Breathwork. What is that? I breathe every day right? So why would I need to know about breathwork? Why should I learn about something I do myself every day?
Well, the simple reason is you don’t. You can continue all your life breathing and not being aware of how you breathe. That is fine. You’ll live!
BUT, if you are interested in knowing why a conscious breath can make you feel more alive, more energetic and more at peace, read on!
Let me start by saying that breathwork is versatile and there are many types of breathwork to be found and I will go into them later in this blog. Like with yoga, not every type of breathwork may speak to you. It may take a while for you to find your style and that is perfect. Because along the way you will learn about you.
That is the most precious thing that breathwork brings: you learn more about yourself, your preferences, your hidden strengths and weaknesses and you connect on a deep level to yourSELF.
Being connected to yourself, without judgement or things needing to change, is a blissful experience where the world and you seem at peace. Where you feel connected to yourself and everything and everyone around you.
Using my breath is the fastest way I have found to do this.
This has helped me beat my burnout, reconnect with myself and change the path I was on into a more sustainable and enjoyable path that allows me to help you and others connect with their selves and share the beauty and the potential we all have within us.
Let me introduce you to the different types of breathwork to help you get started in finding your way. And let me also say, there are so many ways to connect with yourself. Like practicing sports, cooking dinner, meditate, do yoga, take a walk with your dog or look at a beautiful sunset while sipping a wine. Anything that works for you is perfect!
Breathwork may be one of them. If you want it to be.
You can roughly divide types of breathwork in two types: more activating types where you energise your body and take more breath in your system and more deactivating types where you create more rest in your body and you take less breath in your system.
Each type of breathwork has its own system that may exist of only breathing, but often you find other elements combined with the breath to ultimately help you connect with yourself.
When you zoom in on the Wim Hof method for example, you’ll find the breath combined with exercises to warm your body and to train your body with ice baths and cold showers.
Rebirthing zooms in on the experience of and before birth, helping you to reset and resolve any trauma surrounding birth.
Biodynamic Breathwork and Trauma Release System is specifically designed to release trauma and held tension from the body. It integrates breath with movement, touch, sound, emotional release and meditation.
Box breathing is a method that is adjusted from old yogic breathing exercises and is used in the military to help soldiers focus and cope with stress.
Beter Ademen focusses on fully exhaling before inhaling, using the full capacity of the lungs and therewith improving your immune system and breathing pattern.
Buteyko focusses on extending the exhale, allowing the body to optimally use the oxygen provided and producing more Carbon Dioxide, which helps the body to do this.
There are so many types of breathwork, some of which are mentioned here, but even more that are not. Each type has its own focus, its own patterns, its own benefits that it specifically focuses on. And that is beautiful, because it allows you to choose from a range of possibilities and find out what works best for you at this moment.
Of course, that might change through time. Because you change, your preferences change and your needs change.
But no matter where you are at right now, just give it a try and see if you like it!
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With love,
Lisanne
