Why Practice Breathwork?
Breathwork is becoming more and more of a buzzword in self-development and spiritual communities. Though there are many people offering a modern spin on it, working with the breath is as ancient as it is unfamiliar, as simple as it is profound. We need our breath to live, and the yogis noted this when they spoke about prana, or life force that rides on the breath.
Not breathing correctly is directly related to so many suffering states. When we are anxious, overwhelmed or in panic, we naturally hold our breath or breathe quick and shallow. In moments when we are acting out of anger or frustration, we often hold our breath as well. Holding the breath and breathing quickly create physiological effects that can not only amplify our emotional states but also create emotional states. This is why developing a practice around the breath can be so supportive, not only for its immediate effects within and around the practice, but because it helps us to form a relationship with this life-giving experience that so often goes unnoticed.
Working with the breath can have the effect of soothing emotional states just like it can activate them. For example, when we are in a meditative state the breath becomes so quiet and gentle as to create a place of ultimate ease and serenity. By elongating the breath and slowing it down we can assist the nervous system in deescalating, bringing the breather into a state of clarity, groundedness, and ease. This place is ultimately where we want to make choices from, for from a place of ease and groundedness we can act in a way that is in alignment with truth. We can get there by being with the breath.
The yogis knew quite a bit that modern science is catching up to. The breath practices, known as pranayama, are practices that manipulate aspects of the breath in order to arrive at altered states of consciousness, equanimity in the body, increased longevity, and mental stability. The way they arrived at these practices were primarily by observing animals in nature, and mimicking what they saw adding in the human capacity to consciously change breathing patterns.
During Transformational Breathwork, as is found in the Huma Rising app, we are also utilizing a breath technique to alter the physiological, emotional, and energetic reality inside the body. This breath practice involves simulating hyperventilation for a specific amount of time, whereby simultaneously bringing in a lot of oxygen into the body and affecting the levels of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen in the blood. The cumulative effect of breathing in this way can be quite radical. Participants experience visions, the processing of suppressed emotions, are confronted with their patterns around effort and allowance, experience physical release, are brought into a connection with wholeness, and arrive at a place of equanimity and inner peace.
Not all of the effects take place every time, and it is not always a pleasant experience. However, Transformational Breathwork is a way to bring ourselves into altered states of consciousness where true healing and integration can take place. Developing a loving and awe-inspired relationship with the breath has so many benefits that are still being studied and legitimized by modern science, but we do not have to wait for science to catch up to receive the myriad benefits. The most important part of Breathwork is you taking the time to commune with the magic and the power of your breath. So go ahead, try it out. See what the breath holds for you. Become a journey-er through the great mystery of this life.
by Erin Ward