Breathwork refers to any practice where the breath is intentionally worked with. It is found embedded in many practices like Yoga, Tai Chi and Chi Gong, and just like these practices there are many branches, or variations, within each modality.

If you say you are into Yoga then, the next logical question is which type? Breathwork is the same, as there are so many different types it’s good to know which one you’re working with!

As breathwork has become more and more popular over the last few years, it’s important to understand the difference.

Many simple Breathwork exercises can be used in daily life to improve health and vitality, boost immunity, and improve cardiovascular health and circulation, to name but a few of the benefits. I call these optimisation techniques and see them as one branch on the Tree of Breathwork.

Other techniques focus primarily on healing and releasing stuck emotions and trauma, and I see these as another branch on the Tree of Breathwork.

These usually have the core technique of conscious connected breathing at the center of the practice, as this technique is a powerful way to release blocks that have been stored in the breathing mechanism from stress, trauma, and emotional events.

The fundamental difference is that the optimisation techniques can be safely practiced on your own from day 1 and can be learnt from apps, YouTube, etc.

Deep healing transformational techniques require the practitioner to have training, insurance, and experience holding space, as lots can come up for people, especially in the first few sessions.

I primarily offer breathwork sessions that focus on the healing capacity of the breath using conscious connected breathing. This work takes you much deeper than the breathwork techniques that you can do on your own, so it is strongly advised that you work with this technique with a fully qualified professional before doing it on your own.

Once you have gained experience and confidence with the technique, you can be supported to work with it on your own, which is something I support people to do as it is such a powerful tool to be able to use for oneself.

The technique of conscious connected breathing was reintroduced to the world in the 1970’s by Leonard Orr, who brought Breathwork as a healing modality to the Western world. He created a healing modality called Rebirthing Breathwork based on the use of conscious connected breathing which is the same technique that all practices that use the breath as a healing modality use today.

My primary way of working with the breath is through the deep healing and transformational modality of Rebirthing Breathwork. Since I trained in 2005, I have also studied various other healing and transformational techniques, including Poly Vagal Theory, IFS, and Coaching to make my work as safe, up-to-date and empowering as possible.

From my many years of training and practice, I’ve developed a unique way of working where I combine Rebirthing Breathwork with somatic technices to keep it safe, grounded, and easy to integrate back into daily life.

My present offering holds an awareness of IFS (Internal Family Systems) and is Trauma-Informed, combining the power of Rebirthing Breathwork and Somatic techniques in a unique way that means you can go deep in a safe and grounded way. I also use Shamanic techniques to hold the space and empower the healing that is possible with this work, and I’ve found that it can be really useful to offer coaching sessions alongside deeply transformational sessions to fully digest and gain insights from the experience.