How Breathwork Changed My Life…
Transporting myself back in time, I remember the fear, the anxiety, the panic, the overthinking, the physical pain, the inability to cope with life, the low immune health, the sadness and struggle I felt most days. The dysregulation in my nervous system was palpable and my coping strategies were far from helpful. I was, like so many others, just a bystander in my own life, going through the daily motions but minus any deep-seated joy.
The universe conspired and led me to yoga and yoga was my road of discovery, my pathway in. This led to pranayama and discovering the breath and from here I found a light so bright that I started to see the way out!
I found yoga in an attempt to manage the severe physical pain of a poorly diagnosed scoliosis, and from that it was breathwork that found me, and when it did everything began to change.
Being in constant pain, with overanxious tendencies I created a program of fear which manifested in my body and mind. I was ill-equipped to deal with stress and found the ability to cope with the challenges of life often impossible and overwhelming. Over time this became my ‘normal’ and this heightened state of sympathetic activation, often before descending into chronic disassociation, became the roller-coaster I rode day after day. I became gifted at hiding my anxiety and constant perpetual fear.
My breakthrough came as I became more proficient in regulating the autonomic nervous system through breath and movement. As I calmed the nervous system to feel safer in my body, I started to calm my overactive mind. Once I had begun to restore my breathing to a more functional pattern and cadence, subtle regulation enveloped me. Some days my perfectionist tendencies led me to push too hard and the practices worked against me, stimulating my nervous system and heightening my anxiety once again. With practice and guidance, I was able to eventually recognise this pattern and once my breathing was regulated and functional, I could then begin to work on the emotional release and deep-set trauma concealed in the physical and energetic body.
The body acts as a storage cabinet for all your past experiences, thoughts and trauma and without cleansing and releasing this energetic and physical field you become blocked and unable to flow with life. I liken this to water in a hose which has a kink, the water is stuck and unable to flow on its journey.
Breathwork is not a quick fix, but it has the power to create sustainable change. By beginning with my internal landscape, and relationship with self, my external world and my relationship to it began to shift. Breathwork has the power to nurture, balance, reduce pain perception, to improve sleep, to increase emotional resiliency, improve immune health and bring joy back into the heart through the presence of being.
Breathwork begins with learning how to regulate through functional breathing, this takes guidance and support. I was fortunate to learn from the very best and I thank all those who have travelled on this road with me. With the knowledge I gained, I then had to learn how to implement the practices into my life, to empower myself with the tools I needed daily to create this sustainable change. I continue on this journey every day, there is no finish line just an ongoing developing relationship with awareness and breath – always more to learn.
The breath has the power to profoundly impact our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Breathwork has truly transformed my life in almost indescribable ways. Now, I dedicate my life - my dharma to sharing this gift with others, introducing the power of breathwork in a safe and manageable way.
Are you feeling called to begin this journey for yourself? The breath is life itself, a gift in every moment of every day, but without awareness, it can easily work against you. Bring balance, vitality, calm and an over-arching sense of well-being into your life and see for yourself as the transformation starts to unfold.