Jennifer Patterson - The Power of Breathwork: Simple Practices to Promote Wellbeing

As a breathwork practitioner, I have worked with countless clients in both private and group sessions. I believe in breathwork as an accessible, powerful tool, a beacon of light in even the darkest of times, and a practice that returns us to ourselves over and over, deepening our commitment to building a life worth living.

As an herbalist and writer, Ive combined these tools to offer a unique healing practice. Ive seen clients reconnect to their bodies, and seen layers of trauma soften and integrate, or disintegrate, as needed. Ive witnessed the dynamic calm and ease that comes over each person as we end the session.

In my early 30s I found the impact of the ongoing trauma I had experienced in my life catching up with me yet again, incapacitating me in pockets of grief, depression and anxiety. Id internalized my experiences and, for much of my life, felt very angry at and disconnected from my body. It wasnt that I wasnt trying to heal. I had been in therapy off and on for a decade. I had been on medications, done trauma-focused trainings, served others as an herbalist and been in deep, ongoing personal work.

I found breathwork, quite unexpectedly, at just the right time. I had recently done a multi-day plant healing ceremony, so I knew the power and wisdom of expanded states of consciousness. Knowing nothing about breathwork, just that I needed to find myself again, I joined a breathwork group in Brooklyn, NY. For the first time in months, I felt a true shift in my body and energy. After breathing for close to 50 minutes, fast and steady, I connected deep down to my own spirit and knew without a doubt that I would be OK. That I was OK. I felt it for just a few minutes, but the deep physical, energetic, emotional and spiritual healing that came alongside and after carried me out of the bottom of the well I had been living in. The healing I felt was rooted deep in my own body, facilitated through my own breath. Self-healing in practice.

Is Breathwork Safe? Contraindications

Some, but not all, breathing practices have contraindications. Its best to check in with a trusted care provider or doctor before beginning, or to work with a skilled breathwork practitioner if you would like closer attention. Contraindications include seizures, cardiovascular issues, aneurisms, vision issues, pregnancy and recent physical injuries or surgeries.

Breathwork is where I go to dream and remember that I am worth caring for, to find and maintain boundaries, to laugh, to cry, to remember that I can heal myself, with support, as needed. Ive remembered that while story and language are important, leaving room for what lives beyond language, in the energetics of the body, is just as necessary. Ive had the profound gift of being in continued study and deep relationship with breathwork, finding other lineages and spiritual teachers, like Jessica Dibb and Alice Wells, along the way. Alongside a few other practices, Ive called on breathwork to heal for years. Few other practices have offered me such a sustained connection to healing.

My intention in writing this book is to provide the reader with a simple and approachable way to intentionally and effectively breathe, so that the power of breathwork can help, heal and bless you with everything it has me, and more.

May the power of breathwork reconnect you to your wise inner healer.

The book is organized into a number of chapters that invite you into a relationship with your body through a non-judgemental, compassionate lens.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BREATH

In this chapter you will learn what conscious breathing is and find out more about its history and many benefits.

WHATS HAPPENING IN THE BODY?

This chapter looks at whats happening physically, emotionally and energetically within the body as you practise breathwork.

BUILDING A BREATHWORK PRACTICE

Before the exercises begin, this chapter suggests ways to enhance your breathwork practice, by creating a soothing space and considering things you can do before and after conscious breathing to get the most from your experiences.

BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR BODY

You will start your journey into breathwork slowly, bringing attention to your breath and body.

SOLO BREATH PATTERNS

Discover solo breathing practices to help when youre feeling stressed, need a burst of energy or wish to return to yourself.

BREATH PATTERNS WITH A PARTNER

Learn techniques that allow you to breathe into a deeper relationship with yourself and another.

FOCUSED BREATHWORK MEDITATIONS

Exercises for when youd like to engage in a more focused breathwork practice with specific goals.

1. Connecting to Your Breath and Body
Learn how to begin conscious breathing.

2. Nurturing Body Scan
Learn how to locate areas of tension in the body through conscious breathing.

3. Counting Breath
An exercise to slow the mind.

4. Noticing Tension and Inviting Release
Discover how to release bodily tension through breath.

5. Catching and Shifting Out of Breath-Holding Patterns
Notice when you hold your breath and learn to release this pattern.

6. 4-7-8 Breath
An exercise to reduce tension or help you fall asleep.

7. Energizing Breath
Great for when you feel tired or run down.

8. Box Breath
A calming exercise that can be helpful during times of stress or anxiety.

9. Pursed Lip Breath
Use when you are short of breath; for example, due to exercise or anxiety.

10. Lions Breath