BREATHWORK IS AN ANCIENT PRACTICE, BACKED BY MODERN SCIENCE AND VALIDATED WORLDWIDE FOR ITS EXTENSIVE BENEFITS.
BREATH AND THE BODY
You breathe from the moment you are born to the moment you pass away. Your breath is with you constantly, and on average you might breathe 22,000 times per day. If you are not taking these breaths correctly, chances are you are not close to your optimal healthy potential. Sometimes an illness or condition can influence dysfunctional breathing, especially mouth breathing and over breathing, creating a negative feedback loop where the dysfunctional breathing then continues to fuel the illness or condition. Many of our bodily functions are subservient to our breath and correcting dysfunctional breathing, often corrects the illness or condition.
Some benefits of correcting your breathing can include:
Weight loss
More energy and vitality
Improving symptoms of asthma and allergies
Reduced inflammation
Improved digestion
Improved sleep
Reduced blood pressure
Improved HRV
Better oxygen efficiency
Improved lung capacity
Improved sport performance
Better physical endurance and stamina
Remedied erectile dysfunction
Improved coronary health
Increased production of red blood cells
Activation off stem cells
Improved memory and cognitive function
Improved immunity
Improved posture
Improved dental health
If you answer yes to the following questions, chances are that you may be suffering from dysfunctional breathing habits.
Do you breathe through your mouth?
Do you breathe into your upper chest?
Do you yawn or sigh a lot?
Do you often have a blocked or stuffy nose?
Is your breathing heavy or labored, erratic or jerky?
Do you feel shortness of breath on exertion?
BREATH AND THE MIND
When you improve the quality of your breath, you improve the quality of your thoughts, the quality of your decisions, and the overall quality of outcomes in your life.
Without any awareness or attention, your breathing is regulated by the most primitive part of your brain, the cerebellum, the key region of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). This is the part of your brain wired for survival. Alongside your breathing, your heart rate, body temperature, balance and coordination are also handled here, as well as our basic survival instincts of feeding, mating, and defense. Because of this, your breathing is often reactive to your subconscious thoughts and feelings, meanings your breathing can become erratic, fast, slow, or even held without our conscious awareness.
Paradoxically, your ANS can also be influences by your breath. Through breath awareness and breath control, you can influence your ANS and your thoughts and feelings. You can use your breath to create more energy within your body (activating the SNS), or increase states of calm and relaxation (activating the PNS).
There are two dominant sides of the autonomic nervous system. They are the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), fight or flight, and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), rest and digest. Both have an important role in our life, and when in balance, create health and vitality in both body and mind. But often our modern lifestyle and our inability to manage stress leave us predominantly in activation of the SNS, a constant state of stress. Once upon a time the SNS prepared us to fight or flee from dangerous predators, but in recent times, we are running from deadlines, uncomfortable truths, looping thoughts, and even ourselves. This constant state of stress and inability to manage stress leads to constant dysfunctional breathing, creating poor breathing habits. This is one of the biggest causes of illness in our society.
The practice of breath awareness and breath control help us to gracefully deactivate stress and anxiety, calm our nervous system and maintain better mental health and therefore better physical health.
Through the practice of breath awareness and breath control you can:
Improve your mood,
Calm your nervous system
Increase your focus attention
Eliminate negative thought patterns
Overcome stress and anxiety
Feel more centered, balanced, connected and in ‘flow”
Find more clarity and direction
Slow you heart rate
Increase your energy
SOMA BREATH MEDITATION
The essence of a Soma Breathwork meditation lies in rhythmic breathing and breath-holds, creating equilibrium within the nervous system. This process prompts a shift towards the parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system, training your stress response to gracefully disengage. In the hustle of modern life, unconscious breathing patterns can keep stress responses activated, underscoring the importance of consistent deactivation.
Imagine your body as a car – negotiating both gas and brakes simultaneously when the nervous system is out of sync. The resulting chronic stress elevates the risk of physical and mental health challenges. SOMA Breath techniques actively recalibrate your nervous system, fostering a robust response to stress and the ability to power down afterward.
Excessive stress depletes your physical and mental reservoirs, hindering your body's healing capacities and limiting your meaningful contributions to the world. Attaining equilibrium on physical, mental, and emotional fronts, coupled with reduced stress levels, optimizes cardiovascular efficiency, ensuring improved oxygen supply to organs. This, in turn, translates to heightened physical energy, mental acuity, and creative drive to pursue your goals.
Heart coherence, achieved through this practice, nurtures emotional balance, and optimizes cardiovascular, respiratory, and blood pressure functions. The outcome? Reduced stress responses, diminished unconscious breathing patterns, and heightened decision-making clarity. This positive state activates dormant brain regions, enhancing blood flow, generating electromagnetic charges that stimulate neurons, and guides your brain through different frequencies.
Breath holds induce safe, beneficial, low-oxygen states (intermittent hypoxia), akin to resilience-building stressors like heat or cold exposure and exercise. Fostering awareness of breath and breathing patterns through Soma Breathwork instigates profound positive changes in life and health.
Make this practice a cornerstone for transformative well-being.
LIFESTYLE COACHING
'If wishes were horses, beggars would ride'.
Often we wish for a desired change from our present reality, yet don't give any more thought or attention to how we can create this new reality. If you know what you want, you can have it, but first of all you must know what you want, and this is often no easy task. Through my lifestyle coaching program, I will guide you into discovering your deepest driving desires, and through your efforts, help you to align your thoughts, your words and you actions to create your new reality.
I offer a free consultation session to understand your needs, walk you through my approach, and ensure we're the right fit for one another.