Breathwork sessions in Perth, Western Australia. Breathwork also known as breath therapy is a therapeutic breathing technique that relaxes your body and mind, bringing about profound states of relaxation and meditation, and the release of layers of tension. Individual sessions and groupwork.

The breathing greatly increases the flow of life force energy (prana, or chi) through the body and in so doing facilitates deep healing, profound personal insight, heightened awareness, and positive life transformation. It brings about harmony and happiness in the body and mind, dissolving personal blockages and limiting beliefs, healing past events and unresolved issues. Breathwork puts you in touch with your true nature and potential.

The breathing will energise your intentions to create happiness and success in all areas of your life. Through the breathing you can discover a sense of purpose and direction, intuitive insights, and profound states of physical healing. In many cultures breath is associated with spirit, through the breathwork breathing you can connect deeply with your own spirituality and inner guidance.

Breathwork is a powerful tool for:

• Personal growth
• Creating Success
• Wellness
• Clarity
• Direction
• Overcoming Crisis
• Healing depression
• insomnia, anxiety and panic
• Emotional balance and emotional intelligence
• Accessing intuition
• Overcoming addiction
• Healing trauma

When a person comes for a breathwork session we initially spend time discussing what they would like from their session. The breathing is practiced lying down on a mattress, and the breather is guided into the breathing. The breathing is conscious and connected; it is not hyperventilation because each exhalation is completely released before the next inhalation. The breath is encouraged to be relaxed and full, breathing in and out of the nose initially.

Those first initial breaths bring awareness to the amount of tension being held within the breathing mechanism, the person may not be able to take a deep breath in and the breathing is often constricted. At this point I may make suggestions to the breather, depending on the reason for the constriction. I am able to read a person’s breathing much the same way as body language can be read. The suggestions may include adjusting the breath, and bringing awareness to ways of thinking and/or feelings that are affecting and constricting the breath.

What you think and feel and how you respond to your feelings directly impacts the way in which you breathe. This becomes very evident in a breathwork session.

Have you ever noticed that when you are happy and contented with life doing something pleasurable that you tend to take nice big contented breaths? When your mind is going flat out you literally breathe in a shallow fashion, it’s as if your body is getting the message ‘there is no time to breathe’.

If you are thinking a lot of negative thoughts then you also may notice difficulty in getting a really big deep breath in. Likewise if you are holding onto something from your past that you are unable to let go of you will find that your exhalation is not relaxed, but rather holding on. This in turn then affects your inhalation; when you hold onto the exhalation you can’t get a proper inhalation in. The breathwork session will bring to the surface of your conscious mind specific thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and various past experiences that are blocking you from breathing easy and living your full potential. All of this is experienced as waves of energy passing through you. You are safely guided through these experiences, the connected breath, and love and acceptance of the energy helping to transform, release and heal the experiences. Through this healing process you become very aware of the new positive beliefs and feelings for your self and your life.

Some common experiences people have whilst in a breathwork session include; experiencing the flow of energy through the body as a buzzing sensation, past memories, all types of feelings (happy, sad, fearful, angry), feelings of hot and/cold, spiritual experiences, visions, a deep feeling of being totally connected and loved, opening of the heart (feelings of love, acceptance, and forgiveness), physical healing of certain health ailments, and very deep relaxation.

The breathwork session is 1.5 hours in duration.

Breathwork benefits all areas of your life including:
• Health and Wellness
• Career
• Relationships
• Money
• Creativity
• Positive Aging

The breathing process puts you in touch with your relationship with yourself. How you treat yourself affects the way in which you are in relationship with every aspect of your life, and others in your life. Much research has been done into the importance of emotional intelligence in a successful life. If you have a relationship to yourself that is positive and uplifting, every aspect of your life will vastly improve.

When you are feeling happy and positive you are able to see more opportunities in life, you treat others around you in a more loving and kind manner, and your health also responds. Research has shown that when you are happy your body is healthier and heals faster. Regular breathwork sessions will put you in touch with your essential happy nature. Because breathwork is a powerful form of meditation, it will help to reduce your response to stress through lowered levels of stress hormone in your system.

Breathwork releases energy blocks that create disharmony and ill health. The increased flow of energy through your body greatly improves your vitality. It is a great way to keep your body well.

The number of breathwork sessions you require will depend upon what you would like to achieve. You can come along for one session and get a lot out of it. However I recommend you book a series of sessions to see the long term benefits. Initially a session once a week or once a fortnight for 10 sessions is highly recommended.

