How an activating breathwork session facilitated a deep shift for Flore
If you have a headache, paracetamol might not be the best answer, regardless of what doctors say. As odd as it can sound to some, you already have everything you need to deal with it. Your emotions are intertwined with your physical sensations and by expressing those in an authentic way, you can resolve on the spot some of your physical pain.
Below you will read about Flore’s first time experience with a coaching session where activating breathwork was included.
This technique requires us to maintain a faster, patterned breath, allowing our bodies to release more carbon dioxide than usual. Instead of calming us down, this breathwork activates us, facilitating the release of repressed emotions, energy and trauma that our body stored from past experiences.
The first step of this atypical coaching session is to set an intention, an intimate question we want to answer. The goal is to bring clarity to the process and eventually empower the client to find valuable answers for their incoming journey. After that, we jump into the practice, followed by a debrief where we untangle the learnings.
At this stage of Flore’s coaching journey, we discovered that she was struggling with anxiety and insomnia, while experiencing headaches whenever she suppressed anger. Even though Flore has made great progress in learning to self-regulate when experiencing anger, we need to find out what is underneath that emotion to get a lasting result.
What is it that truly bothers her? Anger is there to point out our needs and desires.
Some people are resistant to this type of breathing technique as they imagine they’ll have to face an unknown reality, free from their existing, comfortable knowledge. But Flore is brave and excited. She is eager to dive deeper into her beliefs, which helps her during today’s session. After laying down with eyes closed for 50 minutes, practising this breathing technique, Flore experiences a deep shift inside.
In fact, during the debrief, we discovered that Flore has gotten different insights in a visualisation evoked by this breathing technique. Under her actual needs and desires, the topic to address was TRUST.
Trust in the process and trust in her inner strength to walk through the unknown journey that is waiting for her.
Two days after this coaching session, I received the following update from her:
“The last two days have been relaxing; after the session I took it easy, and I spent time by myself and felt relieved. The session helped me a lot to release tension from my body so I feel like a new person now. I feel at peace, and I want to keep this mood for as long as possible.
I am on my way to an important appointment where things might get confrontational. I trust that whatever the outcome will be, it is for my best. It is not worth wasting my energy on that.”
How impressive is that? Our subconscious mind is so powerful! Here are some benefits of activating breathwork:
Create an altered state of consciousness to expand awareness
Reduce the effects of PTSD
Change behaviours and ways of being that have felt challenging to change
Reduce the effects of chronic stress and anxiety
Improved self-image
Process emotions that have felt debilitating in the past
Are you curious to try an activating breathwork session?
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Note: This article presents a case from a session with a client of mine, who gave me consent to speak about her learnings. Real names and identifiable characteristics are not disclosed.
This article has been created in collaboration with Piergiorgio Sgarlata.
