WELCOME MESSAGE

Welcome to the IBTA eNews.
You are receiving this newsletter because of your connection to Breathwork. Some of the content is only available to members of the IBTA. We’d like to take this opportunity to invite you to become a member of the IBTA. Please visit our website to read about member benefits and to join.

The International Breathwork Training Alliance is an professional organization for breathwork practitioners, trainers and schools. The IBTA was created through a collaboration of breathwork schools and trainers from 1999 to 2005 when its first international board was formed. Its mission is to establish standards of ethics and professional training for schools, trainers and practitioners of breathwork as well as to promote collegial interaction, training and trainer exchanges, resources for practitioners and future research and development. It does so through:

1. Sponsoring a membership/subscriber organization which describes and upholds the ethical practice of breathwork,
2. Sets training standards and qualifies schools, trainers and practitioners for professional recognition,
3. Hosts a web site that posts ethics and training standards and those who adhere to them as well as lists breathworker resources,
4. Sponsors professional conferences.

In this Issue you will find:

Inspiring Articles:

Therapeutic Breathwork and Personal Growth
by Jim Morningstar, Ph.D

Intuition and the call to Communion
by Judee Gee

Become an Accomplisher Instead of a Procrastinator
By Helaine Iris, Life and Business Coach

Ask the Experts:

Questions posed by breathworkers answered by veteran trainers of breathwork.
This month featuring Binnie Dansby.

News and Announcements:

Report from the Boston Nourishing the Flame Event

Save the Date -October 29-31, 2010 Nourishing the Flame – A Forum for Breathworkers comes to Oxford England

2012 IBTA International Symposium

Annual IBTA Board Meeting Report

We’ve added and improved our Membership Benefits
Breathwork in Action – a request from the board to the breathwork community

Poem

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Article

Therapeutic Breathwork Article #6 Therapeutic Breathwork: Integration and Personal Growth
Jim Morningstar, Ph.D.

In this article the use of conscious breathing to integrate one’s physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being and to promote personal growth will be explored.

Breathwork as defined by the International Breathwork Training alliance www.breathwork alliance.com is the art and science of teaching breath awareness and breathing techniques for enhancing the human physical, mental, emotional and spiritual condition.

True well being involves balance and harmony in all the components of one’s self. Excessive focus on one part of the self to the exclusion of others results in imbalance and dysfunction – much of which we have reviewed in previous articles. The other side of this equation is that the fine tuning and harmony of all aspects of the self lead to higher states of health, wellness and opens the door for subsequent growth. Healthy breathing is the thread which strings all the pearls of one’s self together. Let’s look at how healthy breathing is in the mainstay of an integrative approach to personal growth.

Physical Health

Peak performance and achieving one’s personal best have always involved a mastery of one’s breathing. Though most of us are not in training for the Olympics, our physical health and well being is directly related to regulated healthy breathing habits. Since there are few activities in which we engage in more than taking an inhale and an exhale, any dysfunction in the process gets multiplied exponentially over the years. Conversely, healthy breathing has a nurturing and energizing effect on every physical organ and body system.  All forms of yoga and, in particular, hatha yoga have documented results over the centuries on how coordinating steady diaphragmatic breathing with movement (asanas) or in stillness (meditation) improves physical health (e.g., McCall, 2007), Breath coaching has become increasingly effective in sports training and general conditioning as ably demonstrated by Optimal Breathing coach, Michael White www.Breathing.com as just one example.

Emotional Well being

Therapeutic breathwork has brought to the awareness of the healing community, the direct link between the ability to regulate one’s breathing with the experience of emotional balance. Emotional balance is that middle path between repression on the one side and lack of containment on the other.  Deep or repressed feelings that have been inaccessible to cognitive therapeutic intervention have been readily accessed in therapeutic breathwork practice. This is because this technique alters the breathing rhythm to activate the sympathetic nervous system in a controlled way. While the body is beginning to engage in flight/fight/freeze activation and the attendant emotional responses, the breather is staying conscious of his or her breath control. This is the control of a surfer riding a wave rather than a dam trying to hold back a river.  The breather learns to ride the wave of feelings rather than suppress or lose control. The full range of emotions – mad, sad, glad, scared and all their variations – can be experienced as a source of positive vitality and wisdom (emotional intelligence). All of the bad examples we have of repression or loss of control in the culture tend to give emotions a bad reputation. However the truth is that a life devoid of feeling is a passionless existence. Our breath can help us be safe with our feelings.

“Inner child” work is often associated with emotional exploration. This tool is often used with therapeutic breathwork to help give certain clients permission to let feelings flow rather than be dammed up. Many give their “child self” the benefit of feelings that they do not give their “adult self.” Our goal is to have the mid brain limbic system which generates the hormones that signal emotional experience’s work in concert with the cerebral cortex which is the center of logical rational thinking.  Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the accurate reading of one’s and other’s feeling states and the ability to use this information effectively. EI is achieved in great part by regulating ones breathing appropriately during charged emotional states. I say appropriately because in some circumstances it may be appropriate to run for higher ground and breath fast as when avoiding a flash blood verses other circumstances when slow steady breathing may be what is needed, e.g., to thread a needle with which to sew up a wounded person.

The monitoring of breathing through all feeling states allows us to tap into the non-verbal wisdom of emotions and the richness with which they color our existence.

Mental Growth

The brain uses a disproportional amount of oxygen to the rest of our body. – It is only 3% of the body’s total weight, but uses 25% of the available oxygen. The energy we expend in mental activity requires it. The clarity that comes with mental mastery opens the door to creativity. We are not trapped in thinking loops that repent endlessly, affording us limited options for novelty and discovery. We can think in a rut and thereby live in a rut.

We think roughly 40 – 50,000 thoughts a day and most of them are variations of time honored themes which we took on at an early age and just elaborated with more sophistication (e.g. “I have to hide when daddy is angry” gets transmitted to “secretive nuclear stockpiling is imperative to defend against the hostile totalitarian regimes in the world.”). Therapeutic breathwork helps ferret out there “tap root” thoughts or “personal laws” – major negative beliefs upon which most of our attitudes and behaviors are based. One of the dictums of mental mastery is that thoughts do not change unless we change them. No one can make us think what we refuse to think. Thus we must consciously choose how we want to think or we will just run our previously programmed tape loops. The fear based tape loops often get reinforced by cultural messages which play upon our fears, e.g., “Hostile countries are planning our demise.” This is not to say we should put on rose colored glasses in the face of evidence of aggression coming towards us. But if we are breathing easily in the face of challenge, as any good martial artist would be, we are much more resourceful in directing the energies of ourselves and others. In fact, as we populate our thinking with resourceful thoughts, we actually transform many formerly perceived “attacks” into opportunities for mutual benefit. When I hold my breath, I take a fixed position and am much less flexible in my mental emotional or physical responses.

