an accidental journey
I began my breathwork journey on accident, never having heard of it before. Yoga teacher training had always been in the back of my head; in 2018 I signed up for a 200 hour training as a sort of retreat for personal growth. At that point yoga was a part of my daily life and had helped me through some difficult times- both physically and mentally. However I had no plans of actually teaching or using the training for anything other than a fun experience.
The years leading up to this training had been really tough emotionally. I was in a difficult relationship and struggled with extreme anxiety and mental health issues. This manifested itself in physical pain in my body, for which I had countless scans & tests done but the doctors never found anything “wrong”. During the YTT we learned about how trauma can manifest in the body and can cause physical symptoms. I remember asking my teacher about this after the lesson, at which point she offered me a way to help release the weight- if I could just remain open to the experience.
She led me through my first breathwork session and it completely shifted my reality.
With the one session I was able to clear some of the blockages which had been causing me physical pain. I left YTT feeling transformed, and like I had been given such a gift. I ended up taking another training with my teacher so I could learn how to practice the breathwork on myself, and have used this as a tool ever since.
Since learning about breathwork I’ve wanted to share this practice with others in the hopes they could have a similar experience. I’ve let fear hold me back- fear that I wouldn’t be able to correctly guide someone through it, fear that I would be judged for being vulnerable, fear that I wouldn’t be able to succeed as a teacher. I’ve finally come to a point where I’m more afraid of what will happen if I don’t do it- that I’d be stuck living a life I wasn’t fully satisfied with because of the fear holding me back. For this reason I decided to begin my training as a facilitator- which will give me the tools I need to correctly guide someone, and will help me to lean into my vulnerability and to use that as a stepping stone towards the life I want to lead.
