Release stuck emotions using the power of your breath

When breathwork fell into my lap, I realised that I had stumbled upon something life shiftingly good (yes, that’s now a word).

Why? Because as someone who had suffered from anxiety and depression for much of my life, I had just tapped into something far deeper than I could ever reach through my words.

Whilst I believe mindset plays a role in keeping us in the loop of anxiety, depression or poor health and well-being, I don’t necessarily believe that mindset is the path out of those feedback loops.

Breathwork handed me the tools to use my natural body, to shift deep-seated emotions, fears, narratives and regulate my nervous system, something I had never achieved through talk therapy.

Breathwork offers a fresh perspective, by using a bottom-up approach to healing, emotional wellness and physical/mental health.

You use your body to shift your mindset and in turn your behaviours then begin to change. Why? Because you feel different.

When you feel different to the state you were in prior, that is when change occurs.

So often we get hung up on the behavioural & thought changes but this is very surface level. Behaviours and thoughts are the tip of the iceberg and you have a whole living breathing organism with innate memory and wisdom, a body that holds and stores emotions and trauma, and that is where the deep work happens.

You can’t think your way out of anxiety, trauma or pain, you have to connect with those parts of yourself on a deeper level in order to release them, and that’s something that we are discovering is not really possible when we are cognitively looking at issues.

So how do we bypass the thinking completely and get to the healing part?

Through breathwork!

Breathwork allows instant shifts to occur on a deep, soul level. You’re not left wondering, does this work for me? Do I feel different?

You can actually feel your body, you can see clearer, almost like you had foggy glasses on before and now they are crystal clear.

Breathwork allows us to bypass the ego, mind and structured logical part of our brain that often overthinks our own healing process. And this is where a lot of people often get stuck.

We try to rationalise and understand WHY, why am I the way that I am?

When we breathe, we let go of the why and access parts of ourselves that we have pushed into deep, dark corners of our body and mind.

We gain a deeper connection and understand, we pull back the curtain and have a peek to see who we truly are.

This is where true emotional release happens. When we can shift our perspective from looking at ourselves through the same coloured glasses, and get a new glimpse at our most authentic selves.

And you can be your own healer through the power of your breath, all you have to do is harness it, and then you are unstoppable.

Breathwork pattern for emotional release:

⚡️ Start by finding yourself a comfortable position either sitting or lying down.

⚡️Place one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest.

⚡️ Open your mouth into a relaxed position

⚡️ Take a breath into your lower belly, pushing your belly outwards (think expanding like a balloon)

⚡️ Take a second breath into your chest

⚡️ Exhale

⚡️ Repeat in quick succession in a circular pattern (inhale, inhale, exhale repeat) 20-30 times.

⚡️ Lie still

⚡️ Ask yourself “What does my inner guidance want me to know right now?”