Affirmations are specifically designed thoughts to help lead us out of static thinking patterns often reinforced by fear. A good affirmation is a well honored tool to help me stretch just the right amount to best facilitate more resourceful thinking and promote clear and creative thinking. I use the four P’s of affirmation writing to maximize the affirmation’s power. Make the affirmation Positive, Personal, Present and Practical, and breath life into the new thoughts. The breath helps take the energy of the thought and spread it throughout the body (literally creating a new stance) and the environment (attracting  new possibilities). Full easy breathing is both the facilitator of and the result of clear creative thinking – a positive feedback loop that becomes a new lease in life.

Spiritual Growth

The diaphragm has been called the “spiritual muscle” in certain ancient practices. Breath control has been a central practice of most spiritual/mystical traditions for thousands of years (Minnet, 2004). The breath is known as the “rainbow bridge” from the physical to the spiritual realms. Simple attention to a steady flow of breath can put one in an altered state making one more sensitive to who one is beyond the physical. A prominent researcher in the area of spiritual traditions, Ken Wilber (Wilber, 2006) claims that meditation (facilitated by slow regulated breathing) is the only practice which has scientifically documented results on its positive influence on spiritual growth. The Russian mystic G. I. Gurdjieff said, “Without mastering breathing, nothing can be mastered.”

As simplistic as this may sound, how long can you go just paying attention to your inhale and exhale? Most people cannot go for more than a few seconds without thoughts or sensations distracting them. If followed to its origins, the breath leads to our creative source, the spirit which initiates the “breath of life” in one’s body. In many languages spirit and breath are linked by the same words. e.g. nephesh in Hebrew, atman in Sanskrit, psyche in Greek. Now our minds can interpret our experience according to prescribed forms or deny our experiences readily, but it does not invalidate centuries of experience by our greatest spiritual teachers and traditions from Christian mystics to native shaman. More importantly, if you have some awareness of the workings of your mind, you will not allow fear based thoughts to deny the eminence of your breath awareness and its ability to initiate connection to your own spirit.

A very common phenomenon in therapeutic breathwork, after physical, emotional and mental holdings have been released, is to have openings to ones spiritual realm or higher self that transport the breather to transcendent states (Grof, 2000).

That breath is a powerful agent of healing and growth well established. That each of us has the ability to access this power “right under our nose” is being discovered and documented in many volumes, e.g. Morningstar,, 1964. That you have the ability to find the methods and techniques which work for you in tapping into this power is left for you to explore. Here is a simple experiment en route:

Therapeutic Breathwork Exercise #6

“The Voice of Spiritual Guidance”

Find a quite place to be alone for 10 – 20 minutes.

Sit comfortably with your spine relatively straight. Put your attention on the base of your spine and suggest that as you inhale, you bring energy up your back to the top of your head. Then as you exhale follow your energy down the front of your body to the base of your spine. Continue following your breath energy up our back on the inhale, down your front on the exhale. Suggest that as you breath passes over each part of your body, it radiates healing and nurturing energy to every organ and body part, especially those that need it most. Envision this happening. Next Breathe into your heart area inside the sacred circle you created with your breath. Ask for guidance from whatever source is meaningful to you. This could be about a specific question or just guidance in general and listen to whatever answer speaks to you in your heart. Thank your source of guidance, take a couple deep and clearing breaths and come back to waking awareness.

Of course you will interpret or use this guidance in whatever way you choose. Most people who have used such a breath practice for spiritual guidance find that it gets easier with repetition and the clarity and usefulness of the messages they receive increases. If you have a religious tradition that allows for this, the exercise can be used to experience your prayer more fully.

Our next Therapeutic Breathwork article will present options for practical application and experimentation on the road to breath mastery.

References

McCall, Timothy Yoga as Medicine: the Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing.  NY. Bantom, 2007

Grof, Stanislav. Psychology of the Future. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2000.

Minett, Gunnel. Exhale. Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books, 2004.

Morningstar, Jim. Breathing in Light and Love. Milwaukee, WI: Transformations Incorporated,1964.

Wilber, Ken. Integral Spirituality. Boston: Integral Books, 2006

Jim Morningstar, Ph.D.Director, Transformations Incorporated
4200 W. Good Hope Rd.
Milwaukee, WI 53209

Ph: 414 351 5770
jim@transformationsusa.com
www.transformationsusa.com

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Article

Intuition and the call to Communion
by Judee Gee

“Intuition opens the door to the truth, to the vast mysteries of existence, and to the equally vast mysteries of the human being.” from: Intuition: Awakening Your Inner Guide, by Judee Gee

Intuition, our capacity for perceiving truth and receiving immediate insight[1], is an innate ability serving us well as we navigate our way through the myriad challenges of everyday life. It helps us to discern what is really going on, what is really being meant and what is really essential in the moment-to-moment unfolding of events and interactions as we experience them.

Because intuition is quick and operates on an almost subliminal level of consciousness, we must pay attention in order to register the impressions we are receiving. Too often, the insistent chatter of the rational mind – combined with the compelling pull of personal desires – contaminates our field of conscious perception and results in a misguided interpretation of events. The conclusions we draw and our resultant actions may help us to get what we think we want. But without the discerning capacity for clear perception, understanding and insight that our intuition gives us, we will rarely create outcomes that truly serve us.

As the guiding voice of our soul, intuition has one primary goal; that we connect with our essence and live our lives in accordance with the wisdom of that essence. To that end, intuition will not only point to the true nature of things and their significance in our lives. It will also show us the intrinsic connection between our selves and the complex, multi-dimensional world we are constantly interacting with.

Intuitive perception helps us to understand the many facets of our personality at play in the world, as well as the way they are contributing to the multitude of outcomes we create. From the fear and desire driven strategies of the defensive ego-self, to the spontaneous and creative expression of the authentic self, and the wise, transcendent higher self[2], our intuition assists us to recognise, acknowledge and better understand who we are and what motivates us to move forward through life.

With the insights we gather, we gain freedom from the unconscious, compulsive behaviours responsible for a large part of our suffering. And as we grow, so does our perception of the world surrounding us. Our deepening vision shows us that the same struggle for liberation we have been grappling with ourselves, is clearly mirrored in our entourage. The symptoms of fear, mistrust and isolation are abundant. Many people are stuck in fear and their default position is one of defence, and then resistance. We need courage to let down our guard; to embrace our world and allow it to reach us. Open-heartedness is a choice, the choice par excellence for the path towards wholeness.

