The origins of Breathwork
Breathwork isn't just a trendy new thing; it's a lost art. Ancient cultures all over the world, from India to the Arctic, have been using breath practices for thousands of years to reach altered states of consciousness and find inner peace.
Breathwork's roots run deep, entwined with the fabric of ancient civilizations and spiritual traditions worldwide. From the Sanskrit concept of Prana to the Hawaiian understanding of Ha, breath has been revered as the essence of life and a conduit to spiritual realms.
In India, the practice of yoga, with its emphasis on pranayama, dates back to the pre-Ayuran Harappa culture, around 3000-1500 BCE. Yogis developed numerous conscious breathing practices aimed at cleansing the body and mind, seeking insights into the self and the universe.
Similarly, Chinese Qi Gong, originating around 2000 BCE, emphasizes the control of breath to harmonize the body's energy flow. Taoist traditions, including those described by Lao Tzu around 400 BCE, also incorporate breath control in meditative exercises.
Across continents, shamanic cultures have embraced breathwork for healing and spiritual evolution. For centuries Australian aboriginals have played the didgeridoo, an instrument requiring good lung capacity and mastery of circular breathing. In these traditions breathing is seen as a gateway to states of awareness and connection, and addressing physical and emotional ailments. Engaging in these societies, breathing has functioned as a type of somatic therapy guiding individuals on profound journeys of self discovery.
In the modern era, figures like Wilhelm Reich and Alexander Lowen integrated breathwork into psychotherapy, laying the foundation for contemporary practices. Stanislav Grof's Holotropic Breathwork, born out of LSD-assisted therapy research in the 1950s, brought breathwork to mainstream attention in the 1960s. Leonard Orr's Rebirthing Breathwork, developed around the same time, further popularized breathwork as a tool for accessing buried traumas and emotions.
In the 21st century, figures like Wim Hof have brought breathwork to a wider audience through extreme feats and scientific exploration. Today, a plethora of breathwork modalities, from Integrative Breathwork to Clarity Breathwork, offer pathways to healing, self-discovery, and spiritual growth.
As breathwork continues to evolve, each modality becomes a unique journey influenced by both ancient wisdom and contemporary innovation. Ultimately, the power of breath lies not just in the techniques themselves but in the intention and connection fostered between facilitator and practitioner. So, whether exploring ancient yogic practices or modern breathwork modalities, trust your intuition and open yourself to the transformative potential of conscious breathing.
In many languages and dialects, including Andean Quechua, Amazonian Quechua, Tibetan, Aramaic, and others, the word for breath is the same word that is used to describe life, spirit, and soul.
The English word 'spirit' comes from the Latin Spiritus meaning “a breath”.
The Hebrew and Greek words used for spirit or soul are words that can also mean “breath”.
The word Prana translates to mean “air and breath” but also means the “sacred essence of life” in Indian philosophy.
The word, Ha, is the word for “breath” in the Hawaiian language, and is related to the word Mana, which is the “spiritual force”.
The word in Chinese medicine for breath and the air that we breathe is Chi. This word also means the “universal and cosmic energy of life”.
The word Ki is also similar in the Japanese tradition, which plays a significant role in martial arts, and many other spiritual practices.
In Greek, the word, pneuma, translates to “air/breath” but was also used as “spirit” or “life energy”. The Greeks believed that the breath is connected to the mind and that spirit and mind are both closely related.
The connection between breath, mind, and spirit dates back through many ancient civilizations. Many of these cultures worked with the breath by creating and practising different breathing techniques. Some breathing techniques were meant to alter consciousness for various religious, spiritual, and ceremonial purposes.
Breathwork also served as a healing modality throughout many shamanic cultures around the world. Each breathing technique varies among cultures, but there is a universal theme:
Breathwork is a technique that fosters a non-ordinary state of consciousness to facilitate self-discovery, healing, transformation, performance, nervous system regulation, traditional therapy and much more.
But with the steady respiratory illnesses and anxiety diagnosis on a steady incline, one thing we know for sure is the power of our breath is undervalued in today's culture and the art of conscious breathing is at stakes for the use of pyramid schemes, quick bucks and misconception.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to pinpoint the origins of breathwork.
Many ancient disciplines, practices and spiritual traditions placed the breath at the center of our connection to the spiritual world. And According to Ken Wilber, meditation facilitated with breathwork is the only practice that has been scientifically proven to accelerate spiritual growth.
It was not until the early 19th century, when these practices were brought to the attention of the Western world, that we began to develop the modern, contemporary forms of breathwork that we see today.
By fusing together different breathwork practices, present-day practitioners were able to develop more particular forms of breathwork useful for specific purposes. Contemporary breathwork, that is, breathwork in the modern world, is largely a fusion of various ancient practices.
Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957), a pioneering psychoanalyst who gained notoriety for his development of the orgone accumulator device, also introduced a form of therapy that he called Vegitotherapy. This type of therapy blended breathwork with psychoanalysis, deep tissue massage and various movements.
