fire, and breathwork practices.

Holotropic Breathwork is a type of breathing practice that focuses on using connected, circular breaths and states of consciousness to clear your suppressed emotions to calm and reunite your body and mind. Developed in the 1960s by Stanislav Grof, a Czech-born psychologist, and clinical psychologist, breathwork uses accelerated breath and evocative music to explore and heal childhood experiences and memories. During a breathwork session, we change the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our bodies to activate different regions of the brain for healing and clarity.

How does breathwork work?

Breathwork uses conscious breathing patterns to slow down your mind and keep it in the present moment. This results in a clearer and more focused mind and body. Breathing practices like HypnoBreathwork® combines the power of breathwork practices with hypnosis for visualization and subconscious reprogramming. This clears suppressed emotions and energetic patterns so you can rewire limiting beliefs and habits to create positive change in your life.

What does breathwork do?

People practice breathwork to:

  • Reduce stress and anxiety
  • Release negative thoughts
  • Clear the root of emotional pain and trauma
  • Enhance clarity and creativity
  • Optimize health and energy
  • Improve happiness

The benefits of deep breathwork, including diaphragmatic breathing, are clinically proven and include reduced pressure, increased immunity, and increased blood flow. A 2017 medical article in Frontiers in Psychology also provided evidence “demonstrating the effect of diaphragmatic breathing, a mind-body practice, on mental function, from a health psychology approach, which has important implications for health promotion in healthy individuals.”

What are the benefits of breathwork?

When people practice breathwork, they feel less stressed, deeply relaxed, and more able to cope with their everyday life demands. HypnoBreathwork® is a practice that accelerates trance-induced states to rewire limiting beliefs. This results in your blood becoming more alkaline, which stimulates different brain regions, so the analytical and logical mind relaxes, and your subconscious mind becomes more active. This results in clearer access to your memories, beliefs, values, and information so you can form new creative connections.

Other benefits of HypnoBreathwork® include:

  • Reduced anxiety, stress, and self-doubt
  • Less fear and uncertainty
  • Improved self-confidence and self-esteem
  • Enhanced cognition, retention, processing speeds, and decision-making.

How to practice breathwork?

Practicing breathwork regularly can help you stay present, focused, and more aware. But with so many breathwork practices available, it can be hard to work out which one will be the best for you. If you’re starting out on your breathwork journey, it can be useful to start with easy-to-follow 30-minute sessions. Practicing breathwork as part of your daily routine can reap many positive benefits – for your health, happiness, emotional and mental well-being.

What to expect from a breathwork session?

While every breathwork session is unique to everyone, many people experience the same feelings and reactions, including some of the following.

·   Physical sensations of being more connected with your body. This can also include a tingling sensation.

·   Mental release can include memories from your past and realising which limiting behaviours have impeded your well-being.

·   Improved awareness of your emotions where you feel more connected spiritually and to others.

Is breathwork the same as meditation?

While breathwork and meditation offer similar physical, mental, and emotional benefits, meditation can be a slow and steady process whose benefits develop over time. Breathwork can be an easier practice to learn, is more active, and offers the following immediate benefits.

1. Breathwork can be less frustrating than meditation because it only requires you to notice how you’re breathing.

2. Breathwork exercises are like a workout for your respiratory system. Meditation can involve paying attention to your thoughts and sensations, which can become boring and difficult to still the mind for some people.

3. Breathwork provides immediate stress relief. After a breathwork session, you can expect to feel clearer-minded with less stress and anxiety.

4. Breathwork focuses on changing how you breathe – from shallow breathing to a deeper, diaphragmatic breathing pattern. This can improve your overall physical well-being.

What types of breathwork sessions do we offer?

With so many types of breathwork methods available, it’s good to have guidance from experienced instructors who have taught breathwork to many people. Our online breathwork sessions are an ideal way to immerse yourself into breathwork. 

Flow State Breathwork is a ground-breaking breathwork method that stimulates group collaboration, focus, and productivity. This experiential practice can give you access to altered states of consciousness where you can achieve heightened creativity, improved clarity, and new neural connections.

Do you feel stuck, unfulfilled, or empty? Ready to unlock your purpose? Our 12-week HypnoBreathwork® can clear your subconscious blocks so you can discover your life’s purpose. From career breakthroughs and developing relationships, you deserve to dissolve negative self-talk. Contact us at Francesca Sipma today to find out more about the power of breathwork.

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10/21/2021

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What is breathwork? A complete guide to getting started