For intuition to truly function, we must be willing to become vulnerable and let the truth of ourselves be seen and felt by the people around us. We must place our trust in the wisdom of our hearts and in the goodness of the world, and then systematically modify any unconscious beliefs that would have us think otherwise.

When we commit to the path of developing our intuition, our inner senses open and we become capable of feeling, hearing and seeing on a more subtle level. We discover a world that is more than willing to open its mysteries to us. Learning to observe, to receive, to listen and to hear, our relationships become more truly inter-active and reveal their potential as a real source of nourishment for the heart and soul.

As our illusional sense of isolation diminishes and we relate with the sensorial understanding of the interconnectedness of all things, our awareness takes the quantum leap from me consciousness to we awareness, and our actions become oriented towards results that lead to collective well-being. With integrity as a first priority, we are better equipped to respond truthfully, wisely and justly to the demands of the moment. Rightful response has a signature effect. It creates clarity, calm, and a tangible sense of security. When we honour our intuition we create a safer world, both for ourselves and for others. In doing so we become valued members of the collective we belong to, and from there – secure in the sense of our place and value – our horizons expand.

Existence trusts us with more and more of its mysteries and we learn to accept paradox, contradiction and opposition. No longer stymied by paradox, we will rather marvel at it. As our vision opens, it also deepens. We see how the world is a place of polarities, and every aspect must have it’s place and also it’s expression. As a willing participant in this expression of all that is, we realise that existence holds also the blueprint for wholeness and integrity. We are part of a healing journey, a return to wholeness. And for all its drama and occasional despair, it is still a journey beyond price.

As we accept and honour all that is, as we journey towards the centre of ourselves, our inner world blossoms and we encounter vast and luminous spaces of simply being. In these spaces there is silence and peace, love and communion. Our intuition brings us home to the essence of ourselves, to our true state of being. In this state, there is wholeness, oneness and the deep joy of homecoming. And as we settle in to the equanimity of this inner state, we discover to our delight that it is reflected in our outer world as well.

“Listen to your heart, it knows all things.” Paulo Coello

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Judee Gee has been leading workshops and trainings for many years on consciousness themes including intuition development, conscious relating, transpersonal psychotherapy and breathwork. She lives in the South of France and currently co-directs programmes run by La Voie de la Conscience, as well as leading workshops in other venues around the world.

Author of “Intuition: awakening your inner guide”, Samuel Weiser (1999), Barns & Noble (2003)

Tel: +33 4 90 75 58 78

Mail: judeegee@orange.fr

Internet: www.integral-consciousness.com

[1] The Concise Oxford Dictionary

[2] Excerpt from ‘The four aspects of the self’, by Eirik Balavoine. GIC conference, Austria 1996.

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Article

Become an Accomplisher Instead of a Procrastinator
Helaine Iris

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” Douglas Adams

Let’s talk about the P word. Procrastination. If this is you, this pervasive, habit effects every aspect of your life. As a procrastinator you typically under perform, limiting success and the life you want to live. It dampens your ability to take action, creates missed opportunities, and is the single pattern of behavior I see in most entrepreneurs that if corrected would free up log jams of energy and potential.   If you’re a procrastinator you know in your bones that this is true, yet, it seems like an impossible habit to break.

It’s easy to see in others how much unnecessary pain and stress procrastination causes: my daughter for example, endlessly putting off school work and pushing herself at the last minute to meet a deadline, my client, putting off completing his taxes and suffering the consequence of costly penalties. I’m sure you could add your own examples of miserable outcomes you’ve experienced as a result of putting things off. So why do you continue to do it?

I’ve learned that procrastination is not the originating problem. It’s a symptom of something deeper in your personal operating system, or put another way, a coping mechanism you developed to compensate for an area of lack. The bottom line is you procrastinate to protect yourself from feeling something you don’t want to feel.

Although there are many valuable strategies out there for overcoming procrastination, if you don’t get at the root of what causes you to procrastinate, I believe you won’t ever change the pattern. There are many theories about what causes procrastination: anxiety, fear of failure (or success) rebelliousness, or chafing at authority perfectionism, poor work habits, self-sabotage to name the biggies. But interestingly enough, according to research what seems to be at the bottom of the procrastination pit is low self confidence and a low need for achievement.

Curiously, those two personality traits seem to run counter to the common characteristics most entrepreneurs exhibit. So then, why do entrepreneurs procrastinate? There in lies the conundrum and the hope.

As an entrepreneur, you’re human – with all the associated strengths and weaknesses. Although you have boldly accepted the role and risks of building a business and you’re passionate about bringing your dream to market, it’s very easy to overlook your limitations. Here’s my invitation to you: Ask the fearless, passion-filled part of yourself who’s learned to push the limits of your comfort zone every day to explore the parts of yourself that need personal development. Get to the bottom of what limits your confidence, in other words, dare to ask, “Who would I be without my tired, small story about myself?

I was recently working with a bright and talented artist who is holding herself back from blasting her business to the next level. She’s worried that her product won’t be received well and procrastinates taking critical sales action. When I asked her if she had evidence of product rejection she said she didn’t, and in fact her dramatically increasing sales prove the opposite. When I pointed out the obvious discrepancy in her reasoning, her jaw dropped. She got it – and now understands that her work lies in addressing her nagging confidence issues. She’s learning to draw upon her current successes to disqualify the voices of the past. This frees her up to stop procrastinating, take powerful action, and soar!

Ending your procrastination pattern is possible if you’re willing to apply energy to what you want to ignore.  By exploring what you fear, or what you resist you will overcome it with self-awareness and then can replace your old thinking with current reality. You might need to ask for help.  Reinforce your new awareness by taking small steps and acknowledging yourself every time you have a success. Also, regularly remind yourself of why you want to accomplish your task. Set small achievable goals using inspiration to pull you along into action – finally, beyond procrastination.

I’m reminded of the Marianne Williamson quote where she so aptly states, as if she was thinking about the problem of procrastination when she wrote it, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us…”

Start right now. Be powerful beyond measure. And please, resist the temptation to “do it later”. Go grab a flashlight and begin to shed light on what’s at the bottom of your procrastination pattern. How might it feel to see yourself as an accomplisher rather than a procrastinator? Build that business, do the dishes, live your dream.

It’s YOUR life…imagine the possibilities!

