What is Therapeutic Breathwork?

You can understand your history and still feel its effects in the smallest moments. Clenching the steering wheel. Holding your breath during a difficult conversation. Tensing when someone walks behind you, even when you know you're safe.

I know those moments. Reconnecting with my breath and body has changed how I move through them. It's part of why I do this work.

Understanding what happened matters. So does noticing how we're responding now, and having more choice in what happens next.

What is therapeutic breathwork?

Therapeutic breathwork is the intentional use of breathing techniques to support emotional, physical, and mental well-being. Breathing is usually automatic. In breathwork, we work with it on purpose and pay attention to what shifts in the body and mind as we do.

My approach combines a conscious connection, breathwork, somatic awareness, guidance, lived experience, and intentional integration. We pay attention to what's happening in the body: tension, sensation, emotion, and the patterns we may not notice until we slow down enough to feel them.

There's room to talk about your experience, but you don't have to explain your entire history to participate. We begin with where you are. And sometimes not knowing where you are is part of it.

What makes breathwork somatic?

Somatics describes the body as experienced from the inside, through felt sense, sensation, and internal awareness. Somatic breathwork uses the breath as a doorway into that awareness. The goal is to notice and respond with curiosity rather than to perform a technique correctly. Asing yourself, “what is my inner weather report today?” and then really noticing and describing what that is.

I'm interested in helping you develop a deeper relationship with your body through curiosity, awareness, and choice. Sometimes that feels unfamiliar. Sometimes it's uncomfortable. There is no expectation that you arrive knowing how to do any of it.

Breathwork and the wider world of somatic practices

A controlled breathwork practice belongs to a larger family of somatic practices, approaches that use internal awareness, movement, and attention to the body to support health and well-being. They differ in their methods and aims, but they share a premise: the mind-body connection is something you can experience directly, not only think about.

A brief history of somatic education

Yoga practice is one of the oldest examples. It has worked with breath, posture, and awareness for thousands of years. In the early twentieth century, physical medicine treated breathing, posture, and exercise as remedial agents. Around the same time, movement educators began developing their own methods:

• The Alexander Technique. Developed by F.M. Alexander, it focuses on habits of tension in posture and movement.

• The Feldenkrais Method. Created by Moshé Feldenkrais, it uses slow, exploratory movement to refine how we organize body weight, effort, and coordination.

• Body psychotherapy. Traditions from Wilhelm Reich to Alexander Lowen's bioenergetics explored how emotions, tension, and energy are held in the body.

• Somatic movement and dance education. Dancers and educators brought these ideas into training, emphasizing sensation over appearance.

In 1976, Thomas Hanna named this field "somatics," and somatic education has continued to develop since. In recent years, interest has grown in somatic techniques as tools for stress, anxiety, chronic pain, and trauma, alongside psychotherapy and medical treatment rather than in place of them.

Where breathwork fits

These practices represent different doors into the same room. Some begin with movement, some with touch, some with talk. Breathwork begins with the breath, the one essential process that is both automatic and within our control. That makes it a direct way to build awareness of physical sensations, emotions, and patterns of tension, and to practice regulation in daily life.

Why work with the breath?

When we pay attention, we can begin noticing when we hold the breath, rush it, or brace through something difficult.

The breath is one of the few functions of the autonomic nervous system we can also influence directly. Slower breathing, especially a longer exhale, tends to engage the parasympathetic nervous system, the branch associated with rest and recovery. Faster breathing tends to activate the sympathetic stress response. Working with the breath gives us a way to work with the nervous system in real time.

It also gives us something immediate to work with. You don't have to figure out your whole life in that moment. You can notice your jaw. Your shoulders. The way you're breathing. You can pause and decide what you need. You can return to it anywhere in daily life, which makes it one of the most practical tools for building calm and focus.

For me, that is a meaningful part of this practice: what becomes available outside the session, in the middle of an ordinary day.