Alexander Lowen (1910-2008) was another esteemed psychiatrist who encouraged the combination of breathwork and movement in his practice.
While these pioneers brought breathwork to the West, breathwork didn’t gain widespread popularity until the 1960s when the mainstream took onto the idea of raising consciousness through holistic methods.
Holotropic Breathwork,
developed by Stanislav Grof (1931-present) during this period, was designed to combine rigorous mouth breathing and music to encourage the release of stored memories and beliefs that could be contributing to trauma or unhealthy behavior.
The origins of holotropic breathwork can be traced back to Grof’s work with LSD-assisted psychotherapy in the 1950s and 1960s. Grof felt that psychoanalysis and talk therapy didn’t fully address certain mental health issues. He looked for new avenues and began exploring LSD-assisted therapy as a way to reach deeper levels of the unconscious mind, potentially promoting healing and even spiritual awakenings.
When LSD was banned in the United States in 1966, Grof and his wife Christina turned to other methods of inducing altered states of consciousness, including a variety of breathing techniques, drawing on their experiences with shamanic traditions, yoga, martial arts and other spiritual practices.Their research revealed that specific breathing patterns, combined with music and other sensory elements, could induce altered states of consciousness resembling those experienced with LSD. This was a massive paradigm shift for modern consciousness theory, and present-day breathwork. They called this approach “Holotropic Breathwork”, with “holotropic” meaning “moving towards wholeness.”
Rebirthing breathwork,
developed at a similar era, helped to bring breathwork not just into mainstream focus but to psychiatric attention. Leonard Orr, was born in New York, USA, and founded the Rebirthing Breathwork movement. He discovered breathwork while sitting in a hot tub experimenting with deep breathing patterns. Leonard found that breathwork helped to reach a non-ordinary state of consciousness where memories, pictures, emotions, or body sensations can surface to be reviewed, released, and integrated.
Rebirthing Breathwork is based on nasal breathing and is practiced without any other exterior stimulus rather than the advice of the rebirther guiding the session.
Breathwork today
Since the 70s, contemporary breathwork therapy has become more and more popular, leading to the myriad styles and models of breathwork available to us today.
In the beginning of the 21st century Wim Hof, also known as "The Iceman", brought breathwork practices more into the public and science. Wim Hof is a Dutch extreme athlete and alternative therapist who has gained fame for his ability to withstand extremely cold temperatures. Through his world records such as climbing Mount Everest in just shorts and running a marathon in the Namib Desert without water, TV shows and seminars, Hof has been able to popularise his breathwork method and helped it to reach a wide audience.
Like this more people started doing Pranayama and breathwork and many people, including athletes and individuals with chronic health conditions, have reported benefits from practicing breathwork. This has helped to make breathwork more and more popular.
Hof has worked with scientists to study the effects of his method on the body. In one study, researchers found that breathwork can increase the release of anti-inflammatory molecules in the body, which help to reduce the risk of infection and disease.
Breathwork as a business
Today breathwork businesses have labelled and patented techniques derived from these ancient methodologies with their own “flavour”. Many of these modalities are extremely similiar, just marketed differently. So how do you cut through the noise in an oversaturated market?
Breathwork is now being used by pyramid schemes to create quick wealth and push through large quantities of facilitators without the ideal experience and knowledge to be holding such vulnerable spaces.
Red Flags to look out for
If the breathwork facilitator has claimed they are trained in a particular type of breathwork modality. You can search on that schools website to see if they are an accredited facilitator
Steer clear of any facilitators that advertise short, cheap breathwork training with emphasise on “the booming breathwork industry”
The use of unrealistic result language, anything that promises you a result that seems to good to be true. It is! Breathwork is not a quick fix, you can absolutely have fast tracked progress in comparison to other therapeutic approaches, however it requires consistency and integration of mindfulness, self awareness and discipline to see long term results.
Claim of fame, anyone who is self-proclaiming to be the best in the business, is a business person. Not a space holder. Some of the best in the business are not even active on social media, and dont have great marketing. So allow your intuition to guide you.
Breathwork Experiences for you to explore
Biodynamic Breath; Developed by Giten Tonkov, author of Feel to Heal - Releasing Trauma Through Body Awareness and Breathwork Practice, BioDynamic Breathwork aims to help people overcome emotional barriers and difficulties. BioDynamic Breathwork integrates breath, movement, sound, touch, emotion, and meditation to create a holistic system for mind-body healing. The primary focus of BioDynamic Breathwork is to release trauma stored in both the physical and mental parts of the body.
Holotropic Breathwork; The process of Holotropic Breathwork is quite simple. It involves a combination of accelerated breathing and evocative music that encourages the release or surfacing of various memories, emotions, or information stored in the subconscious. Holotropic Breathwork focuses on helping to expand the ‘cartography of the psyche,’ a concept developed by Grof in 1988.(8) It is in this transpersonal dimension of the human psyche where Grof believes that the most powerful and significant transformations occur. Holotropic Breathwork is generally offered to groups, though one-on-one sessions are also possible. Holotropic Breathwork aims to identify what each individual practitioner needs to work on, and as such as no specific client focus.
