How Breathwork Can Support the Work You’re Doing in Therapy
An easy to use resource to add to your therapeutic toolkit.
4 min read
There are tons of deep breathing practices for relaxation, but did you know you can use it to heal and transform as well? Breathwork is a tool that can bring about something quite profound: comfort and a sense of inner peace -- all through the intentional use of our natural physiology. It is as simple as it sounds, and yet, simple does not always mean easy. Read below to learn how to get started with breathwork and use it to support your therapy work.
What is Breathwork? ‘I breathe all the time,’ you might be thinking.
Breathwork is a self-healing modality that allows our body’s natural processes to help us see a new perspective where we feel deeply connected to our bodies and experience and understand the innate intelligence contained within our internal systems. By using a conscious, continual breath we're able to break down emotions that might be stagnant, or stuck in our bodies and create havoc on our central nervous systems.
It sounds simplistic because breathing really is something all of us do all day, everyday—it truly is the greatest universalizing force, our common denominator. And yet, how many breaths are any of us aware of on any given day? According to Downtown Somatic Therapy therapist, Stephanie Alirkan, “to use this tool, something truly always in ‘your back pocket,’ can lend us moments of freedom—a mind break—within a chaotic, obligation-filled day. It is a small, but effective way to take some control back into your hands.”
Lovingly nicknamed "industrial-grade" meditation, breathwork helps us to reach not only stillness, but also emotional release. Maybe you’ve heard the phrase “The Body Keeps The Score” (an amazing book by Bessel van der Kolk). Our bodies do tend to store emotions and it has a physical effect on us. Breathwork helps with this by using circular breathing to release blocks in the body so our emotional energy can flow more freely.
“Breathwork helps with this by using circular breathing to release blocks in the body so our emotional energy can flow more freely.”
Fun fact: Breathwork Therapy, or Holotropic Breathwork is a technique used to attain a non-ordinary level of consciousness, pioneered by Psychiatrist, Stanislav Grof and his wife Psychotherapist, Christina Grof. After legal LSD use was suppressed in the late 1960s, Grof developed a theory that many states of mind could be explored without drugs by using breathing techniques.
Breath speaks the language of non-language, as it is purely somatic; sometimes this is exactly what’s needed in a heavily lingual, cognitive, frontal-brain dominant world—even if just for a moment or so. It can be used during the day to clear stress and anxiety in daily living.
“For many who seek psychotherapy, a major goal would arguably be to happiness—or more specifically, more connectedness,” shares Stephanie. “Yet, what does that happiness entail? What does that look like? What would that feel like viscerally to feel happier and more connected? We do have to define this for ourselves in the mind, but more importantly, we need to know what it feels like in the body. How else would we recognize when we’ve gotten closer without a felt sense?” In some instances, breathwork can lead us to that space physiologically, as it is a tool that can gently work through the stagnant energy of stress, anxiety, overwhelm, and settle us into a state of calm. Re-experiencing this state of connection to ourselves might be the best way to touch this goal.
For some of us who are in a constant state of sympathetic (flight-or-flight) dysregulation, it might be the first time (or first time in a while, especially for New Yorkers) of experiencing a state of calm or ease.
“For some of us who are in a constant state of sympathetic (flight-or-flight) dysregulation, it might be the first time (or first time in a while, especially for New Yorkers) of experiencing a state of calm or ease.”
A lot of us struggle with disconnection. It is no surprise that something that reconnects us to ourselves should come from within us and that something is our unsung hero: our breath.
Breathwork is great for almost anyone interested in trying to fortify their self-care and wellness practices—someone just starting therapy, or someone looking to deepen their work in therapy, avid meditators, those overwhelmed by too little time in a day, people prone to self-sabotage or not starting in on a deeply embedded dream, those running their life at a fast pace who might want to slow down, people having trouble developing self-trust or a clear inner voice, a clear inner voice; the list goes on.
To get started with breathwork and working with your body in your therapy practice, consider reaching out to Downtown Somatic Therapy to book a consultation with a therapist today.