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Helaine Iris helps overwhelmed small business owners take control of their time and finances so they can double their revenues with less stress. Featured in numerous publications, including “O” The Oprah Magazine Helaine’s dynamic, personal coaching style helps entrepreneurs accelerate their businesses with tools that empower, build financial success and create personal transformation. To receive a free copy of her report Learn How to Finally Break Through Overwhelm, and Become a Prosperous, Stress-Free Business Owner, go to http://www.pathofpurpose.com/thank-you-for-requesting-your-free-report/

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Ask the Experts

Questions & Answers from breathwork clients or breathworkers responded to by one of the IBTA board members. This issue’s respondent board member is:

Binnie A. Dansby

Binnie began her career in breathwork in 1975 in New York City. She subsequently incorporated a focus on pre- and peri-natal psychology as a foundation for the theory, principles and practice she has developed. Binnie created, and has been teaching, SOURCE Process and Breathwork since 1988 in England, Germany, Denmark and Estonia. Her 3 to 5 year diploma trainings focus on self-discovery and supervised practitioner training. She has also designed and teaches an approach to birth and birth preparation that continues to produce beneficial results for everyone in the family. She is the author of a DVD, Ecstatic Birth, and numerous papers, articles and CD’s for inner and outer development.

1. When I was introduced to Rebirthing Breathwork, I was told that in order to have my breath really free up, I needed to have an experience of remembering my birth – a ‘rebirth’. After 10 sessions I still haven’t had any early childhood recall or any memory before the age of five. Am I doing something wrong, or do I just need to be patient and wait until I have my ‘rebirth’?

After more that 30 years experience with conscious connected breathing, both personal and professional, I can safely say that I do not agree with the notion of 10 sessions being a key to remembering birth and becoming clear enough to continue on your own. We are manifesting patterns from birth and early infancy each and every day. Remembering is not necessarily the purpose. The release of long held stress and belief systems is a more realistic goal. Having access to more and more life energy that we have withheld because of fear engendered by our birth is far more valuable. This fundamental process begins to take place as soon as you give full attention to the breath and relax and open and accept that you are safe, that your body is safe and that you are supported.

Your birth reveals itself in every reaction. One goal is to be able to respond to life as it is in present time. Whether you remember the colour of the walls of the delivery room or ‘see’ figures in white coats does not really matter. Notice the thoughts that come to the surface in your session. Notice how you handle everyday situations with more ease, or not. Be aware that you were profoundly influenced by what you learned about life on planet Earth in your experience in the womb, in your birth and in your infancy. This is so much a part of ‘who you are’ that it cannot be separated out as just another ‘movie’. This source experience has influenced every other experience, thus I think that it is important to focus on unfolding today in the richness and abundance that is here now.

2. I am a trained Yoga instructor, and most of my years of training emphasized the fact that in doing Pranayama (breath practices) it was undesirable to breath in and out of the mouth. We were taught that you should only breathe in and out of the nose. Should I be concerned about the mouth breathing aspect of this breathwork, or is it OK to do my sessions breathing in and out of my nose?

I, too, practiced Hatha Yoga and Pranayama for many years before I learned about conscious connected breathing. I had also been taught other breathing exercises in professional voice lessons and acting class. I consider it ALL to be Pranayama, which simply means regulating the breath through intention, specific exercises, and techniques. The results that you produce are what is important. Conscious balanced breathing through the mouth is only one form.

The ancients had many reasons for not breathing in and out through the mouth, and some were simply hygienic. I have 35 years of personal experience of using this form most of the time with my clients and students. I have found that breathing through the mouth activates ‘memories’ of the first breath, which for most people was through the mouth. It is easy to have compassion, understanding, and patience regarding the resistance some people have to breathing in and out through the mouth when you fully understand the impact of the first breath through the mouth into the lungs that had not been opened before. That first breath set off a chain of events that have a deep impact on our thoughts and feelings about being physical, about relationships, about Life.  When you allow yourself to balance the breath in and out through the mouth in a setting of your choice assured of safety and support, you can reveal to yourself and your breathwork therapist the depth of the impression your first breath has made. Until you are safe and know that you are supported, continue to breathe in the way that that is comfortable for you. Conscious attention to the breath, the inhale and the exhale balancing and expanding, is always of value.

3.In my early adulthood, I suffered a car accident which put me in a wheelchair for good; and in fact, even at night I am forced to sleep in an elevated position. Am I going to get the same benefit from doing connected breathing in a seated position or do I need to figure out some way to get closer to a horizontal position?

Full benefit from conscious connected breathing depends on being able to completely relax and surrender to the breath. It is not necessary for you to lie down. It is most important that all parts of your body be supported, your head included. Make sure that the surrounding environment is safe and peaceful; and that you are accompanied by a person whom you trust and who is experienced with breathwork. In that atmosphere you can release any concern about your body and focus on the breath and your rich and spacious inner world.

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News and Announcements

We are excited to report that the premier Nourishing the Flame event in Boston was a wonderful success.To read our glowing testimonials click here!

Save the Date Nourishing the Flame – A Forum for Breathworkers in Oxford England October 29-31 2010

Nourishing The Flame, a 3 days continuing education forum for the professional breathwork community and related complimentary practitioners.  This lively, informative and inspirational event will answer directly to the globally growing demand by breathworkers for counsel, supervision and on-going training from experienced veterans in the field.

· Learn powerful and effective tools to integrate into your breathwork practice
· Renew your sense of passion and inspiration
· Deepen your relationship with like-minded colleagues
· Nourish your soul at the deepest level
· Connect with an international network dedicated to the accreditation of breathwork
· Optimize your capacity to thrive professionally

The forum will be facilitated by Binnie A. Dansby, Judee Gee and Jeremy Youst, expert breathworkers and trainers, who have been at the cutting edge of the profession for over 25 years.

Anyone interested in collaborating with the IBTA to organize a forum in their region, please contact us.

Click here for more details or to register

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IBTA International Symposium
The first IBTA international symposium is scheduled be held in 2012. Exact dates and venue to be announced.

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Annual IBTA Board Meeting

On the 24th of May, members of the IBTA board gathered in Baltimore on the campus of the Inspiration School for what promised and proved to be a four day marathon covering multiple subjects of vital import, interest and significance in the field of breathwork. With co-directors Jim Morningstar and Jessica Dibb leading the meetings that included Judee Gee, Jeremy Youst, Binnie Dansby, Helaine Iris and Alice Wells, great strides were taken in the process of visioning the possibilities for opening doors, building credibility and providing support for professional breathwork in the world.

Three new board members were joyously welcomed onto the board: Helaine Iris is a Life and Business coach, and co-founder of The Power of Breath Institute in New Hampshire.  Ann Harrison joins us from Australia, where she has created and worked with colleagues to establish a government accredited breathwork training and training organization, Breathwork Trainings International, of which she is the director and CEO.  Tilke Platteel-Deur, teaching in Holland, Germany, France and Spain, author, and co founder and co-leader of the Institute for Integrative Breath Therapy, brings to the board her vast experience and dynamic leadership in the field of breathwork.

