What Is Breathwork?

I am writing this article, because I have noticed there are more and more breathing techniques out there, and I am curious about what is happening, how it affects the Breathwork movement and where Breathwork is going from here.

I started off with Rebirthing, when Leonard Orr discovered Conscious Connected Breathing. At that time, all we did was Conscious Connected Breathing. And that was powerful enough to make this my life-journey and millions of others on the planet.

Then, the BREATHWORK PREMISE was that Natural Breathing is your birth-gift, an already integrate part of you, and not something you need to create. It is even so powerful that it can create life. Since, you can’t create life, you can assume that your Natural Breathing knows something you don’t.

We also learned that, if your Natural Breathing got hampered, by mis-learned breathing and traumas, you can restore it by undoing the cause of the impaired breathing, by simulating or jump-starting your Natural Breathing. When the issue got resolved, no more breathwork was needed on that issue, so you could settle back into your easy life-giving Natural Breathing.

Now, when I search for BREATHWORK, I find all kinds of techniques. They are very different from each other, in intention, application and results, but they are all called Breathwork.

This is some of what I found searching Breathwork Techniques: Some advocate chest breathing, belly breathing, nose breathing, mouth breathing, conscious connected breathing, natural breathing, hot-water breathing, cold-water breathing, slow breathing, holding the breath breathing, counting the breathing, guided breathing, one-self breathing, time controlled breathing, daily practice breathing, group breathing, remote online breathing, detoxification breathing, mantra breathing, yoga breathing, breathing with movement and dance, breathing with music, breathing with various sound waves, breathing with visualization, and breathing with intention…

The BREATHWORK PREMISE of these techniques is to create a safer, healthier, better and spiritual life. BUT, Natural Breathing comes with some flaws, or at least, with some mis-understandings of how you should breathe, so they intend to locate or design a better breathwork practice.

Does that mean that breathwork has many newly discovered or developed qualities that we were unaware of, or are we missing and overriding it’s true gift, or is breathwork evolving?

Supposedly, breathing is breathing, and Life-force rides on the breath. So, every breathing technique should be good enough. Right?

Yes, if you are clear on what you are expecting, and apply the breathing technique that is specifically created for that, it should deliver.

But, don’t forget that the various breathing techniques have different agendas and accomplishes different results. So, first you have to know what you are looking for. This is the hardest part:

Maybe you are searching for a way to let go of suffering; Maybe you have health fears; Maybe you think you need to create health; Maybe you have survival fears; Maybe you are without work or can’t continue your business as usual; Maybe you feel lost; Maybe you don’t want to be alone; Maybe you don’t want to be controlled; Maybe you get the rat-race urge and competition; Maybe you want power and status; Maybe you are just looking for something to do; Maybe you want to release blocked sub-conscious material; Maybe you want to feel that you do spiritual work; Maybe you want to meet your Real Self; Maybe you want to restore your Source within; Maybe you are caught by the WINDS OF URGE to be better; Maybe you feel inspired to help; Maybe you are CARRIED BY unstoppable CREATIVITY.

Then, you study and learn all you can about breathwork and find that there is a diversity of research and numerous understandings, applications and techniques.

Finally, you choose one or several of these breathwork approaches, or you design your own, maybe because you experience success with a particular technique, or you like a teacher, or your friends like a system, or you are creative.

Or, maybe you choose your breathwork technique, because you want regular purification from your mis-thinking, body toxins and external pollution, or maybe you choose one technique that makes you feel that you are connecting with your divine self-worth, by breathing while engaging in positive and spiritual practices.

Or, maybe you just want to have an ongoing breathwork practice-exercise, for yourself and others, with the intention that it will “get you there”, and once there, your practice will “keep you there”.

CONCLUSION:
Evolution and Change IS happening in the Breathwork community.

* I like the Breathwork Premise that; when we get out of the way, we are spontaneously doing Natural Breathing (you probably notice that your breathing changes, now and then, by itself); we don’t need to earn or create the right to exist; and no ongoing correcting improvement recovery is needed. Here, we and our breathing are naturally free.

The reasons we miss breathing naturally are mis-learning, and the traumas stored in our sub-consciousness.

The good news is that re-learning can be done remote on-line.

Not so good news is that, now we are required to maintain social distancing, so we can only connect remotely. But, to purge sub-conscious material, we need to do a full-cycle Natural Breathing session, but we can’t do that on our own, because we cannot find and release old traumas, and monitor our progress, at the same time as, we are surrendering to something unknown. To go this deep, we are best supported with in-person, inspiring, knowledgeable, skillful and experienced support, and that is mostly not available now.

* That leaves us with the next best Breathwork Premise, or, rather, the best Breathwork Premise for now – breathing on your own and remote online breathing.

Even though, surrendering to Natural Breathing, correctly executed with in-person support, can uproot all issues and connect us with who we really are, we have had to shift our current breathwork practice to a remote system.

Some Breathworkers, continue to do the original full Conscious Connected Breathing sessions, but now through remote online access.

Others, offers a variety of unique breathing techniques, that addresses issues of pain, fears and practical circumstances, and protecting and enlivening health, wealth and sanity, one-by-one.

So, this is probably why we have more and more singularly focused, but timely, new specific practical breathing techniques.

