What is Therapeutic Breathwork? | What is Connected Breathing?
What is Diaphragmatic Breathing? | Anatomy of the Respiratory System

What is Therapeutic Breathwork?

“Breathwork is a term covering various focused breathing techniques. By freeing the breath one learns to breathe through difficult or uncomfortable experiences and feelings where the tendency has been to hold one's breath. Energy from a denied experience can be freed up and released. The after-effects of this can be an enormous sense of relief. Old patterns of holding begin to gently break up and a new sense of aliveness enters as the breath anchors one's self in the present.”   -  Breathe Magazine

Therapeutic Breathwork is a powerful healing tool that helps to improve well being. Breathwork uses a full, connected, diaphragmatic breath with a relaxed exhale to stimulate chi enabling your innate body intelligence to direct the healing process and engage body, mind and spirit. Therapeutic Breathwork sessions are offered in a safe, confidential and professional environment.

With Therapeutic Breathwok you may...

o Revive Health, Energy, Spiritual & Emotional Balance
o Open Your Breath
o Effectively Relieve Stress
o Heal Your Body
o Connect with Your Spirit
o Expand Awareness
o Reclaim Your Well-Being
o Let Go of Limitations

“Since the 1970's there has been an explosion in the blending of ancient breathing techniques for health and spiritual awareness with contemporary growth and therapeutic practices. The result has been the evolution of powerful and incisive healing and consciousness changing modalities. This has given birth to the field of breathwork, which has promoted significant advances in medical, psychological, and spiritual domains.”  – Jim Morningstar

 

What is Therapeutic Breathwork? | What is Connected Breathing?
What is Diaphragmatic Breathing? | Anatomy of the Respiratory System

What is a "Connected" Breath?

'The purpose of conscious breathing is not primarily the movement of air but the movement of energy. If you do a relaxed, connected breathing cycle for a few minutes, you will begin to experience dynamic energy flows within your body. These energy flows are the merging of spirit and matter.'  Leonard Orr

Take a moment right now to notice your breathing. Most likely you will notice a pause between inhale and exhale as well as exhale and inhale. There are many breathing exercises that experiment with this pause as well as the ratio of the count for inhale, exhale and pause, for example 5 count inhale, 3 count pause, 5 count exhale 3 count pause.

Therapeutic Breathwork usually invites a connected breath wherein there is no pause, or the pause count is zero. The inhale is picked up right at the bottom of the exhale and at the top the inhale drops immediately into the exhale. Your body will recognize the connected breath as it has experienced it at various times through out your life particularly early childhood and infancy.  As you become aware of your own breath you may become more aware of the breath of others including animals, whose breath is often connected while at rest.

The connected breath is most easily understood by considering the ebb and flow of ocean waves. The cyclical rhythm of inhale and exhale is the coming and going of the wave.

 

 

What is Therapeutic Breathwork? | What is Connected Breathing?
What is Diaphragmatic Breathing? | Anatomy of the Respiratory System

What is a "Diaphragmatic" Breath?

“The lungs sit on top of the diaphragm, a very powerful muscle which is fixed to the lower ribs, sternum, lumbar vertebrae (via the crura), and so on. When we inhale, and if our diaphragm is in good health, it normally contracts, and the dome of the diaphragm flattens downward (other movements by the diaphragm in other directions take place as well) against the viscera, which allows the lungs to expand to receive fresh air. When we exhale, the diaphragm relaxes upward (returns as a result of its elasticity) against the lungs, helping to expel used air from them. In other words, when we are breathing well the dome of the diaphragm first contracts downward during inhalation to allow the lungs to expand more fully, and then relaxes upward pushing on the bottom of the lungs and, along with the secondary breathing muscles, helps the lungs empty (except for the residual volume that is necessary to keep them from collapsing). The changing thoracic pressures, greatly influenced by the movements of the diaphragm, help regulate the movement of air in and out of our lungs and, of course, through our vocal cords.

“If you have a tight belly, one that does not easily and freely expand outward as you inhale, the diaphragm has a more difficult time moving downward because it is being resisted by the contracted abdominal muscles and the viscera (everything touches something else and a movement or constriction in one pace influences everything around it). When you relax your belly and allow it to expand as you inhale, your viscera drop slightly down and out and the diaphragm can more easily contract downward. Then, when exhalation takes place, the diaphragm begins its upward movement of relaxation and elasticity aided by the natural movement of the belly as it returns toward the spine. All of this is called natural diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing.” - Dennis Lewis

Because of stress, most of us have learned poor breathing habits; adversely affecting the diaphragm and instead relying on muscles in the abdomen and chest. These are inefficient methods for breathing, requiring more effort and giving less benefit causing a vicious cycle of poor breathing, creating imbalance in body, mind and spirit.

Unlearning these unhealthy breath patterns and relearning to breathe from the diaphragm requires practice. While facilitation and education are helpful, ultimately it is you who will free your breath through willingness, awareness, presence and of course – breathing!

 

 

What is Therapeutic Breathwork? | What is Connected Breathing?
What is Diaphragmatic Breathing? | Anatomy of the Respiratory System

Anatomy of the Respiratory System

Anatomy of the respiratory system - It is helpful to understand the anatomy of the respiratory system particularly the location of the diaphragm.