Why Should I Try Breathwork?

Breathwork is a powerful and amazing somatic technique for accessing your body's own natural intelligence. This practice can help us move out of a sympathetic nervous system state (fight/flight) and into a more parasympathetic nervous system state where we can rest, heal, and regenerate.

Recently, I had a student tell me, "I don't know why, but when I do your Breathwork class each week, it makes the other (harder) classes easier to do."

I told him that I believe this is because the Breathwork class acts as a kind of nervous system reset. Let me explain.

In today's society many of us live in a chronic state of stress. This keeps us in fight or flight even when there is no real danger. Being in this state not only impacts our decision making, creativity, and overall outlook on life, but it keeps our muscles in a state of tension. Over time, you develop strong neural pathways that say, "hold tension." Your subconscious takes control and does exactly that. One less thing for you to have to think about. Not only do you not even realize that you're holding tension, but you also lose conscious control over the ability to release it. (See my post on my personal somatic breakthrough here.)

The beauty of breathwork is that it allows us to access the body's natural intelligence and ability to heal itself. By consciously breathing we can move from a state of tension and stress into a state of calm, balance, and well-being.

Doesn't a regular yoga practice have the same impact?

Well, yes, and no. Your regular yoga practice does make you more aware of your body, your breath, and how you move. And it can definitely have a calming effect on your nervous system, especially when the concepts of steadiness and ease are incorporated into the practice. It can also be hard, strenuous, and nervous system activating, which even though it is good for you, is also stressful to the body. Thomas Hannah (PhD philosopher who studied neuroscientist and founded the field of somatics in 1970) refers to this kind of activation as a "Green Light Reflex."

The Green Light Reflex is our call to action. When we are babies, the Green Light Reflex is the thing that makes us strive to standup, walk around, and learn to move through our lives. It is excitement, and the exploration of the unknown. When we are young, the Green Light reflex gets activated by curiosity. As we get older and take on more responsibilities the Green Light reflex is also activated by necessity; things I “have” to do as well as things I “get” to do. It can be triggered by an alarm clock, the phone ringing, emergencies at work, emergencies at home, as well as our yoga class, going out with friends, and all the active things we enjoy doing; basically life in general. I think of this as being a "human doing." When we don't balance that out with being a "human being" it can also be the source of much of the chronic back, neck, skull, and shoulder pain in our society, and it can make it harder to do the activities we do.  

Isn't active Breathwork also activating to your nervous system? Yes. That is why it is so important to have a guide to help you pendulate from activation to deactivation. Breathwork also temporarily changes the O2 / CO2 ratio in your body as well as your Ph. This allows your thinking mind to completely check out into a deep meditative state that gives access to your intuition, the wisdom that is held in your body, and the ability to release old scars. So, in it's activation it is also deactivating. We incorporate periods of deep rest and reflection to bring balance and a feeling of deep safety to your nervous system.

In a session we will also incorporate breath holds which serve to give a deeper view of you inner knowing and can also serve to actually increase your Heart Rate Variability (HRV), a known marker for optimal health and resilience, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

This powerful, active breathwork meditation goes beyond relaxation - guiding you into your subconscious mind.  We use a continual breath pattern, combined with guided meditation and soulful music to help reconnect mind and body.  Through breathwork we can begin to break down emotions that are held in the body so we can connect with our highest potential.  With each breath, you're not only clearing stagnant energy and releasing stress and letting go of old stories, you're creating space to invite in new narratives that will serve you better.

I invite you to give it a try and see how your life changes. You can take a class at Bloom Yoga Co. in Chapel Hill on Monday evenings for an introduction to breathwork. We're holding a deeper Breathwork workshop at Bloom on July 26, 2025. Or you can email me (roz@flyingchangescoach.com) to schedule a private or group session directly with me live or over Zoom.

Just breathe,

Roz