Look, breathwork isn’t a spa day. It’s not a casual wellness trend you sprinkle into your morning routine between matcha lattes and cold plunges. Done properly, breathwork is a portal, a direct doorway into the subconscious, your body’s stored emotions, and the unprocessed material that shapes how you move through life.
I love creating a space of intention, where from the moment you arrive, you feel safe, grounded, and open. This work goes deep, and having the right environment makes all the difference. But breathwork isn’t just about the space – it’s about how you show up. The more present you are, the more you’ll get from it.
It’s one of the few ways to access deep healing without a therapist, a psychedelic, or a years-long sabbatical in the Himalayas. But…it’s not something to take lightly.
I’ve seen people laugh, cry, shake, purge, and revisit childhood memories they haven’t thought of in decades. I’ve seen people confront their biggest fears, their deepest grief, and sometimes, even feel pure bliss for the first time in years.
The breath is powerful. But how you approach it determines everything.
Start With a Clear Intention (But Don’t Grip It to Death)
Before you even take your first breath, ask yourself: Why am I here?
Is there something you need clarity on? Something you want to feel? A pattern you’re ready to break?
Breathwork is not about chasing fireworks – it’s about opening up to whatever needs to surface. Your intention helps shape your experience, but don’t white-knuckle it like gripping the safety bar on a rollercoaster.
Intentions should feel like a whisper, not a demand. Set it, let it go, and let the breath show you what you actually need – not what you think you need.
The Nervous System Can Only Hold So Much – Grounding is Key
Breathwork isn’t all rainbows and realisations; it’s activation. You’re flooding your system with oxygen, shifting your physiology, and sometimes opening doors you didn’t even know were locked.
And here’s the thing…what opens, needs to close.
If you don’t ground before, during, and after, you’re basically leaving the tabs open on your subconscious without ever hitting “save.”
- Before the session: Get into your body. Walk, stretch, shake. Make sure you feel safe.
- During the session: If things get overwhelming, extend your exhales. Let your body process at its own pace.
- After the session: Move. Journal. Hug. Drink water. Walk barefoot on the earth, hug someone you trust, eat grounding foods, and hydrate properly – seriously, drink more than you think you need. Your body just did deep work, and water helps it process and release whatever came up.
This work isn’t just about what happens in the session – it’s about how you bring it into your daily life.
Control is the Enemy—The Breath Knows What You Need
You might have expectations. Maybe you’ve seen videos of people sobbing, screaming, or having massive emotional breakthroughs and thought…”that’s what should happen to me.” Or maybe your last session was blissful, euphoric, even ecstatic, and now you expect every session to feel like that.
But here’s the thing: no two sessions are ever the same.
Some sessions will crack you wide open. Others might feel frustrating, or quiet, or even uneventful. Some bring grief, some bring deep laughter, some just leave you feeling a little more at peace. All of it is breathwork. All of it is valid.
The breath doesn’t care about your expectations. It will take you where you need to go, not where you want to go.
Trying to force a big experience is like yelling at a plant to grow faster. Trust the process. The breath knows what it’s doing.
Surrendering is Hard – And That’s Exactly Why You Need to Do It
Control is an illusion. If you think you’re “in control” of your life, your emotions, or your mind, breathwork will gladly remind you that you are not.
Breathwork is not about doing, it’s about allowing.
When your mind tells you to stop, keep going.
When your body tenses, let it soften.
When emotions surface, don’t push them down.
Surrender doesn’t mean giving up – it means trusting. Trusting the breath, trusting your body, and trusting that whatever comes up is exactly what needs to be felt.
After the Ecstasy, The Laundry (AKA Integration is Everything)
There’s a saying in the world of expanded states: After the ecstasy, the laundry.
You might have a huge, life-changing experience in a breathwork session. But if you don’t bring that insight into your daily life, what was the point?
Integration is where the real work happens.
- Did you feel deep love for yourself? Cool. Now how are you going to embody that love tomorrow?
- Did you see a pattern that’s been holding you back? Great. What’s the first step to breaking it?
- Did you release something massive? Beautiful. How are you going to support yourself afterwards?
What is the best way to anchor back into your body after a session? I know I’m repeating myself here…Get into nature. Walk barefoot on the earth, hug someone you trust, eat grounding foods, and hydrate properly – seriously, drink more water than you think you need.
Breathwork isn’t about chasing peak experiences – it’s about using those experiences to create real, lasting change.
Final Thought: Show Up, Breathe, Let Go
Breathwork isn’t magic. You are.
But you can’t think your way into transformation – you have to breathe your way there.
Show up. Trust the breath. Let go of the idea that it needs to be a certain way.
If this resonates, come breathe with me. Let’s go deep. Let’s evolve together. Here is the link to my next event.