The Power of Breath

Breathwork or Conscious Breathing takes you deep inside of yourself. Self healing capacities are being activated in this breathing process – for many it is the first experience to directly connect to the knowledge of their body and its enormous resources to heal, cleanse and revitalise itself.

For me, Conscious Breathing is the holy grail to more consciousness.

Deep connected breathing detoxifies your body, reconnects you to your heart, releases physical & emotional tension, stress and even trauma. And the beauty of it all – it is all natural at that.

Back to life

When I think of how to describe Breathwork, I simply have to say that it has turned my life around - it has truly inspired me. Working in a fast paced career job as an HR Business Partner for the Trading Floor of an Investment Bank, I gradually lost my balance. I worked too much, neglected relationships, my health as well as my friends and compensated with various addictions over the course of more than 15 years.

This all culminated in a severe burn-out – followed by a herniated spinal disc that needed surgery as it paralysed my leg. I could no longer ignore that I had broken down completely. My healing was a journey which took me all the way to Bali.

My first Breathwork

And that is where I stumbled into my first Breathwork session with Anthony Abbagnano, the found of Alchemy of Breath. I actually thought it would be a lecture on breathing techniques – you know, learning how to relax more effectively and sleep better.

And when we were asked to lay down and breathe together I just wanted to get up and leave. But I was too embarrassed to walk out in front of all these people. So I stayed and was asked during the session to breathe into the predominant sensation that I was feeling right then – for me it was annoyance and resistance for being there.

And giving those feelings some attention and space by breathing into, lifted me right over into a huge release of so much stored tension, anger and grief. I don’t want to go into too many details as it is more important to have a curious sense of expectancy rather than concrete expectations in case you want to try it out yourself.

But afterwards i felt my heart again for the first time since childhood and circumstances in my life began to flow and fall into place again beautifully. I started the Breathwork Practitioner Training with Anthony shortly after which truly transformed my insights and so many aspects of my life..

The Magic

There is something magical happening when we allow ourselves to breathe deeply and connected for an extended period of time. It feels like we are reconnecting to the unconditional flow of energy that is constantly expanding our universe. Did I just say that – surprisingly aloof for an ex-banker. Well, that’s a possible side-effect of reconnecting to proper breathing. But no worries, you will not fly away, but discover new aspects of life that are worth exploring.

Gateway to your Subconsciousness

You see, our breath is an automated subconscious function of our body. And subconsciously is also how unprocessed emotions and trauma get stored in our cellular memory in our physical body.

When we get overwhelmed by emotions – even by quite small things like being yelled at by our parents, physical injuries or bigger happenings like traumas of all sorts, a constant level of stress and so much more – our breathing contracts in order not to get overwhelmed in those situations. And that’s perfectly normal.

The problem is, we have never really learned how to process and release this emotional overwhelm afterwards. And this is how we accumulate a lot of so called baggage which influences our thoughts and behaviour more and more over time through insecurity, withdrawal, emotional triggers, negative self-talk, limiting beliefs, etc..

In fact, renowned scientists like Bruce Lipton have proven that around 95% of our decisions, emotions, and behaviour come from the programming in our subconscious mind. This means, that most of the time we are driven by unprocessed emotions, limiting beliefs and traumas, all stored in our subconsciousness. So by consciously taking control over this subconscious function of our body, we create a gateway to our subconsciousness where all of the above is stored.

And with deep connected breathing, we are accessing what is ready to be looked at and we get a chance to process it properly. Me and my Breathwork friends all over the world have witnessed so many people releasing old blockages, going into deep healing relaxations, soul travels and yes, also into quite challenging situations.

Breath Exercises

If this all sounds a bit much or even scary, please know it does not always have to be a full blown Breathwork Session for an hour or more. The ways of how you can use the breath to improve your life is almost limitless.

Belly Breathing

By breathing into your belly you can directly activate the Vagus nerve and regulate your nervous system. So whenever you feel stressed, in emotional turmoil or simply want to feel asleep more easily, it’s all in your breath.

• Lay down comfortably

• Put one hand on your belly and one hand on your heart

• Slowly breathe in and out through your nose

• Feel how your belly expands with the inhalation
  (do not take the breath up to your chest for this exercise)

• Let the exhale just fall away in a very relaxed way

• Try to extend the exhale - make it longer without feeling deprived of air

• You can also hold your breath for a few seconds at the bottom of your exhale
  (this helps to release toxins from your lungs)

Full Circle Breath

This breathing technique is more active and yet very balancing and calming. By applying coherent and resistance breathing as well as breath moving, we take control of our nervous system and the flow of energy in our body at the same time.

• Lay down comfortably

• Take full breaths in and out through your nose
  (first fill your belly, then take the breath up to your chest)

• Establish a rhythm of 5 or 6 breaths per minute
  (every inhalation and exhalation is 5-6 seconds long)

• Create a bit of resistance at the back of your throat for better control

• After a couple of minutes, with the inhalation start moving your breath from the bottom of your spine, up your back to the top of your head

• And with the exhalation down the front of your body through your face, chest and back to the belly to complete the upper body circle

• If you want to release energy, let your breath and energy flow all the way down your legs and out of your feet for a couple of breaths towards the end

• But do complete the exercise again by completing the upper body circle in order to circulate the energy within your body

As this is quite an advanced breathing technique, I have recorded an audio instruction to guide you through it. Please find the video below.

The most powerful tool right under your nose

Our breath is an amazingly powerful tool and if you feel called to try it, you probably are. There is nothing to be afraid of as our body can only express what he is for – but the potential benefit for your physical, emotional and spiritual well-being might just change your life.