‘Breathing can be a pre-habilitation before its a rehabilitation’

When faced with an approaching powerful wall of water, all that’s readily available to control ones state and stay alive is the breath. If you strip it back, when life presents the same, its the breath that remains.

My journey into the deeper realms of breathwork began in my late teens when I began harnessing the breath to enhance my performance and build confidence surfing big waves.

I loved all styles of surfing, but found myself drawn to heavy water and travelled the world as a free surfer for the following 10 years.

Naturally, in heavy water environments, you are forced to hold your breath, often in times you really don’t want to. To prepare for this, I would simulate breath hold exercises within a controlled environment whilst emulating the cardiovascular stress surfing provides.

Preparing my body to withstand long hold downs allowed me an insight into:

1. How consistent breath conditioning can create radical adaptations in the lungs, cardiovascular and respiratory system.

1. The influence ones mental state can have on the regulation of internal panic and length of breath holds during intense situations. These exercises were an introduction into how ‘the way we breathe influences how we feel, and how we feel influences how we breathe’. During that time of my life, conscious breathing was all based around performance, I never once considered the role breathing could play in my life outside of the water.

Fast forward to my late 20’s, and after an extended period of illness, I was experiencing severe anxiety and sleep issues. At the time, I considered my condition to be complex, so I went looking for complex answers. Once the complexity was eliminated, I knew the catalyst was right under my nose.

Researching and experimenting with the transformational powers of the breath unlocked an evolving awareness of its capacity for emotional, mental and physical regulation, and its subsequent powers for helping combat anxiety, sleep issues and stress. Further, it provided relatable insight into the multidimensional ways breathwork techniques can be effectively incorporated into daily routines to support a range of individual needs. Regular Breathwork practices have been widely proven to enhance energy, focus and immune functioning, improve mood, self esteem and digestion, and assist with the management and healing processes associated with depression, trauma and pain.

Breathwork is a powerful tool for releasing stored emotions and feelings in your nervous system or body. A breathwork journey offers a safe and natural healing process, utilising conscious breathing patterns to induce physical, emotional, mental and spiritual healing. When implemented effectively, Breathing practices offer the advantage of being universally accessible, scalable, and cost efficient. By developing a relationship with and understanding of the breath, it gently places the potential treatment tools in the hands of the individual.

Overall, I have fallen in love with the simplicity and practicality of the breath and how in my opinion, the stripped back approach is as good as any. The ways in which breath work can gently encourage self reflection and accountability. How showing up everyday to the breath seems to inspires a similar level of dedication to other important aspects of life. It’s ability to direct us inward to help navigate the external, therefore deepening a sense of connection to self, others, and everything around us.

I’m a breath work facilitator and active learner, still very much at the beginning of the journey, and I hope that’s what it continues to feel like forever. I feel so grateful to be able to hold the space for others and to share in a relatable manner what I have had the opportunity of learning so far. Everyone has a story, their own struggles and triumphs, and its never lost on me how quickly our situations can seemingly fall beyond our control. In my belief, conscious breathing can be implemented by anyone to help regain some of that control. Breathing unconsciously is understandable and acceptable, but it’s not optimal.