Have you ever felt like you can not catch your breath? Do you often feel anxiety or frustration with your life around you? I often felt this way, and I tried many strategies to help. Nothing seemed to work, and I was running out of options. Then I came across breathwork training and I learned some beautiful and helpful breathwork techniques.
What is Breathwork Meditation?
Every single day, we all carry around pain and emotions in our body. We experience back pain, or shoulder pain. The feelings of anxiety, happiness and frustration. Often, we see these pains and emotions as a normal part of our daily life. But they do not need to be.
People who have breathwork training and have learned breathwork techniques and practice it describe feelings of tingling throughout their body. They feel a sense of clarity, more alert, and have a better mind-body connection. Some even feel as though it is emotionally purging.
My Story of Breathwork Training and Using Breathwork Techniques
I discovered breathwork through Leeor Alexandra. She discussed her positive experience on YouTube and created a program called Breathe to help bring this form of healing to others, and I am so glad she did!
I did not know what to expect, but I felt intuitively called to it. I think writing in my growth journal nightly had made me realize I needed to take some more steps towards healing. One online payment later and I had to download a breathwork meditation and watch an introductory breathwork training video all about the breathwork techniques. To be 100% honest with you, I had no expectations.
What I uncovered was deep-rooted emotional pain that needed to be released. Unhelpful energy that had been seeking an outlet for my entire life. All the times I pushed back my tears, all the moments I swallowed my anger, the disappointment that I forced myself to “get over.” It all came rushing out as tears and shaking. The breathwork training, breathwork meditation, and the breathwork techniques were helpful but also a little weird at first. Releasing it wasn’t painful. At first it was uncomfortable to sit in these emotions that I didn’t know I had, but then it felt like a relief.
It felt like putting down a heavy box that I’ve been carrying for ages. Consciously, in my day to day, I didn’t realize this pain was there but when the session was over; I felt light, happy, and nothing but ease. My body even felt better.
Is Breathwork Meditation Safe?
First, before you start any type of breathwork training, breathwork meditation, or breathwork techniques, it is always important to speak to your doctor or medical professional! I am not a certified doctor and I believe you should not believe everything on the internet (haha).
Breathwork is powerful and really gets to the center or core of our being, our issues, and really gets things moving around and surfacing. Breathwork meditation requires you to breathe in a specific, rhythmic technique. If you have any cardiovascular problems, epilepsy, have had a recent surgery, have physical or psychosomatic limitations, or are pregnant. Please speak with someone specifically trained before trying any breathwork techniques.
Breathwork training is normally safe for everyone and is and is practiced and performed globally by many, many people and it has helped amazingly with mental health. But I believe you should not always believe everything on the internet haha. So it is always better to be safe than sorry.
Breathwork Techniques
There are a few different breathwork techniques available. Four common breathwork meditations I have come across during my breathwork training are Eupnea, Diaphragmatic, Costal, and Hyperpnea.
- Eupnea is normally quiet breathing. You concentrate on the contraction of the diaphragm and external intercostal muscles.
- Diaphragmatic is deep breathing. You focus on the contraction of your diaphragm.
- Costal is shallow breathing. You concentrate on the contraction of the intercostal muscles.
- Hyperpnea is forced breathing. You focus on muscle contractions during inspiration and expiration. Specifically, the contraction of the diaphragm, accessory muscles, and intercostal muscles.
My preferred breathwork technique is the Diaphragmatic Breathing Method. Here is the cliff note version of how to perform this breathwork technique. Although I recommend attending a breathwork training class before trying and breathwork techniques or breathwork meditations on your own! The more knowledge, the more powerful breathwork becomes.
Step 1: Lay down flat – no pillow under your head or neck
Step 2: Breathing through the mouth only.
Step 3: Breathe into the belly, hold, breathe into the chest release. Allow your release to fall out of your body, don’t force it out.
Step 4: continue moving into the next breath.
This breathwork meditation class can be done with a facilitator in person or online.
Here are a few great facilitators I have found online once I really got into breathwork meditation.
The first one I recommend is Revelation Breathwork. The first class is free. Another facilitator I recommend is Pushing Beauty on YouTube. These classes are all free!
Helpful Breathwork Training Information & What you May Experience During Breathwork Meditation
- Do your research. This means Googling, talking to doctors, attending a breathwork training course or a class on breathwork techniques. Make sure you have all your questions answered before starting.
- Breathwork meditation is very personal and can be an emotional experience. You may experience frustration, crying, or tingling sensations in your hands or feet.
- Breathwork techniques are best done on a “light stomach”. You do not want to eat a 3 course meal before starting your breathwork meditation.
- Keep a journal and pen with you in case you want to journal on something or if something important shows up. I have a lot of outstanding journals in my Etsy store if you haven’t found a favorite yet. I also have written a blog post about 5 different journals if you are interested in the topic!
Breathwork is not only a way to release anger, anxiety, and frustration. But, it is a way to center yourself and find a better, more relaxed you. Remember, I have a free resource library available to you and it is full of useful and enriching resources.
