Breathwork Mastery is a body breath technique which aims to facilitate intentional living by resolving events from the past which have subconsciously shaped our lives. 

We are conceived, carried and born into a particular set of circumstances from which we absorb impressions about the world and how we can best live in it. Within the dark ocean of the womb, the foetus is absolutely dependent on his mother for survival. He becomes sensitive to the ups and downs of her daily life which are marked by changes in her heartbeat, hormones and breath. This has a momentary affect on the little one and already he is learning about how best to deal with the challenges of life. Breathwork can support an expectant family before and during pregnancy to deal with any issues that arise, making pregnancy more enjoyable and relaxing for parents and baby.

There is a lot of experiential (and some scientific) evidence to show that the circumstances of birth also have a great impact on how we live our lives. Birth is a monumental step in the astonishing process that has been the foetus’s life so far. Each moment of birth presents a new hurdle which the child innately knows how to pass. Birth is a rite of passage that leads to the first breath – the first independent action the child performs. Now the baby is no longer solely dependent on his mother for survival. He begins to travel his own path, to meet and conquer his own challenges. Each birth is perfect in its own way and Breathwork can offer extra support to a family to prepare for birth on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level.

After birth, the child must learn how to live in our complex world by observing and copying other humans who have succeeded in surviving.  Children absorb everything that is going on around them and eventually they learn not to run across the road without looking right and left. They learn to chew food before swallowing and not to put their hands in the fire. These learned responses are called conditioning and they’re wonderful!  The aim, on a very basic level, is survival.

But there is also a limiting side to conditioning which negatively affects the body, breath and life. We are all born into different environments in which those around us have particular attitudes to life, work, money, love, sex, friendship. Unintentionally, families may pass on their own fears and worries to their children. Critical circumstances such as war, unemployment or family breakdown all impact a child deeply. But there are millions more subtle messages that a child also picks up on. Imagine you spent your childhood in a place where the people around you didn’t trust others, believed that life is always hard or that expressing one’s feelings would hurt other people. When limiting beliefs such as these are expressed, there is a constrictive effect. The breath is not full and relaxed, the heartbeat alters, hormones are released and subconscious limiting decisions are made. Nobody is to blame for this!  By doing Breathwork, we come to understand that our families did the best they could, given their own experiences. We learn to take responsibility for our attitudes and beliefs now that we are adults.

Life experiences shape our own behaviour and also influence those around us. It is likely that an interview panel will select a job applicant who has been supported during childhood to believe that ‘you deserve and can achieve anything you want!’ The posture, body language and approach of this applicant will exude confidence, self-assurance and ease.  It is less likely that the panel will select a person who has received the message during life, ‘you don’t deserve to have what you want.’ This applicant may subconsciously display an attitude of apology, apathy and defeat.

If conditioning supports us in surviving life, what can we do when we decide that we want to really LIVE life?

People who come to a Breathwork Mastery session generally already have a sense that there is a pattern repeating in their lives which is inhibiting them. They want to be free of reactive and learned responses to life and know there must be another way that involves ease and fun.  There is!

Breathwork offers a safe and supported space for us to resolve subconscious material in the way of us living the lives we desire. Limiting decisions were set into the mind and body at an instant when the breath was not full and relaxed. By using the conscious breath, we can begin to undo that mechanism, discover what is behind it and choose something different if appropriate.

A Breathwork session gives us a break from the mundane thoughts and feelings that pervade our daily lives like a scroll repeating itself endlessly. These elements are so familiar to us that we are barely conscious of them although they have a huge influence on the decisions we make and how we live our lives. These mundane thought patterns are associated with automatic breathing. When we consciously create each breath in a session, there is no place for automatic responses to life. We experience a creative mindset from which clarity of thought can emerge. There is now mental space to question our limiting beliefs. Realisation, connection and insight flow to the surface and we are bestowed with understanding and a new power to choose.

There is a particular emphasis in Breathwork Mastery on awareness of body sensations in a session. This allows us to focus on resolving and releasing body memories which inhibit our capacity to enjoy our bodies and our lives. Physical sensations such as heat, cold, pain, numbness can emerge to be cleared from the body. Once, there was a client whose body felt freezing cold during a session. The room was actually very warm but this breather could only shiver and curl up to preserve body temperature. What was emerging was the memory of being locked outside in the cold one evening as a child because he had been naughty. The boy thought that he couldn’t do anything right and this pattern played itself out in his life, limiting his immense creativity. In a Breathwork session, the adult self has an opportunity to decondition and re-programme the body and being, creating freedom to authentically choose a new attitude for the future. This may be achieved in one session or a series of sessions.

We can also be greatly inhibited by the emotions we are reluctant to express. Feelings such as fear, anger, grief and jealousy may safely be expressed and resolved in a Breathwork session. You can imagine that the weight of carrying a lot of anger, for example, could exhaust a person and severely limit their ability to be in a gentle, loving relationship, to be a responsive parent or a compassionate friend. By thawing out the emotions that hold us, our lives blossom and expand. We become more allowing of ourselves and others and this has a wonderful impact on our relationships.

Self Awareness and Conscious Relating go hand in hand and are two of the wonderful affects Breathwork can have on our lives. When I am aware of the underlying reasons for my behaviour in a given relationship, I can take ownership of them. I can explain myself in the context of my previously subconscious beliefs and my relationships open up to be more honest and free. When adults are totally self-responsible, children are free to enjoy clarity, confidence and assurance. Birthing and parenting with awareness are invaluable gifts we can give our children that will enrich lives for generations to come.

Imagine a world in which every child is conceived intentionally; in which each birth is gentle, honouring and empowering; in which every parent is willing and supported fully by family and community. What a wonderful world that would be!

Fiona Bury
www.newbreath.com.au

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