From upgraded IBTA Membership benefits to planning for a 2012 Breathwork Symposium in Baltimore, there is much to celebrate in the evolution of the IBTA board, as well as the evolution of professional breathwork as a potent and recognized healing modality.

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Breathwork in Action

We are inviting the readership of the IBTA eNews to join us in spreading inspirational news items about breathwork in the world, e.g. research findings, community programs, national accreditation, etc. Please send edited material of 200 words maximum to Jim Morningstar, IBTA eNews Editor, at jim@transformationsusa.com

Your assistance in spreading good and important news about the effects of breathwork on our planet will be of great value to all those who are using breath for wellness and personal growth. Thank you.

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Poem

I Will Set You On My Breath

To place You in my heart
may turn You into thought.
I will not do that!

To holy You with my eyes
may turn You into thorn.
I will not do that!

I will set You on my breath
so You will become my life.
Rumi

Jalaludin Rumi (1207-1273) is considered one of the greatest poets known to history. His influence throughout the Islamic world for over seven hundred years and more recently in Western countries is virtually unmatched. He is currently one of the most widely read poets in the English language.

Rumi was profoundly influenced by Shams, a wandering dervish from Tabriz, who is reputed to be the triggering force behind Rumi’s profound and all absorbing mystical journey towards divine union. The intensity of the ecstatic love he was intitiated into by his relationship with Shams caused him to blissfully dance. Thus began the dervish tradition of whirling and Rumi is acknowledged as the founding father of the Whirling Dervishes.

WELCOME MESSAGE

Welcome to the IBTA eNews.
You are receiving this newsletter because of your connection to Breathwork. Some of the content is only available to members of the IBTA. We’d like to take this opportunity to invite you to become a member of the IBTA. Please visit our website to read about member benefits and to join.

The International Breathwork Training Alliance is an professional organization for breathwork practitioners, trainers and schools. The IBTA was created through a collaboration of breathwork schools and trainers from 1999 to 2005 when its first international board was formed. Its mission is to establish standards of ethics and professional training for schools, trainers and practitioners of breathwork as well as to promote collegial interaction, training and trainer exchanges, resources for practitioners and future research and development. It does so through:

1. Sponsoring a membership/subscriber organization which describes and upholds the ethical practice of breathwork,
2. Sets training standards and qualifies schools, trainers and practitioners for professional recognition,
3. Hosts a web site that posts ethics and training standards and those who adhere to them as well as lists breathworker resources,
4. Sponsors professional conferences.

In this Issue you will find:

Inspiring Articles:

Breathwork and Your Line of Integrity
by Jeremy Youst

Therapeutic Breathwork: Breathwork and Psychophysiological (Psychosomatic) Disorders
by Jim Morningstar, Ph.D

Ask the Experts
Questions posed by breathworkers answered by veteran trainers of breathwork. This month featuring Binnie Dansby and Jim Morningstar.

Announcements:

Save the Date -October 29-31, 2010 Nourishing the Flame – A Forum for Breathworkers comes to Oxford England

Nourishing the Flame – A Forum for Breathworkers! MAY 21-23, 2010 Boston, MA

LOOKING FORWARD- IBTA International Congress

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Breathwork and Your Line of Integrity
by Jeremy Youst

What does it mean to have integrity? How do you live your life (and help others to live) from a place of honesty, sincerity, and wholeness? What qualities must you embrace in order to facilitate a Breathwork session with a sense of integrity, humility and safety?

Therapeutic Breathwork

For over thirty years I have been crafting the art form of helping others to empower themselves through the use of a variety of self-help tools, the most powerful of which has been something called Therapeutic Breathwork. Therapeutic Breathwork has its most recent roots (since the early ’70’s) in Rebirthing, Holotropic Breathwork, but also stems from the ancient pranayama (breath practices) from the East. But what exactly is Therapeutic Breathwork?

“Therapeutic Breathwork is the intentional and remedial application of conscious, connected breathing within individuals, solely or in a group setting, guided by the Spirit of Breath and held within the sacred container of a therapeutic relationship and/or group culture. The Spirit of Breath in this case refers to the multi-dimensional collective intelligence or Spirit that naturally seeks harmony, balance and fulfillment, and seems to surround and guide not only the natural breath itself, but also the intentional act of conscious connected breathing. Working holistically with the connected breath seems to support most aspects of the client-therapist relationship, and promotes a heightened potential for personal transformation and better self-esteem. Consciously activating the human respiratory cycle in this way encourages awareness, transformation and integration, and helps clients to experience deep inner connection and an improved sense of well-being.

Therapeutic Breathwork engages all aspects of body, mind and spirit in its approach to upliftment and healing. The three primary areas of beneficial attention are: 1) body-mind therapy, 2) personal development and 3) spiritual direction. Each one of these approaches may be the primary focus of any given breathwork session, yet all three seem to comprise the full scope of facilitating Therapeutic Breathwork. Most importantly, what makes Therapeutic Breathwork uniquely powerful is that it utilizes and is guided by a self-regulating, biological mechanism: the human respiratory system.” – Jeremy Youst, Therapeutic Breathwork Article

Within the therapeutic framework of this kind of deep, body-mind healing work naturally arises issues of ethics, professionalism and integrity. The remedial aspects of teaching an individual to breathe properly usually involve some form of healing or therapeutically applied touch, and therefore require certain professional and ethical standards within which the client needs to feel safe. Although there are several good ethical standards within the field of breathwork (e.g. see: http://breathworkalliance.com/?page_id=14 ), the focus of this article is on the inner qualities that seem to most significantly influence and guide a professional breathworker in their practice. These are the qualities of being that come from inside you and help to inform ethical professional conduct.

Integrity is an inside job

Integrity is the “quality or state of being complete”, of being in an “unbroken condition” or state of “wholeness”, especially as a felt sense within.

“Some people see integrity as the quality of having a sense of honesty and truthfulness in regard to the motivations for one’s actions… The etymology of the word “integrity” can suggest insight into its use and meaning. It stems from the Latin adjective integer (whole, complete). In this context, integrity may comprise the personal inner sense of “wholeness” deriving from (say) honesty and consistency of character. As such, one may judge that others “have integrity” to the extent that… they behave (consistently) according to the values, beliefs and principles they claim to hold.” Wikipedia 2010

Integrity as a therapeutic component within breathwork, then, may be thought of as a wholeness of approach, the gift of safety, assistance and health you can offer others because you have experienced and have held similar values yourself. It is having lived through and learned enough of life’s lessons that the correct response and right action flow through you naturally.

