Take a Life Changing Breath

‘Every moment of conscious breath is an

inspired co-creation with life itself.’

Pennie Quaile-Pearce, CEO of Acorn to Oak

Pennie is my long term friend, mentor and teacher. I came to breath work through her and we often work together on projects through Acorn to Oak.

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I often Tweet about courses and taster days, which I run as part of my work as a Breath4Life Practitioner. It can be a challenge to describe just how this form of breath work benefits individuals and what a first class healing tool it is for anyone who commits to the process. I co-wrote an article with a colleague, Beverley Glick, and have based this blog post on some of what that article described. I hope that this gives you a better idea of how Breath4Life might help you.

So what exactly is Breath4Life™ Breath Work?

The breath is our fuel for living – we wouldn’t survive without it. Breath4Life breath work is a therapeutic use of that vital breath. It is a simple, yet dynamic breathing technique that enables you to connect with emotions attached to past traumas and unresolved issues. Connecting with those emotions gives you the opportunity to heal the past and bring more clarity to your future.

Here are some FAQs about Breath4Life™

• Why do it and how does it work?

Whenever we experience a traumatic event – which can be as ‘big’ as the loss of a close family member or as ‘small’ as losing a favourite cuddly toy as a child – there is always an emotional reaction to that event. Over the course of our lives we encounter numerous traumatic life events. Often, however, we do not fully experience the emotional response to those events, and so they become stuck. This is often referred to as ‘emotional baggage’, which can affect how you are living your life. Breath4Life is a dynamic use of the breath that enables you to reconnect with those ‘stuck’ emotions and free up the energy surrounding them for you to use in a positive way.

• What happens during a breath work session?

You lie down on the floor or on a bed, under blankets or a duvet, get yourself

comfortable and close your eyes. A qualified practitioner then takes you through a relaxation process. You then start the breath – a simple connected breathing technique during which you breathe in through your mouth bringing in energy and gently allow the breath to sigh away, leaving no gap between the in breath and the out breath. You continue with this rhythm of breathing while the practitioner holds the space, coaches you appropriately and keeps you safe – probably for around an hour and a half. Music will be played throughout the session, which may help you to access particular feelings. You may begin to feel emotions coming up and the practitioner will help you to breathe through the emotions until the energy has cleared. 

• Does it really work?

I can only go on my own experience. For me, Breath4Life has been the

single most effective method in bringing me from a place of chronic fear and clinical depression to living a joyful, positive and very full life. I continue to use breath work in my daily life. As a practitioner I have witnessed people gaining enormous freedom from emotional and physical pain even during their first session - clients and students who engage in the longer term have made enormous positive changes in their lives. When you see the light returning to someone’s eyes after a breath work it is astonishing - there is such a renewed lightness and sense of clarity. Some have said that it's like nature's Botox!

What we don’t realise is that when we don’t allow ourselves to feel what we perceive to be difficult emotions – a process of not fully experience those feelings, called suppression – we also stop ourselves from feeling the joy and other emotions too. By allowing ourselves to feel and breathe these emotions, we allow the energy of joy to flow. In health, emotions are energy in motion – e-motions; the trouble is, most of us become e-stuck and Breath4Life helps you get unstuck.

• What is it good for?

There are so many ways in which you might gain from Breath4Life. You might be anywhere along a spectrum at one end of which is that you just don’t seem to get where you want to be going in your life; and at the other end there are deeper or chronic emotional and mental health issues related to anxiety and depression, deep-seated fear and anger or unresolved grief. Breath4Life can help you wherever you are on the spectrum – to gain clarity around an important life decision; to gain insights into unhelpful behaviour patterns, or situations that are limiting your life; to reduce emotional overwhelm or even conversely to re-energise from a feeling of being emotionally exhausted or numbed out. Emotional baggage can weigh heavily on a person and this baggage can be reduced over time and the load lightened significantly, freeing up more energy to be available for living life to the full.

It is also important to say that breath work is particularly helpful for people who cannot talk about what they are going through - for example someone with Post Traumatic Stress, who by talking about their experience continually relives it. You do not need to explain, nor tell you story, for Breath4Life to be effective. In fact, in generally, you will be encouraged to talk a lot less about your story and use the breath work session itself to support your healing process.

To book a personal complimentary clarity call with me, or to find out dates for taster sessions, please email: jill@acorntooak.org.uk. 

For more information about Breath4Life™ please visit www.acorntooak.org.uk