It is really exciting to see the growing awareness of the transformational tool we all have FREE access to – anytime and anyplace.

As a psychologist, yoga teacher and therapeutic breathworker, I have experienced and witnessed how the breath is one of the most efficient and powerful healing mechanisms available to us. Not surprisingly given that for thousands of years breath traditions and techniques evolved from many world cultures with the aim to open the gateway to increased vitality, calmness, physical and emotional health.

The idea of breathwork is quite simple, but also elusive. We will all breathe from our birth until our death; and yet the subtle nature of the breath makes it easy for us to underestimate the incredible vitality and power it brings to our lives. Our breath is not only a source of essential life elements like oxygen – it is also accompanied by the subtle and vital life-giving force that animates all of life called prana.

In addition to this, the breathing process is automatic and unconscious — even in our deepest states of sleep. However, unlike other vital processes the breath has the unique ability to also be conscious and manipulated.

Empower your life with your breath

In 2012 I discovered what I have come to learn is the most therapeutic and cutting-edge integrative breathwork systems available – Transformational Breath®. Developed by Dr Judith Kravitz more than 35 years ago, Transformational Breathwork incorporates breath analysis, body mapping, sound healing, coaching and other principles to empower the client.

I have witnessed the limitations of talk therapy to liberate clients from pain and trauma, whereas breathwork offers us the ability to move beyond words and experience profound healing by accessing deep blockages in the body and subconscious mind. American psychotherapist and advocate of the breath, Dr Henry Smith Rohrberg extols Transformational Breath® by saying, “One breathe session is equivalent to about two years of psychotherapy.”

Does it really matter how we breathe, as long we receive enough oxygen to stay alive? Yes, it really does matter. The breath not only influences your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being, but the opposite is also true. Strong physical, mental, emotional and spiritual challenges significantly limit our ability to breath fully, freely and joyously.

“One session is equivalent to about two years of psychotherapy.”

On a physical level, we obtain an incredible 80% of our energy from the breath process. The inhaled breath feeds the cells of the entire body with oxygen and the exhaled breath plays a major role in detoxification through carbon dioxide. Effective breathing improves energy levels, blood and lymphatic circulation.

I see many clients who are wired but tired, however the conscious breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system creating a relaxation response and balancing the flow of energy throughout the body. Many conditions benefit from improved breathing including anxiety, respiratory diseases, headaches and depression. With stress and stress-related conditions often cited as the leading reason for doctors visits, wouldn’t it be revolutionary if we could all learn to breathe better?

I have had client’s report the resolution of various physical illnesses after they began to integrate breathing practices into their lives. When psychologist and practitioner of body-intelligence, Dr Gay Hendricks observed this he simply explained that  “the human body is designed to discharge 70% of its toxins through breathing … so if your breathing is not operating at peak efficiency, you are not ridding yourself of toxins properly.” Medical research has found links between improper breathing and a number of diseases including hypertension, heart disease and cancer.

“the human body is designed to discharge 70% of its toxins through breathing …”

As the breath opens, higher levels of vibration enable negative energetic patterns and imprints to be cleared and old mental and emotional patterns that no longer serve you to be released. On an emotional level it provides profound inner peace and relaxation, feelings of safety, self-love and acceptance. It also strengthens coping skills and sense of inner power. Breathwork also enhances spiritual connection, meditation practices, intuition and creativity.

Fundamental to Transformational Breathwork is the premise that an individual’s breath pattern offers valuable insights into what is going on for them and is a compilation of everything that has happened in their life. When the breath is opened and maintained through practice, the protective patterns that served you are released and your relationship with your breath is transformed.

Transformational Breathwork is simple, safe and can be experienced by everyone regardless of age and health. It offers an invitation to reconnect with yourself, erase limiting patterns and open to the fullness and flow of life. Quite literally — when you change your breath, you change your life.

 

Written by Danielle Satya Parla

About the author Danielle is a psychologist, Transformational Breath® Group Leader, yoga teacher, energy worker and writer. Her retreat and practice space, Space to Breathe, is for those who wish to open their inner ear and awaken to a renewed vision of authentic health and happiness. Danielle’s work is a unique combination of western psychology, energetic medicine and intuitive healing — practices that have transformed her own life. Breathwork is central to her practice for it not only facilitates healing of the physical body, heart and mind, but also serves an evolutionary function for the spirit. She offers 1-1 breathwork sessions, group breathing circles, workshops and retreats in Mallorca and Switzerland.