3 somatic practices to do before your first breathwork class
read time: 3 minutes | audio: 7 minutes
disclaimer: This is not medical advice. This is intended to educate, inspire and support you in your self healing journey. Speak to your medical professional. Some content might be sensitive; I invite you to practice self-harmonizing.
Breath is such a fascinating thing.
“Breath? Really? That thing you do all day, every day? That thing you were born knowing how to do? Really?… Why is breath such a fascinating thing?…”
The respiratory system is the only system in the body that is both conscious and unconscious.
Ponder that for a moment.
Conscious and unconscious…
The respiratory system is part of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).
The ANS is responsible for bodily processes like heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, sweating, digestion, bladder function, sexual arousal, metabolism, energy, immune, respiration, and more!
All of this plays a big role in how you experience stress, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.
Since the breath is both conscious and unconscious… breath can be a portal into the unconscious, instinctual, automatic, Autonomic Nervous System!
Fascinating, right?!
Breath is also a very sensitive thing, especially for those of us who’ve experienced toxic stress or trauma, which is unfortunately the vast majority or every person on this planet to some degree.
You can live weeks without food, days without water, but only minutes without breath. Breath is a sensitive thing.
In James Nestor’s book, Breath, he shared that 90% of people breathe incorrectly!
To go from breathing incorrectly then jumping into an activating breathwork like Wim Hof or Holotropic can be counterproductive — it’s like trying to run a marathon before you can walk.
Before you rush to an intense breathwork class, make these 3 breathing exercises a familiar practice so you get the most out of powerful breathwork techniques.
3 things I would do before beginning a breathwork practice
orient to your breath — notice your breath, learn to pay attention to your breathing, the pace, speed, rhythm, depth, shape your breath
learn to breathe correctly — according to James Nestor 90% of people are breathing incorrectly!!! 90%!!! breathing correctly means through the nose, breathing deep into belly (not shallow into the chest), expanding on the inhale where as many people reverse breathe so their belly draw in on the inhale which is wrong.
learn coherent breathing — equal inhales and exhales, i.e. 5 seconds in and 5 seconds out. I’d start with 3 seconds in, 3 seconds out for 1-2 minutes, and when that feels comfortable increase time
infinite love,
Stephanie
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