Lately we've been talking about Breathwork a lot over on the Constellation Instagram page or in our bi-weekly newsletter - but we realized that something got missed. The basics.
Basics like, “What is Breathwork?” totally got overshadowed!
See, sometimes it’s hard to see the forest from the trees. And after several immersive weekends in this medicine over the last year, I've been about as far into that forest as can be.
So today we’re pulling back a bit and answering a few questions we’ve gotten from y’all about what Breathwork is and how it can help you.
What is breathwork?
It’s a style of active breathing that, in its simplest form, encourages you to breath deeply into your belly, then up into your chest, and then release the breath from the mouth. The purpose is to stir up the emotional center of the body (the 2nd and 3rd chakras), bring that energy up to the heart center (heart chakra) to wash it with love, and then release the energy through the mouth.
What if I already do some Breathwork as part of my daily yoga practice. Is this the same thing?
It has roots in the same pranayama philosophy and originates from Southeast Asia, but it’s not exactly the same. If you’re doing Kundalini breathing daily you’re doing something similar to the Breathwork offered at the clinic, but still different.
What is Breathwork good for?
Honestly, we can’t think of a single thing it’s not good for! But to be more specific, we’ve found that it’s exceptionally useful for the following:
Moving through a crossroads in life with more grace and ease
Forgiving old grudges and personal pain
Physically releasing old trauma that’s still being stored in the body
Letting go of limiting beliefs that are holding you back
Living with chronic disease
Connecting with source energy
Increasing creativity and inspiration
How long is a session?
Active breathing portions of breathwork last anywhere between 15-35 minutes with 5-15 minutes of rest afterwards. Sessions are generally an hour long and include time for talking and time for healing.
Are you just breathing the whole time and that’s it?
We’ll start with a check-in and discuss what brought you to this work. Then we’ll set an intention for the session and start the active breath. You’ll continue with the active breath for about 35-min while Amy intuitively leads your body through different clearing methods to help facilitate any necessary energy clearings. After, you’ll rest with your normal breath rate for several minutes while your body and mind integrate the healing work.
Why can Breathwork create such intense sensations and be so effective?
During the active breath the mind gets out of the way and lets the body do the work it instinctively knows how to do. That’s the true beauty of this work! So often we over analyze our problems to death - without ever truly clearing them from our physical and energetic selves. This work completely bypasses the thinking brain and focuses only on the physical and energetic brains. It’s because of this focus on the physical and energetic selves that so much sensation occurs in the body during a Breathwork session (tingling, heaviness, tightness, floating sensations, etc).
Hopefully, after reading this post this work isn’t quite so foreign to you. It’s a powerful healing tool and we’re excited to be offering it to our patients.
*The information provided on this site is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified healthcare provider. Please consult your healthcare provider with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your condition.