Integrative Breathwork; Integrative Breathwork is a technique that was developed by Jacquelyn Small, a student and colleague of Stan Grof, the pioneer behind the Holotropic Breathwork model. Known fully as Eupsychia Integrative Breathwork. Integrative Breathwork places a greater focus on vocal toning, movement, and physical facilitating (such as the use of acupressure points or bodywork) to encourage surrender and to help move stuck emotions and memories.
Clarity Breathwork; Clarity Breathwork expanded from Rebirthing Breathwork as an effort to acknowledge an entire lifetime of experiences rather than just those of birth. Brought forward by Leonard Orr and further developed by Sondra Ray, Clarity Breathwork is a process that is said to work by opening the subconscious and improving self-awareness
Rebirthing Breathwork; Rebirthing Breathwork focuses on a trauma shared among all human beings: the trauma of birth. Sessions are led by trained instructors who take you through a practice of circular breathing - quick, shallow breaths - for up to two hours.
Wim Hof method: The Method is based on three powerful pillars
Breathing
The first pillar of the Wim Hof Method® is breathing. We’re always breathing, yet we’re mostly unaware of its tremendous potential. Heightened oxygen levels hold a treasure trove of benefits, and the specialized breathing technique of the Wim Hof Method® unearths them all: more energy, reduced stress levels, and an augmented immune response that swiftly deals with pathogens.
Cold therapy
The cold is your warm friend and one of the three pillars of the Wim Hof Method®. Proper exposure to the cold starts a cascade of health benefits, including the buildup of brown adipose tissue and resultant fat loss, reduced inflammation that facilitates a fortified immune system, balanced hormone levels, improved sleep quality, and the production of endorphins— the feel-good chemicals in the brain that naturally elevate your mood.
Commitment
The third pillar of the Wim Hof Method® is the foundation of the other two: both cold exposure and conscious breathing require patience and dedication in order to be fully mastered. Armed with focus and determination you are ready to explore and eventually master your own body and mind.
Oxygen Advantage Created by Patrick Mckeown, the creator of the Buteyko method with a strong focus on breathing for sports performance and high altitude training.
Buteyko Method: The Buteyko Method first arrived to Australia and the UK from Russia in the early 1990s. Early on the method was popular with adults and children suffering from asthma. Over the past number of years, the Buteyko Method has shown to be efficacious in helping improve a number of breathing related problems including:
Respiratory: asthma, rhinitis, hayfever
Neurological: Anxiety, stress and panic attacks
Childhood development: dental health,craniofacial development and ADHD
Sleep disordered breathing: insomnia, snoring, central sleep apnea, obstructive sleep apnea
Businesses offering experiences of these methods:
Morning Mindfulness offers a holistic approach to breathwork, blending various techniques and modalities to create a comprehensive experience. By carefully selecting guided rhythmic breathing patterns, music, and somatic bodywork, Morning Mindfulness crafts sessions tailored to specific themes, offering practitioners a rich and immersive journey.
The emphasis on integration, support, and providing tools beyond the breathwork experience itself speaks to a commitment to holistic well-being. This approach acknowledges that true transformation often occurs not just during the session but in how individuals integrate those experiences into their daily lives.
Drawing from the influences of Holotropic Breathwork, traditional yogic pranayama, and the Wim Hof method, Morning Mindfulness offers a diverse range of tools to facilitate altered states of consciousness and inner exploration. By incorporating evocative music and circular breathwork, practitioners are guided towards deeper levels of awareness and self-discovery.
This blending of ancient wisdom with modern techniques reflects a nuanced understanding of breathwork's potential for personal growth and transformation. Morning Mindfulness provides a supportive environment for individuals to explore the depths of their inner world while offering practical tools to navigate their journey beyond the session.
Yoga Lap Yogalap founder Michaël Bijker has been improving the mental and physical well-being of tens of thousands of people around the world from all genders, backgrounds, and walks of life. Michaël has felt a connection with that source since he started his spiritual journey at the age of 14. Four years later he was able to heal and recover from a devastating car crash due to the powerful methods of QiGong and Yoga, and the Grace of God.
Breathless is a complete holistic system of breathwork techniques, taught in multidimensional ways from workshops to consultations and classes to online courses and app based instruction.
Grounded in science, but recognising the transformative and magical nature of breathwork, they are dedicated to helping you explore the power that lies within.
And the list goes on, I am still making my way through the list and although many of these are using the same techniques the smallest change from our own headspace on the day to the facilitator holding space will completely alter your experience each time. So give everything a go, lean into your intuition. Your body and mind knows when you connect with someone and trust them to hold space for you. Open heart and mind is all you need to reap benefits from any experienced facilitation of breath therapy.