Hyperventilation means “Too Much Breathing”.

That is a confusing name. Do you worry about breathing Too Much when you make love, run, dance, have emotions? I don’t think so.

Hyperventilation is a topic that often comes up in Breathwork, so here is clarification what it really is and how to deal with it.

The concept of Hyperventilation was born from watching distressed people and noticing that they were breathing a lot. Once, the “heavy” breathing was stopped, these symptoms diminished.

The symptoms included emotions and Tetany, which were very difficult for onlookers to just stand by and do nothing about. They didn’t understand that a natural healing process was taking place. So, the idea followed that it was the breathing that caused the distress and that got labelled Hyperventilation and was considered dangerous and so-called solutions were developed, which basically meant techniques, like breathing into a paper bag, and medicine to stop breathing like that.

What was really happening was that the “hyperventilation” was releasing and healing a sub-conscious trauma.

Traumatic experiences are stored as sub-conscious memories, by holding one’s breath or “getting the air knocked out of you”.

Eventually, you’ll trust more aliveness and feel safe again. Then, the shield, that conceals your sub-conscious memory, loses its need to protect you and turns transparent, letting your guarded memory to be faced again. This is what you need, to release it, and to be free to live fully, now.

If you get interrupted in the middle of a “Hyperventilation” and don’t get to complete your release of your sub-conscious trauma, you get stuck with your trauma being half uncovered, but without releasing your memory, so you will have to spend more time to build up trust to fully uncover it again.

To successfully release a sub-conscious memory, you need to feel safer than normal and have a built-up energy momentum, which you get by Natural Breathing. This may look to an inexperienced eye as Hyperventilation. But it really is a fortunate opportunity to free oneself.

Too Much Exhaling
Sometimes Hyperventilation comes from a forced exhale – a pushing the exhale out more and longer than you inhale.

This can cause a lack of CO2. The body needs a certain amount of CO2, so if there is a lack of CO2, the body will self-correct and stop your intensified exhale.

You cannot inhale too much. 

If you encounter “Hyperventilation”, and you want to make it easy for yourself and others, make sure you switch the focus from pushing the EXHALE out, to pulling the INHALE in.

Excerpt from the Natural Breathing Own Your Self Manual.

Hyperventilation means “Too Much Breathing”.

That is a confusing name. Do you worry about breathing Too Much when you make love, run, dance, have emotions? I don’t think so.

Hyperventilation is a topic that often comes up in Breathwork, so here is clarification what it really is and how to deal with it.

The concept of Hyperventilation was born from watching distressed people and noticing that they were breathing a lot. Once, the “heavy” breathing was stopped, these symptoms diminished.

The symptoms included emotions and Tetany, which were very difficult for onlookers to just stand by and do nothing about. They didn’t understand that a natural healing process was taking place. So, the idea followed that it was the breathing that caused the distress and that got labelled Hyperventilation and was considered dangerous and so-called solutions were developed, which basically meant techniques, like breathing into a paper bag, and medicine to stop breathing like that.

What was really happening was that the “hyperventilation” was releasing and healing a sub-conscious trauma.

Traumatic experiences are stored as sub-conscious memories, by holding one’s breath or “getting the air knocked out of you”.

Eventually, you’ll trust more aliveness and feel safe again. Then, the shield, that conceals your sub-conscious memory, loses its need to protect you and turns transparent, letting your guarded memory to be faced again. This is what you need, to release it, and to be free to live fully, now.

If you get interrupted in the middle of a “Hyperventilation” and don’t get to complete your release of your sub-conscious trauma, you get stuck with your trauma being half uncovered, but without releasing your memory, so you will have to spend more time to build up trust to fully uncover it again.

To successfully release a sub-conscious memory, you need to feel safer than normal and have a built-up energy momentum, which you get by Natural Breathing. This may look to an inexperienced eye as Hyperventilation. But it really is a fortunate opportunity to free oneself.

Too Much Exhaling
Sometimes Hyperventilation comes from a forced exhale – a pushing the exhale out more and longer than you inhale.

This can cause a lack of CO2. The body needs a certain amount of CO2, so if there is a lack of CO2, the body will self-correct and stop your intensified exhale.

You cannot inhale too much. 

If you encounter “Hyperventilation”, and you want to make it easy for yourself and others, make sure you switch the focus from pushing the EXHALE out, to pulling the INHALE in.

Excerpt from the Natural Breathing Own Your Self Manual.