From the perspective of day-to-day life, I have found integrity to be a synergy offive key qualities: Self-Awareness, Experience, Respect, Honesty and Reality. Where these five qualities meet, there is a focal point of excellence, a congruence of awareness, which increases your capacity to respond to a client with a sense of wholeness, truth and integrity.

Line of Integrity

How well developed these five qualities are inside you, informs what I call your Line of Integrity. It is the “line in the sand” you draw when defining your personal space and/or exercising your values according to what feels right to you. Your Line of Integrity is the threshold of awareness that reflects the highest possible evolutionary response you can make to any given situation at any given moment.

Becoming more aware of these five principles – thereby evolving your Line of Integrity – builds your capacity and opens you up to a high quality of being, a vital way to live your life and practice your helping profession with goodness and grace. Living with integrity forms an essential foundation upon which you can grow, develop and learn how to confidently live as a “respected elder” within your community.

Living from an ever expanding Line of Integrity also sets the stage for putting right choice and right action into your breathwork practice. It helps you to quickly reflect upon the “right use of will” according to your best thinking, your present maturity and the current evolution of your spiritual, mental and emotional intelligence. It is a trademark of the heart’s intelligence, and continually announces the best probable solutions within the container of the therapeutic relationship. Regardless of your current stage of personal development or therapeutic skill, accessing your personal Line of Integrity will help you define the right choice and “healthy boundary” you need according to what your client can accept and handle right now in his or her life.

So what can developing these qualities do for you as a breathwork practitioner?

Self-Awareness

· The more self-awareness you have, the more you can be aware of your client, what his or her needs, wants or desires are, and which ones are coming from their true essence and which ones are from their wounding or shadow.

· Since as a qualified breathworker, you have had to work through the subconscious patterns (suppressions) held in your own body-mind, it’s easier to spot them in your client and perhaps utilize some of the same intervention techniques that worked for you in a way that is appropriate for them.

· Self-Awareness helps you to become more conscious of what your own body is saying (oftentimes beyond the level of current understanding), so you learn to listen more sensitively to what your client’s body is saying rather than just what their mind is saying.

· Whether it’s during the coaching/counseling portion or the breathwork portion of the session, with greater self-awareness you develop a clearer sense of what is on track and what isn’t with regard to what is going to be the most helpful in your client’s life.

Experience

· Experience accumulates according to your intent and mirrors the level of wisdom and maturity found within your present evolution. Effective Therapeutic Breathwork practitioning is built upon a foundation of experience from which you are increasingly more proficient at facilitating others in a breathwork session.

· Experience acts like a reality feedback system and becomes the living, energetic edge of personal expansion providing indelible marker points of acceptance, understanding and skill with which to live with a sense of personal command and integrity. With this awareness, you can help your client integrate their own reality experiences, especially the ones they still suffer from.

· Since you have had to apply what you’ve learned from your own breathwork sessions, you have a better sense of how to coach your client’s thoughts, intentions and choices towards the life that will fulfill them the most. You are better able to provide a road map for what your client may experience through this work, and how to hold them throughout the process.

· Because you have most likely felt a deep, spiritual connection through breathwork, you can patiently and with graceful integrity coach your client towards their own illumination.

Respect

· Since you have had your own experience with the therapeutic breathwork container, you have a better sense and intuition around what constitutes safety and what doesn’t.

· As you increase your ability to listen to and respect your own body-mind through reflective awareness, you can be a guide for helping your client to listen more openly and responsively to their own body-mind.

· Because part of respecting yourself is learning to be able to establish and have healthy boundaries, you can more attentively respond to and help your client establish their own healthy boundaries. In other words, you can help them to say “no” when they need to and not feel guilty about it.

· With a clearly established safety/touch contract beforehand, you can work within a client’s vulnerable body-mind space and help them to release old wounds as well as help them re-establish a sense of natural safety being in their body in present time.

Honesty

· Honesty gives you the ability to accurately assess and recognize what is true and correct in the moment; it helps you to see what is actually happening right now for the client (as well as inside of yourself).

· Because breathwork encourages a willingness to embrace reality as it is, you are better able to honestly reflect back to a client where they are negotiating with a story about reality instead of reality itself.

· Honesty helps to deepen the therapeutic container because it works both ways – in order for the client to be honest about their life, the practitioner must be honest as well. Reflective feedback must be founded upon as little personal filtering as possible, so self-reflective honesty from the practitioner is an essential skill in order to develop a clear, intentional therapeutic relationship.

· With an emphasis on truthfulness, this type of clear relationship helps the client overcome any projections that may arise toward the practitioner, as well as any practitioner projection upon the client.

Reality

· Underpinning these four qualities is Reality, which is the foundation upon which Integrity is laid. Accurate reality assessment is essential, and is forged upon your ability to be fully present and aware. Discerning the truth of reality is being able to know the difference between what is objective versus what is subjective, imaginary or fictitious.

· Through the development of these lines of Self-Awareness, Experience, Respect and Honesty, as a practitioner you become committed to reality, thus increasing your ability to assess and midwife your client on their transformational journey.

· By attending and becoming receptive to how the client is presenting themselves in reality, not only does the truth of what is needed become more evident, but there is a deeper understanding of the client and an increased accuracy of response.

· Embracing reality resolves conflicts and helps the client to see and integrate apparent polarities of thinking based upon inaccurate beliefs held historically in their bodies.

Learning to recognize and work with these five qualities of Integrity is an ever-evolving process of self-growth and determination. Although they can be spoken of, these qualities are not something that can be measured or simply taught. They are reflective, and like feelings and attitudes operate as inner guidelines to what you think is important as you walk the path of your professional life. They are ever present within your cognition, your soul’s awareness and the wisdom of your body-mind, yet are also a part of our deep tribal consciousness and the community connection we weave together as shared experience.

Learning to recognize your Line of Integrity as a professional is a journey of discovery in each and every moment. It is also a journey into wholeness that reflects your capacity to show up with honesty and authenticity in the world. It is learning to discover what to do, when to do it, and which choice you need to make for everyone’s highest fulfillment. Getting to know your strengths and weaknesses inside your Line of Integrity will lead you to a more enriched life of grace, wisdom and responsibility, and help you to become a respected, responsive professional within your community.

