WHAT IS BREATHWORK?
Breathwork as we know it today, is a modern-day adaptation of ancient pranayama. It’s a practice where you consciously and intentionally breathe in a certain rhythm, depth and location in the body to create a desired state. Your breath is the only part of your autonomic nervous system that you can consciously control, and it is a key indicator of how your nervous system is doing at any point in time aka your internal state.
This is important, because your nervous system governs all of your organs, systems and processes throughout the body, including the endocrine system and digestive system, both of which influence how you think and perceive the world, and therefore how you show up for life.
A balanced and regulated nervous system is one that’s built on internal safety and trust, and has an expanded window of tolerance which enables you to navigate stressful moments, anxiety and fear, without being catapulted into dysregulation.
Nervous system work is really about relational work and how you are in relationship with all parts of your life. The breath helps you to build a strong relationship with yourself, so that you can have a strong relationship with life.
Breathwork, and specifically conscious breathing, has become a tool for exploring your inner world, healing un-serving patterns, releasing stagnant energy and cultivating a deep personal connection with your body and soul.
PRANAYAMA
THE ANCIENT WISDOM OF THE YOGIS, WITH DEEP ROOTS IN ALL MODERN DAY BREATHWORK
Let’s break down the word Pranayama.
Prana is your life force energy, yama is ‘control’, and ayama means ‘expansion’.
Before you read on, what do you understand that to mean?
I believe that pranayama is much more than breath control. It’s the control of your life force energy to expand into one-ness. it’s understanding that your breath is your direct connection to the Divine.
It’s knowing that our breath is sacred.
In the Yoga Sutras, which were written around 500 B.C. by a sage named Patanjali, the 8 limbs of yoga are shared. Each teaches us different aspects of how to embody yoga.
But what is yoga?
The word ‘yoga’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘yuj’, which means to yolk or to unite.
To embody yoga is to unite the mind, body and spirit.
Pranayama is the fourth limb. It prepares us for the next three, which are essentially different stages of meditation, and eventually samadhi – the state of enlightenment. It’s the journey from doing-ness being-ness.
Breathwork Illuminates How We Are Living, Leading And Loving Our Lives.
Every human on the planet is walking around with some form of stress, dissatisfaction, frustration, patterns that are causing more harm than help.
It’s part of the human experience.
We came here to feel it all, learn our soul lessons and evolve.
But when you don’t know how to shift yourself out of those heavier, lower density vibrations – like anger, guilt, frustration, fear and anxiety – their energy is stored in your subconscious – aka your nervous system – on a cellular level.
They become your baseline vibration, and they usually respond by creating a protective pattern to either stop yourself from feeling (dysregulated dorsal vagal state), or become reactive (dysregulated sympathetic state).
Over the years, I’ve discovered that regardless of how our nervous systems respond to situations, the root cause is usually because:
- You don’t feel seen or heard.
- You don’t feel important.
- You don’t feel enough or worthy.
In my containers, I want you to know that your feelings are valid, your voice is needed in the world, and your worth was never in question.
When I hold space for new clients, sometimes it is the first time in their life that they have felt truly seen and heard. Like they could take up space, unapologetically.
Where they felt safe enough to fully express what’s on their heart without fear of judgement or consequences.
They could finally let all of that energy move out of their body, and intentionally create a new baseline in their nervous systems for a regulated, happy life.
The mind is like the wind and the body is like the sand: if you want to know how the wind is blowing, you can look at the sand.
Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
BREATHWORK & THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
Breathwork can both up-regulate and down-regulate your nervous system. It’s a common misunderstanding that all breathwork is ‘relaxing’. Much of modern-day breathwork is intentionally bringing our bodies into an activated state – which is why they can be so supportive in releasing the energy that wasn’t fully expressed in a past experience. Furthermore, many breathing patterns are not suitable for every person. It’s always important to read the contraindications before starting a new practice, and listening to your body.
On my YouTube channel, I share both up-regulation and down-regulation breathwork and pranayama practices.