It becomes very evident when you have completed your initial series, your breathing is open and easy, and your life is reflecting the positive change in your body and mind…you feel great and your life is going well! Breathwork is so beneficial for your life that when you have completed a series of sessions you may want to continue to have a session regularly. You can also participate in breathwork in a workshop, or retreat environment; this is a great way to move a lot of energy and resolve and heal much in your life. The energy of the group is very supportive for healing.

Breathing is an important key in bringing about a calm and balanced body and mind. It is an important tool in healing and overcoming feelings of depression, fear, anxiety and panic.

Fear, anxiety, and panic
When you are experiencing feelings of fear, anxiety and panic your body and mind experience a state that is the opposite of being relaxed. Your muscles tighten up and your breathing becomes shallow and restricted. You may hyperventilate which is a form of over breathing; you are not letting the exhalation go properly and are accumulating CO2 in your blood stream. Again your muscles tighten up and can even cramp. It is very important to learn how to breathe properly to counteract the effects of this fear driven breathing.

When your breathing is shallow and restricted it keeps you frozen and unable to process (let go of) the fear. Similarly hyperventilating also does not allow your body to process the fear because you are not allowing yourself a relaxed exhalation. The way in which you breathe when experiencing fear, anxiety and panic can either begin to ease the symptoms by relaxing your body and mind, or compound the symptoms by making you even more fearful, giving your body the message that there is something to be afraid of and your body will respond by panicking more. If however you breathe in a relaxed fashion with long slow deep breaths your body will begin to relax because this type of breathing is giving your mind and body the message to relax.

When you are suffering from fear, anxiety and panic, your overwhelming emotions are altering your breathing and this in turn then creates more fear. The cycle continues until something changes. I recommend changing the way you are breathing to bring about relaxation. I also believe it is helpful to learn how to positively deal with your emotions. Learning how to respond in a different way to your fear can help you to overcome your condition and change your life for the positive.

Breathwork can help with this condition by dealing with the feelings in a positive way. Breathwork will help the person to deal with the underlying causes of the fear, panic or anxiety in a safe and supported way so that integration and healing can occur. The person suffering with fear can begin to experience their symptoms in a different way and learn how to respond more positively, which relaxes the body and brings about a lessening of the symptoms. Breathwork can help to transform the feelings and bring about healing. This however can take time and may require numerous breathwork sessions, especially if the fear has built up over many years and through a collection of experiences.

Depression
Breathwork is a useful tool for overcoming depression because it works on releasing and healing the underlying causes of depression.

epression is often related to unresolved feelings. The breathing helps a person to let go of these feelings and is very healing. Depending on whether the depression is long or short term it can be beneficial for a person who is in regular therapy to also have some breathwork sessions to release the energy blocks, and move through emotional baggage.

If you would like to discuss this further with Claire please contact Claire

What is the relationship between breathing and stress?

If you have been living under a lot of stress for an extended period of time the stress tends to build up in the body, and breathing mechanism. The stress is stored in the body, contracting the muscles and making it difficult to breathe deeply. Deep breathing is a natural antidote to stress, however if you are chronically stressed then you will find it hard to take a deep breath in.

Your breathing naturally plays a role in managing everyday stress as well more traumatic events. Your breathing will release this stress through its own rhythm. For example when a woman is in labour she will pant breathe, when a child is hurt they will take big deep breaths, or when a person receives traumatic or shocking news they will respond with a change in their breathing.

If you ever watch someone sleeping you will also notice that their breathing will change as they are dreaming and experiencing different emotions in their dreams. It will speed up as it is processing stressful feelings and events, and slow right down as the experiences become more peaceful.

Breathwork utilises the body’s natural ability to process and release stress through different breathing rhythms.

If you are prone to a build up of stress, it highly recommeded you book a series of breathwork sessions to release the built up stress, and to learn how to use your breathing to deal with ongoing stressful situations.

Book a series of breathwork sessions with Claire Belton. Claire practices breathwork in Applecross, which is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Claire also travels frequently in Australia.

Contact Claire
Read article: The Healing Power of Breathing

Breathwork Group

If you are interested in participating in group breathwork for dynamic and powerful healing and transformation come along to the Walking a Sacred Path workshop where you get the opportunity to experience group breathwork as well as other powerful energetic healing practices on both days of the weekend.

The next Walking a Sacred Path workshop is on June 26th-27th 2010

Book now contact Claire