How long can you live without food? Roughly 30-45 days. Without water? 3 days, give or take (me personally: 45 minutes). Without breath? Mere minutes. Our breath is one of the most integral aspects of our survival, yet we rarely consider it. Right now: close your eyes, sit up straight, drop your shoulders and take a big belly breath. Hold at the top for four counts and then breathe out for six counts. Open your eyes. Hold do you feel? Breath control can center us, reduce (or increase) our heart rate, impact our tissue oxygenation, produce or eliminate anxiety, change our mood, impact our sleep quality and drastically impact our measure of inner peace (plus lots of other rad things).
If you are an a chiropractic patient of mine, you know that I feel strongly about patient “homework,” so much so that I have new patients sign an agreement detailing the changes required to optimize and retain the healing that happens in office. This can look like changes in ergonomics, supportive nutrition, supplementation and occasionally sweeping lifestyle changes. Sometimes these changes are made so that a patient can continue a behavior (like running or high impact exercise) and sometimes those changes include stopping certain exercises (like running or high impact exercise). Know this: high impact exercise is rarely a lifetime sport. Our joints simply cannot take the compression over the long term (or we pay for it in pain, injuries, joint replacements, etc.). Invariably, patients can find something else that produces the physical effects they’re looking for, but the mental “high” of running or intense aerobic exercise is difficult to replace with lower intensity exercise. Enter meditation and breathwork.
I personally had to give up running at 21, which forced me to seek those “good feels” someplace else. I found exercise forms that worked for my body, gave me an aesthetic that I enjoyed even more than that produced by running, but I missed those strong endorphin hits that cardio brings. I dabbled in many kinds of meditation, but found I couldn’t produce those effects without hours of dedication. Then I found breathwork. For me, breathwork fast tracks me to the place I used to go with intense exercise and without the time (and mental discipline) required by meditation. It’s accessible, simple to learn and available to you at a moment’s notice; you just need to remember to use it.
One of the breath techniques I’ve found most impactful is called Transformational Breathwork and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with Absolute Wellness Center this month. My sweet friend Nicole Rager is a trained facilitator and will be teaching us the technique Saturday, March 21. I can’t overstate how impactful my breathwork practice has been to my inner landscape. It centers me, puts me in deep gratitude, clears internal blocks without having to dissect them and improves my mood without fail. And I don’t have to beat the pavement to get there.
What is Transformational Breathwork?
Transformational Breath® is a style of connected breathing that incorporates body mapping, hands-on acupressure-style touch, sound, affirmations, and movement to create a powerful and profound transformative experience.
The technique works on all levels – physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual – and serves to bring you back to a place of freedom, peace, joy, and potential. You will leave in a higher vibration with access to higher consciousness. It is best to let go of your expectations and judgments so you can accept the part of you that wants to heal. Every session is unique, based on the pieces that are present for integration.
What can you expect from Transformational Breathwork?
Increased Physical Well-being
- Increases oxygenation throughout the body
- Improves energy levels
- Stimulates circulation
- Balances the flow of energy through the body
- Resolves addictions
- Improves well-being for many conditions and ailments such as Stress Reduction, Respiratory ailments, Headaches, Low energy, Psychosomatic illnesses, Anaerobic diseases, and many others.
Improved Mental and Emotional States
- Reduces worry and anxiety
- Enhances the awareness of self-sabotaging patterns
- Clears past traumas and dramas
- Increases life enjoyment
- Relieves depressive and negative emotions
- Improves self-esteem
Spiritual Expansion
- Deepens meditation
- Strengthens the connection with the Divine
- Expands awareness
- Develops spiritual gifts
- Allows fuller expression of love and joy
Nicole will join us Saturday, March 21 from 10am – 12pm. I hope you choose to give this gift to yourself; you’ll never breathe the same again.
For more about Nicole click here.
Resources: https://www.transformationalbreath.com/; https://nicolerager.com/