I am writing this article, because I have noticed there are more and more breathing techniques out there, and I am curious about what is happening, how it affects the Breathwork movement and where Breathwork is going from here.

I started off with Rebirthing, when Leonard Orr discovered Conscious Connected Breathing. At that time, all we did was Conscious Connected Breathing. And that was powerful enough to make this my life-journey and millions of others on the planet.

Then, the BREATHWORK PREMISE was that Natural Breathing is your birth-gift, an already integrate part of you, and not something you need to create. It is even so powerful that it can create life. Since, you can’t create life, you can assume that your Natural Breathing knows something you don’t.

We also learned that, if your Natural Breathing got hampered, by mis-learned breathing and traumas, you can restore it by undoing the cause of the impaired breathing, by simulating or jump-starting your Natural Breathing. When the issue got resolved, no more breathwork was needed on that issue, so you could settle back into your easy life-giving Natural Breathing.

Now, when I search for BREATHWORK, I find all kinds of techniques. They are very different from each other, in intention, application and results, but they are all called Breathwork.

This is some of what I found searching Breathwork Techniques: Some advocate chest breathing, belly breathing, nose breathing, mouth breathing, conscious connected breathing, natural breathing, hot-water breathing, cold-water breathing, slow breathing, holding the breath breathing, counting the breathing, guided breathing, one-self breathing, time controlled breathing, daily practice breathing, group breathing, remote online breathing, detoxification breathing, mantra breathing, yoga breathing, breathing with movement and dance, breathing with music, breathing with various sound waves, breathing with visualization, and breathing with intention…

The BREATHWORK PREMISE of these techniques is to create a safer, healthier, better and spiritual life. BUT, Natural Breathing comes with some flaws, or at least, with some mis-understandings of how you should breathe, so they intend to locate or design a better breathwork practice.

Does that mean that breathwork has many newly discovered or developed qualities that we were unaware of, or are we missing and over-riding its true gift, or is breathwork evolving?

Supposedly, breathing is breathing, and Life-force rides on the breath. So, every breathing technique should be good enough. Right?

Yes, if you are clear on what you are expecting, and apply the breathing technique that is specifically created for that, it should deliver.

But, don’t forget that the various breathing techniques have different agendas and accomplishes different results. So, first you have to know what you are looking for. This is the hardest part:

Maybe you are searching for a way to let go of suffering; Maybe you have health fears; Maybe you think you need to create health; Maybe you have survival fears; Maybe you are without work or can’t continue your business as usual; Maybe you feel lost; Maybe you don’t want to be alone; Maybe you don’t want to be controlled; Maybe you get the rat-race urge and competition; Maybe you want power and status; Maybe you are just looking for something to do; Maybe you want to release blocked sub-conscious material; Maybe you want to feel that you do spiritual work; Maybe you want to meet your Real Self; Maybe you want to restore your Source within; Maybe you are caught by the WINDS OF URGE to be better; Maybe you feel inspired to help; Maybe you are CARRIED BY unstoppable CREATIVITY.

Then, you study and learn all you can about breathwork and find that there is a diversity of research and numerous understandings, applications and techniques.

Finally, you choose one or several of these breathwork approaches, or you design your own, maybe because you experience success with a particular technique, or you like a teacher, or your friends like a system, or you are creative.

Or, maybe you choose your breathwork technique, because you want regular purification from your mis-thinking, body toxins and external pollution, or maybe you choose one technique that makes you feel that you are connecting with your divine self-worth, by breathing while engaging in positive and spiritual practices.

Or, maybe you just want to have an ongoing breathwork practice-exercise, for yourself and others, with the intention that it will “get you there”, and once there, your practice will “keep you there”.

CONCLUSION:
Evolution and Change IS happening in the Breathwork community.

* I like the Breathwork Premise that; when we get out of the way, we are spontaneously doing Natural Breathing (you probably notice that your breathing changes, now and then, by itself); we don’t need to earn or create the right to exist; and no ongoing correcting improvement recovery is needed. Here, we and our breathing are naturally free.

The reasons we miss breathing naturally are mis-learning, and the traumas stored in our sub-consciousness.

The good news is that re-learning can be done remote on-line.

Not so good news is that, now we are required to maintain social distancing, so we can only connect remotely. But, to purge sub-conscious material, we need to do a full-cycle Natural Breathing session, but we can’t do that on our own, because we cannot find and release old traumas, and monitor our progress, at the same time as, we are surrendering to something unknown. To go this deep, we are best supported with in-person, inspiring, knowledgeable, skillful and experienced support, and that is mostly not available now.

* That leaves us with the next best Breathwork Premise, or, rather, the best Breathwork Premise for now – breathing on your own and remote online breathing.

Even though, surrendering to Natural Breathing, correctly executed with in-person support, can uproot all issues and connect us with who we really are, we have had to shift our current breathwork practice to a remote system.

Some Breathworkers, continue to do the original full Conscious Connected Breathing sessions, but now through remote online access.

Others, offers a variety of unique breathing techniques, that addresses issues of pain, fears and practical circumstances, and protecting and enlivening health, wealth and sanity, one-by-one.

So, this is probably why we have more and more singularly focused, but timely, new specific practical breathing techniques.