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Jeremy Youst is the founder and director of the Power of Breath Institute located in Spofford, New Hampshire. Since 2001 The Power of Breath Institute has offered private sessions, personal intensives, workshops, and a life-changing nine-month Empowerment Training. POBI is proud to offer an IBTA accredited Practitioner Certification program which focuses on training individuals in therapeutic breathwork as well as professional practice development. Facilitating and teaching breathwork since 1995 Jeremy serves on the IBTA board and is the author of numerous articles on breathwork and personal empowerment. http://www.powerofbreath.com

Article
Therapeutic ‘Breathwork: Breathwork and Psychophysiological (Psychosomatic) Disorders
by Jim Morningstar, Ph.D

This article highlights the relationship between mental and emotional disorders and the role of breathing in both their formation and treatment.

The role of emotions and illness has long been debated. “Do I feel bad because I’m sick? Or am I sick because I’ve felt bad for too long?” What is not disputed is the correlation between emotionally stressful life events and the incidence of physical and mental illness. Large scale studies (Fried, 1999) have linked the incidence of stressful life events with psychosomatic disorders, infectious diseases and even injuries. The more stressful events within one’s life in a years period, as scored on a social readjustment scale, the more likely one will end up with a significant malady. A high score can predict up to a 90% chance of such occurrence. (Note: this is not 100%.)

What is also being increasing documented is the role of breath training in the alleviation of mental and emotional distress (Fried, 1999). The profound effect of a chronic lack of oxygen to one’s system can be anxiety provoking and/or depressing depending on one’s predisposition. Retraining of the breathing in the context of a willingness to heal can accelerate recovery in amazingly simple and profound ways.

Psychophysiological (Psychosomatic) Disorders

A disease which cannot be traced to a known somatic cause like an infection or injury, but has strong cognitive and/or affective components, has been termed psychosomatic – presumably caused by psychological and emotion factors. More recent theories do not impute such a direct causative relationship, but assumes interactive effects between the mind and body. In other words, they influence each other in ways that can bring about a downward spiral into dysfunction. [The term psychophysiological has been introduced to indicate the shift in this perspective, i.e. it’s not “all in your head.”] The good news is that one can use both physical as well as psychological means in reversing that spiral. Conscious breathing is a tool that directly effects the physical (oxygen levels) and the mental and emotional states (mood) of the person.

Let’s look at how this applies to common mental and emotional states of distress. First, we will look at a time honored illness that no longer officially exists.

The Hyperventilation Syndrome (HVS)

The reason HVS no longer officially exists is that it has been omitted from the latest revised edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association IV-R. This underlines the confusion in the understanding of the cause/effect role of breath and disease.

Hyperventilation is a symptom of deregulated breathing marked by rapid chest breathing and frequent sighing with a sense of “air hunger” – can’t get enough breath. This results in an imbalance of CO2 and O2 in the blood, acidosis, and is most often accompanied by feelings of anxiety and/or panic. The breathing pattern is often irregular with spasms, gasps or breathing interruption.

It has been shown, however, that this constellation of physical and emotional symptoms can have a physical basis caused by obstructive or restrictive lung disorders, disorders of heart, kidneys, diabetes and hypoglycemia which increases acidity in the blood, or an emotional basis such as with anxiety, panic disorder and agoraphobia, or even more rarely a neurological basis with injury to several brain centers such as the pons or medulla. Fashion can even play a role in hyperventilation when styles restrict the body’s capacity to take a full uninhibited breath. When corsets were in style the incidence of “vapors” – fainting, dizziness, shortness of breath – was high. Designer jeans may be our contemporary counterpart.

Because HVS has been linked to such a variety of maladies it is difficult to tell whether it is a cause or a symptom of the various conditions. Consequently HVS is no longer recognized as a disease in and of itself. Fortunately, regardless of its origin these symptoms can be addressed and reduced if not eliminated with breath training. So then can all of the conditions which have hyperventilation as part of their symptomology be helped through breath training.

Therapeutic breathwork helps bring one’s breathing pattern back into conscious control helping restore the Ph balance to the blood, equilibrium to the emotions and confidence to the mind. This takes listening to the whole person to devise the proper training, e.g. learning how to slow and retain breath for an asthmatic condition and how to increase breath rate and volume for a restrictive lung disease.Anxiety/Panic Disorders

In anxiety states breathing becomes irregular (inspiration/expiration ratio shifts), shallow (tidal volume decreases), rate increases as does the air flowing in and out of the lungs per minute and resulting in a decrease of CO2 in the blood (hypocapnia). A clinical anxiety state involves excessive worry for a period of at least six months.

A panic disorder involves periods of intense physiological activation including a number of the following symptoms: shortness of breath, dizziness, heart palpitations, trembling, sweating, choking, nausea, depersonalization, tingling, flushing or chills, chest pain, fear of dying or going out of control.

A chronic state of reduced oxygen to the body and brain create a slow and incomplete asphyxiation. Hence the sense of dread and fear of death is reinforced by the body’s reaction to its own emergency signals being on chronic “red alert.”

The regular practice of diaphragmatic breathing builds the foundation for systematically restoring the body’s reserves and the minds confidence. Then coupled with a plan to recognize and address initial cues of mounting anxiety or a building panic, the syndrome of a chronic uncontrolled anxiety or repeated panic attacks can be alleviated. Counseling can be a useful adjunct to support one’s motivation to change and higher awareness to one’s cues or triggers for anxiety. When therapeutic breathwork is then systematically applied, new programing is installed in every level of the triune brain. Conditioned responses to environmental triggers are reconditioned in the brain stem(e.g. anxiety in groups of people). Greater awareness, acceptance and directing influence is exercised with the limbic system (mid brain) consequently providing more emotional equilibrium. With positive affirmations the negative self references of the neo cortex are replaced, bolstering self esteem and diminishing the defensive or emergency messages that keep our system in distress.

Depression

Clinical Depression is marked by at least two of the following symptoms:

1) poor appetite or overeating

2) insomnia or hypersomnia

3) low energy or fatigue

4) low self esteem

5) poor concentration or difficulty making decision’s

6) feelings of hopelessness

In clinical cases the depressed mood persists most of the day more days than not for at least two years. Most of us experience some of these symptoms or periods of sadness or grief, but not for such extended periods.

Studies have shown breathing differences between depressed people and non depressed people. Depressed individuals’ breathing rate is faster and carbon dioxide levels decreased. Similar results are reported with people in grief. These dynamic’s are occurring even when the depressed person is not doing an external activity. Their main difficulty is with their inspiration. They report an experience of “persistent heaviness” on their sternum. “Their breathlessness fluctuated rapidly and was frequently associated with hyperventilation and sighing respiration. Depressive’s delusions of imminent death were present.” (Fried 1999, p132). Similar symptoms and fear of death are also present in panic attack and HVS. As noted earlier, this is more than an irrational delusion. With severely deregulated breathing, their bodies are experiencing slow death.