Types of breathwork

"Breathwork" covers a wide range of practices with very different intentions and intensities. Some common approaches:

• Conscious connected breathing. A continuous breath without pauses between the inhale and exhale. This is the core of my sessions.

• Holotropic Breathwork. Developed in the 1970s by psychiatrist Stanislav Grof and Christina Grof, after legal restrictions ended Stanislav's research with LSD-assisted therapy. Sessions are typically long and paired with evocative music.

• Rebirthing breathwork. Created by Leonard Orr in the 1970s, Rebirthing is one of the foundational Western connected breathing techniques. Orr believed the practice could help people process birth trauma. Many contemporary practitioners have since moved away from that framing and work with whatever arises in the present.

• Pranayama. Pranayama has one of the longest histories of any breathwork method. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras name it as the fourth of yoga's eight limbs. Later hatha yoga texts describe specific techniques, such as Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing), that use rhythm, retention, and nasal patterns to direct and control prana, the life force or vital energy. Today it is often taught as part of a broader yoga practice, alongside meditation.

• Wim Hof Method. Developed by Dutch extreme athlete Wim Hof, it combines cycles of rapid, deep breathing, extended breath holds (retentions), and cold exposure to influence the autonomic nervous system.

• Slow and regulating breathing. Diaphragmatic breathing, box breathing, and resonance (coherent) breathing, often used for stress management, focus, and sleep.

These practices aren't interchangeable. A slow, regulating breath and an extended connected breath ask very different things of the body. Part of my role is choosing what fits you, and adjusting as we go.

What is conscious connected breathing?

Conscious connected breathing links the inhale and exhale without an intentional pause between them. In my sessions, I guide the practice and adjust it with you rather than asking you to keep up with a fixed pace.

It can be an intense experience. Emotions may come up. Some people cry, laugh, or feel very quiet. Others notice physical sensations without a clear emotion or story attached to them.

More is not automatically better. Faster or deeper breathing lowers carbon dioxide levels in the blood, which can cause tingling, lightheadedness, dizziness, or cramping in the hands and face. Those sensations are a physiological response to overbreathing. They are not proof that trauma is leaving the body, and they aren't something you need to push through. We can slow down, return to a natural breath, or stop.

Fast vs. slow breathing: how they affect the nervous system

Not all breathwork asks the same thing of the body. Fast, connected styles, like Holotropic Breathwork, Rebirthing, and conscious connected breathing, create a controlled activation of the sympathetic nervous system, the "fight-or-flight" branch. Energy rises. Carbon dioxide drops. Emotions that usually stay below the surface may come forward.

Slow, paced breathing moves in the other direction. It quiets sympathetic activity, slows the heart rate, and can ease acute anxiety. With regular practice, it may also help lower blood pressure.

Neither is better. They're different tools, and knowing which one a moment calls for is part of the work.

Benefits of breathwork

Research on the therapeutic effect of breathwork has grown in recent years, and its effectiveness looks promising, though the knowledge base is still developing. Studies have found that structured breathing practices can reduce self-reported stress and anxiety. A 2023 Stanford study found that a few minutes of daily slow, exhale-focused breathing improved mood more than mindfulness meditation alone.

People often describe benefits such as:

• Less reactivity to everyday stress

• More awareness of emotions and body sensations

• Greater ability to self-regulate during difficult moments

• Easing of tension and chronic pain

• Improved sleep and relaxation

• A felt sense of release or spaciousness

Experiences vary, and I don't promise specific outcomes. What I see most consistently is less dramatic and more durable: people get better at noticing what's happening in them, and at having a choice about what comes next.

Breathwork and trauma

Trauma can affect how we respond long after an experience has ended. We may understand why we react a certain way and still struggle to respond differently when something brings that feeling back.

In trauma-informed breathwork, we approach those responses with curiosity. You don't need to relive an experience or produce an emotional release. You also don't need to make sense of every sensation as it happens.

I work within what's often called the window of tolerance, the range where you can feel something without being overwhelmed by it. We move in small amounts, toward intensity and back toward steadiness, rather than flooding the system.

