Emma Power - Follow Your Breath: Transform Yourself Through Breathwork

Breathing is something many of us dont think about our
subconscious keeps it on cruise control. But although its
automatic, its the only automatic function in the body that we
have absolute control over. By bringing awareness to our breath
and learning how to manipulate it, we access one of the best
ways to calm and heal our body.

Using breathwork techniques, you can shift your state by
retraining your responses. You can grow your emotional agility
and flex your mental musculature by establishing a grounding
practice, and set your senses soaring as you expand beyond your
everyday level of consciousness.

Consider this book your guide to growth. Your body is your
home, your mind your garden. Breath is your tool to tend to
them. Together well learn how we can lower stress and anxiety,
boost vitality, productivity and sleep, increase creativity and
improve cardiovascular health. Well uncover techniques to
alter perception and consciousness in seconds, discover how to
be guided by intuition rather than misled by our fears, amplify
heartbursting moments and make sex feel really, really good.

Breathing is my superpower. I breathe when I feel stuck, and
a creative solution reveals itself. I breathe before a challenging
meeting, and centre myself into harmony. I breathe before I speak,
and I dont know where the wisdom comes from. By focusing on
my breathing, I transport myself to a higher state, and my higher
self delivers.

Nadi Shodhana ( alternate nostril breathing) was my
introductory experience to breathwork at my first yoga class
about twenty years ago. It opened then calmed my mind.
I was instantly intrigued. I spent the next decade gathering

a long list of practices from teachers, tantrics, yogis and swamis
across the world.

As well as being an eternal student of breathwork, Im also a
teacher. Ive taught these practices to thousands of my students
throughout the past twelve years, and witnessed the most mind -
blowing results. These practices have lifted some people out
of long - term depression, anxiety or drug addiction; for others,
they released deep emotional trauma. Often the effects are
physical greater lung capacity, clearing sinus issues and
releasing gut tension. But my favourite effect is seeing people
enter altered states of consciousness to expand their minds and
relay back responses.

These techniques are ready to be discovered by intrigued
seekers like you. Welcome you now have these game - changing
practices in your palm.

Youve got the breath. Now lets do the work.

By focusing on my breathing,
I transport myself to a higher state,
and my higher self delivers.

Youve got
the breath.

Now lets do
the work.

When you breathe, you shift your state.
The way you breathe when youre excited,
in awe, experiencing conflict or feeling stressed
can shift your mood, shift your energy and
shift your life experience. Your breath is
your exclusive pass to self - exploration
and youve always got instant access.

Think about how your breathing correlates to your emotions
and feelings. When youre in pain, you hold your breath. When
youre anxious, you breathe rapidly into your chest. When
youre angry, you heave erratically. When youre calm, your
breathing slows down. When your state changes, so does your
breath. And it works both ways; when you alter your breath,
you transform your physiological response to these moments.

The practices in this chapter are your go - tos for your
everyday encounters. Theyll help you clear your negative inner
dialogue, or find your way out of a funk thats not serving you.

Theyll give you the tools you need to calm your mind ahead
of a big meeting, pause before lashing out at a loved one, find
focus to finally start that project youve been procrastinating,
and relax your body so you can peacefully drift off to
dreamland. And boy do they pack a punch. Whether youre
seeking an on - the - spot solution or a way to retreat inwards
or exude outwards, they bring you out of your head, back
into your body and help you hit reset.

But first, lets dig a little deeper. The thing about
consistently shifting your state is that every time you intercede
an experience with conscious breath, youre retraining your
response. This is important, because we repeat what we dont
repair. Where you once needed to remind yourself to breathe
presence into a joyful moment or find perspective in a tricky
one, by regularly responding with these techniques youll begin
to automatically regulate yourself naturally, effortlessly and
subconsciously. So by starting here, youre setting yourself up
for life. Hows that for a cherry on top?

Your breath is your
exclusive pass
to self- exploration
and youve always
got instant access.

The thing about consistently
shifting your state is that
every time you intercede an
experience with conscious
breath, youre retraining
your response.

Honouring ancient roots
Among these pages youll find both age- old techniques and
modern adaptations. I want to honour and acknowledge
the teachers and pioneers of these techniques across
the world. Over time, the ancient wisdom has spread to
many people in many different cultures. By sharing their
knowledge, the masters have helped many students,
including myself, to continue to share the beauty and
power of breathwork.

Slower breath, stronger heart
The ancient yogis studied nature in great detail, observing
the breathing styles of different creatures. While developing
the practices and disciplines of yoga, they observed
animals whose hearts beat both fast and slow. As Swami
Satyananda Saraswati notes in the book Asana Pranayama
Mudra Bandha , the masters noticed that animals with