Depression is found in many patients with chronic illnesses. It is also frequent with those suffering from breathing disorders. Depressed mood is often evident by lack of energy and affect, but in some may take the form of irritability, anger and restlessness.

Why are therapists happy when their depressed clients start to express anger? It is because the hopelessness which is a belief that “I’ll never get what I need or want” is starting to lift. Underneath depression is almost always anger that is repressed – the release of which starts to mobilize energy and resources.

Two breathing exercises can effectively be used to help move their depressed energy and jump start the healing process. The first involves energizing the parasympathetic nervous system and retraining the deregulated breathing pattern. A good example of this is given by Dennis Lewis (2004) – breathing to transform anger. This method involves engaging and slowing one’s diaphragmatic breathing – literally counting seconds of each inhale and exhale – and then doubling the count of your exhale – a breathworker’s version of “counting to 10.” (See Therapeutic Breathwork Exercise #5 at end of article.)

The second method of addressing depression is with Therapeutic Breathwork and involves discharging the sympathetic nervous system which is frozen on emergency mode. The depressed person is exhausted because they are in continuous internal conflict. This method involves more rapid connected breathing, and movement and release of the held energy in a safe and focused manner. The assistance of a trained breathworker is most useful in this process.

Post Traumatic Stress

The current view on trauma is not that it is an event in a person’s life, but rather that it is the body’s response to an event that seriously limits their resourcefulness and healthy adaptability to part or all of their life. The body “froze” in its response as a way to adapt or cope with a situation in which the person felt overwhelmed. The once adaptive response now persists even thought the original threat is no longer present, causing a whole host of distressing symptoms from a restricted range of affect to outright paralysis during “flashback” memories. Research is locating the parts of the body (e.g. adrenal glands) that have been  compromised and the hormonal response (e.g. cortisol flooding) that produces such profound defensive responses (fight, flight or freeze) when the system is triggered (Van der Kolk, McFarlane & Weisaeth, 1996).

Therapeutic Breathwork has provided a valuable adjunct in the treatment of those with trauma because it bypasses many of the cognitive defenses that keep one’s system trapped in the past. The guidance of a trained breath therapist can be invaluable in this healing process. This involves creating a basis of safety to complete the truncated responses to earlier stress without retraumatization. Training in trauma work and breathwork are an especially effective combination when dealing with severe cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The good news is that this has opened doors for increasing numbers of PTSD sufferers who were finding little solace in just repeatedly talking about their fears and pain.

Other Psychophysical Disorders

Deregulated breathing has been documented in numerous psychophysical disorders. Disorders which have been documented to be helped by breath retraining include: tension headache and TMJ, hypertension, migraine and seizure disorders, gastritis and diabetes, insomnia, Raynaud’s and hyperhidrosis (Fried, 1999)

A common denominator in most disorders is that a person’s response to their disease has caused restrictions in their breathing mechanism, which in turn has limited their resourcefulness in healing. It is not that simply breathing right will cure everything, but what it takes the person to breath right – attention and motivation to self care, releasing tension in their breathing apparatus, improving their self talk (and self esteem) so as not to constrict when faced with life challenges, learning to nurture themselves with full and free breathing (regulate their blood chemistry), and keep breathing through and with their emotions – all work together to promote a new stance in their world. This is a stance of a healthy organism and a self confident person, taking responsibility for the source of well being within them rather than the chronically defensive posture of someone defeated by life.

With Therapeutic Breathwork Exercise #5 we can practice our willingness to use breath to transform our stuck emotional patterns into positive consciously directed energy. I define anger as life energy with the thought that “I’m not getting what I want.” By changing my thought and using my breath I can transform stuck anger into focused loving determination. This removes barriers to getting what I truly want – which is usually some form of authentic connection, in other words a win-win for all involved.

Therapeutic Breathwork Exercise #5

This is from “Breathing to Transform Anger” (Dennis Lewis, 2004, pp 164-165.)

“The next time you notice that you’re angry, for instance, instead of dwelling on it inwardly, expressing it outwardly, or trying to suppress sit, simply listen to your anger as it manifests at that moment throughout your body. Sense how it feels. Notice the posture you’re in and any tensions or constrictions in your breathing. Take a deep impression, a kind of internal snapshot, of what your anger is doing to your body, as well as of the underlying thoughts and feelings that are fueling the anger. This can all be done instantaneously, in a moment of inner sincerity and awareness.

Then, without trying to hide from what you are experiencing, simply count (mentally) at a steady pace the length of your inhalation and then the length of your exhalation. Then, for your next seven breaths, inhale to the same count but double the count of the exhalation. So, for example, if you found that your inhalation lasted four counts and your exhalation three, count to four for your next seven breaths as you inhale, and to six as you exhale. (You can actually dispense entirely with the counting if you like. The key to this exercise is simply to lengthen your exhalation. This will help turn on your parasympathetic nervous system – your “relaxation response.”) After breathing in this way for seven breaths, take another deep impression of yourself. Include your body, emotions, and breathing. See how your need to express your anger either to yourself or others has changed. Are you still as angry as you were?

It’s important when trying this exercise to remember that you will have a tendency to say to yourself “I’m too angry to do this exercise right now.” Or you might say, “But I’ve got to say something to this person right now. I can’t just let them get away with this.” Or you might even say, “It’s unhealthy not to express my anger.” If you hear yourself making such statements to yourself when you are angry, take a moment to look at yourself both from deep inside and as if from the outside. If you can really experience yourself more objectively at the moment you will sense what your anger is doing to you, and you will want to try the exercise immediately.

We need to find the courage to face our anger with full consciousness, express it responsibly when necessary, and transform its energy into something that is useful to us. If you persist in trying the exercise at the very moment you sense that you are angry, you will soon find yourself being able to give up expressing it, or able to express it in a less mechanical, more helpful way. You will also find that you have more energy for whatever needs to be done. What’s more, as you become more and more aware of your breathing, you will start perceiving your anger earlier, before it reaches the point of no return. this will enable you to deal with it in an intelligent, responsible way.”

In our next Therapeutic Breathwork article we will explore breathwork and personal growth.

References:

Lewis, D.  Free Your Breath, Free Your Life, Boston, MA: Shambala, 2004.

Fried, R.  Breathe Well, Be Well, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1999.

Van der Kolk, B.A., McFarlane, A.C., Weisaeth, L. Editors. Traumatic Stress, The Effects of Overwhelming Stress on

Mind, Body and Society, New York: Guilford Press, 1996.

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