My intention is to offer space to notice what's there, recognize your limits, and practice making choices that respect them. Feeling safe cannot be demanded of the body, and an intense session is not necessarily a more useful one. Healing here looks less like a breakthrough and more like an expanding capacity to stay present.

What happens in a breathwork session?

Each session is different. We start by checking in. What's happening for you today? What would you like me to know? We discuss the practice, any relevant health considerations, and how you can adjust or stop at any point.

From there, I guide the breathing and somatic work. Your experience may be emotional, physical, quiet, or difficult to put into words. None of those responses determines whether you've done it correctly.

We leave time afterward to settle and reflect. Integration might mean talking about what you noticed, identifying something you want to explore further, or simply giving yourself time before moving into the rest of your day.

The breath is the practice. Awareness is the invitation. Release is a possibility. Integration is where the work continues.

Who is breathwork for?

People come to breathwork for many reasons: chronic stress, anxiety, grief, a sense of disconnection from their body, a life transition, or curiosity. Some are already in therapy and want a body-based practice alongside it. Others have done a lot of thinking about their patterns and want to work with them somatically.

Every individual experience is different. Some people notice a beneficial effect on mood or sleep quickly; for others the shifts are subtler.

You don't need a dramatic story or a clear explanation for wanting to come.

Health and safety

Screening is required before participating in active breathwork. Please share any relevant medical or mental health conditions, including:

• Pregnancy

• Cardiovascular conditions, high blood pressure, or history of stroke or aneurysm

• Epilepsy or seizure history

• Glaucoma or retinal detachment

• Recent surgery or injury

• History of fainting or panic attacks

• Psychosis, bipolar disorder, or other significant psychiatric conditions

Depending on your circumstances, we may need medical clearance, modifications, or a gentler, regulating approach instead of connected breathing.

You can change your mind at any point in a session. Slowing down or stopping is part of having agency in the work.

Breathwork and therapy

Breathwork does not replace medical care or psychotherapy, and I don't promise that it will resolve trauma or a particular condition. It isn't designed to treat or diagnose disease or mental health disorders, and it isn't a substitute for medicine. Many patients use it as one support among several.

For many people it works well alongside talk therapy. Therapy offers a place to understand and make meaning, and breathwork offers a place to feel and practice. If you're working with a therapist, I'm glad to coordinate with them.

Frequently asked questions about breathwork

Is breathwork safe?

For most people, guided breathwork is safe when it's screened, paced, and adjusted to the individual. Slow, Regulating Breathwork: Universally Safe. High-Intensity Breathwork: Powerful & Requires Caution. Because high-intensity breathwork temporarily alters blood chemistry, elevates pressure in the torso and eyes, and triggers a controlled "fight-or-flight" response, it is absolutely contraindicated (unsafe) for individuals with certain conditions. The Golden Safety Rule: Environment Matters.

What does breathwork feel like?

It varies. Common sensations include tingling, warmth, heaviness, emotional waves, or deep stillness. Some sessions feel big, and many feel quiet. Both are valid. Both are powerful.

Can breathwork release trauma?

Breathwork can help you notice and work with how stress and trauma show up in the body. I don't frame it as "releasing" trauma on demand. Change tends to come from repeated experiences of feeling something and staying with yourself through it.

How often should I do breathwork?

Some people come weekly for a stretch of time. Others come monthly or as needed. Short, gentle daily practices between sessions often make the biggest difference.

What should I do after a session?

Give yourself some transition time. Drink water, eat something grounding, go for a walk, take a warm bath or shower, and avoid rushing into a demanding task if you can. Notice what comes up over the next day or two. When needed, crawl into your bed and grieve and rest.

Can I do breathwork virtually?

Yes. Virtual sessions follow the same structure as in-person sessions, and many people appreciate practicing in their own space.

Working with me

I offer private, couples, and group breathwork in Seattle, including ROOTED at Cedarhouse Flowers, as well as private virtual sessions.

If you're curious about this work, we can start there.

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