Breath as a pathway to presence
What if resistance is really a messenger that calls us to be here now?
When I first started to practice breathwork, pretty much all of my sessions were profound and intense. I felt as if each one revealed a new insight that completely blew my mind. And the coolest part was that this was all already within me. All I had to do was lean into the space of being and breathing.
And then somewhere along the way, the sessions became a little more subtle and less intense. The insights became a little more grounded. So in today’s letter I want to talk about this idea that we might become attached to when we first start a breathwork practice - and that is the need and the desire for a profound experience every single time.
If you’re new to this space, hello, my name is Silvia and I am a Breathwork and Cosmic Wisdom guide. This space is an exploration of what it truly means to pave our own path. Welcome, fellow wanderer!
In a recent breathwork session, I had such a wave of resistance wash over me. As a facilitator, I always empower my breathers to use the breath as a pathway through the resistance. So, I followed my own guidance and tried to breathe through it. Nothing changed. I tried to shake it off. The resistance was still there. I even tried to dance it away. And then it hit me.
What if we are not meant to breathe through it, or shake it off, or dance it away?
What if we simply acknowledge our resistance and allow it to be here?
What if the resistance is a messenger?
What if we are simply invited to be with this discomfort and meet our resistance with grace?
So, I allowed it to be here. I surrendered to it and opened up my body for the message that was so clearly wanting to come through. And the message was so clear.
Resistance is our pathway to surrender.
Breath is our pathway to presence.
When we first start a conscious connected breathwork practice, we might experience these sessions more intensely. Breathwork is a powerful practice that allows us to release stuck and stagnant energy. It is a practice that cultivates a deeper connection with our selves, our most inner selves. And the way it does it is through our physiology.
During a conscious connected breathwork session, we start by acknowleding the body through our Felt Sense and the aim of that is to start cultivating body awareness so that we can open up our body archive and listen to the answers within. And the important part here is to cultivate trust within what we hear or feel or sense.
Once we connect consciously to our breath through a specific technique, we are slowly starting to build our body’s ability to activate the sympathetic nervous system. Breath is energy and when we choose to breathe consciously in a specific way, we bring in a lot of energy into our body. And with that new energy in our body, we can move to altered states of consciousness, which is where the magic of breathwork truly lies.
This altered state takes us out of our mental realm and deeper into our body. It is the bridge that moves us from the analytical and critical mind to a state of presence and stillness. We navigate through different brainwaves where we can get access to what’s stored in our bodies.
Once we reach the peak of the conscious breathing, spaciousness opens up. We slow our breathing down to activate our rest and digest state. And it is within this stage where we can have access to the unconscious mind. It is quite common for breathers to receive messages through words or images. It is also quite common to find clarity for certain past experiences and receive closure for past pain.
It can be a state of pure bliss and peace, oneness and timelessness. And it is through my own personal experience that this is where we connect to our true nature, free from all conditioning, free from various painful or frustrating life circumstances.
It is a state where we are fully present to life’s mysteries. It is a state of pure awe and wonder.
The way we breathe has a direct correlation to the way we think, act, or behave. Our breath holds the power to change our state of mind. It holds the power to connect to our true nature and then fully embody it. And that is pure magic. And it is so easily accessible to all of us. We can all use our breath to change our state of being. Our breath can open up new ways of being. If there’s a story that’s been keeping us stuck, our breath holds the power to change it.
Our breath holds the power to heal and rewrite our stories.
And that was very much my initial experience with conscious connected breathwork. I was able to cultivate a deeper connection with my true nature and start to un-become everything I’d been conditioned or told to be, or told myself to be. I started to slowly re-member who I was born to be. I started to rewrite some of the stories that had been keeping me stuck in an anxious state for a long time. And, I am finding, the more regularly I practice breathwork, the deeper I am able to go.
And what I really mean by it is that breathwork can open up a whole new way of being in this world. It’s not like we’re gonna walk around on cloud nine all the time, but our everyday perspective shifts. We are able to see this world through a new lens - a lens that highlights our interconnectedness and the way we impose suffering on ourselves and each other.
Our breath calls us to be more present.
It calls us to meet ourselves and each other with love, compassion, and grace. It invites us to be here now which is really the only place to be. It is the only place where we can change our life circumstance but it all starts with us taking that courageous step to choose to be here now with all that this moment holds.
And that is really the beauty of a continuous breathwork practice. It is not about the big and profound revelations but, rather, the subtle and grounded shifts that each session invites us into. It is the constant reminder to bring ourselves back to the present moment, back to the union between our body, mind, and soul.
I’m curious: are you familiar with conscious connected breathwork? If so, what was your initial experience like? What’s your practice like now?
Curious about conscious connected breathwork?
Would you like to explore your breath with me?
I’ve opened up my calendar for some 1:1 straight-up breathwork sessions. These sessions are 1hr 15 minutes and the cost is currently at £33. I’d love to invite you to book your session HERE.
Or, if you have any questions about the breathwork or the session, you can send me a message.
Alternatively, you can come and explore the Pilgrim’s Inn which is a fusion of Breathwork and Cosmic Wisdom. In these sessions, we explore your stories through your unique cosmic blueprint. This may involve looking at your Human Design, astrology, and the Gene Keys. And then we bring it into the body through the conscious connected breathwork so that you can explore and discover your true nature through your body archive.
These sessions are 2 hours and the cost is currently £111.