The Breath Letter #23
Dear Breather,
I’m writing this letter on my way home from a retreat in Portugal; reflecting on everything that happened.
Rather than describing it to you, I invite you to give yourself permission to take a 10min break to experience it for yourself.
Imagine a warm, safe space.
A beautiful environment.
Gentle people around you, who you feel connected to and who wish you the best.
Play this song.
Take a gentle breath, drop into your body.
Close your eyes, and notice what is coming alive.
From the 17th until the 22nd of October I’ll be organising another Breathwork retreat in Portugal:
EntryPoints
A 6-day Breathwork and Somatics experience in Portugal.
As a Breath Letter subscriber I’d love to offer you a 15% discount.
Find out more here.
The Breath
Spaciousness
Something I’m noticing more and more in both 1:1 and group sessions is that the amount of space we allow ourselves to take up inside our own body is a reflection of the amount of space we give our parts to express themselves.
The more ideas we have about how we should be, the more feelings and parts we suppress.
This leads to a contracted body, in which the breath can’t move freely.
This is not to be judged, your body did what it had to do to stay safe.
But maybe it is something to be observed and potentially change.
Instructions:
Sit or lie down in a comfortable position.
If you haven’t yet, this would be a great time to play the song from the intro, or something similar.
Bring your attention to your breath and notice.
Where does my breath naturally go?
Where is there a restriction?
And every time you come across a restriction, see if you can find some space there; either with the breath or with your attention until it softens.
Continue this process until there’s no more restrictions in the body.
Not through force, but gentleness.
Keep going until you’ve taken up all possible space, from your toes to your cranium.
The Insights
Build your own “placenta”.
Last week I had a full week of training on everything related to “Birth”.
From conception to post labour and everything in between.
Something that really stayed with me is how one of the first things you did in life (as an embryo) was to develop your own placenta.
We stop our own growth process, and spend our energy on creating an environment for ourselves that is both protective and nourishing. Making sure that what enters our tiny system is safe and healthy for us. And only when that’s done do we fully focus on our own growth again.
I think this is absolutely incredible and something to keep on doing throughout life.
“We don't heal to be able to handle our trauma, but to be able to handle our joy”
Something that also came up at the retreat last week was the need for joy, playfulness and happiness.
Sometimes we can get so obsessed with (working through) our pains and trauma that we can forget why we’ve started this process in the first place.
It has become another identity or task on the to-do list, endless healing and with that an ongoing agony.
So maybe consider to also take breaks from that process.
Let it all land a little, enjoy the gained space and experience the created extension on the opposite side of your experiential spectrum; where joy, excitement and playfulness live.
The Content
The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy - Deb Dana
“Trauma compromises our ability to engage with others by replacing patterns of connection with patterns of protection.
If unresolved, these early adaptive survival responses become habitual autonomic patterns. Therapy through a polyvagal lens supports clients in repatterning the ways their autonomic nervous systems operate when the drive to survive competes with the longing to connect with others.”
Trauma Release Exercises - TRE
I have developed a whole new appreciation for shaking.
Shaking is such a natural, innate, mechanism to get rid of stress in the body and I would highly recommend the video above.
I was also deeply touched by the story of how TRE came about.
The person who developed it, Dr. David Berceli, had spent a lot of time in war torn countries and he observed how when people were hiding in the shelters the children would shake and tremble but the adults wouldn’t. Once the danger had passed the children would go back to play, where the adults still seemed stuck.
Wise Yourself Up - Breathlife in conversation with Carla McGreevy
Carla and I studied the breath together, and is also working in the world of somatics.
We spoke about different types of breathwork, the bodies innate capacity to fix itself and many other things. I really enjoyed this conversation!
Also check out Carla on Instagram for everything else she offers.
The Experiences
24th of May @ Soulstice - Primrose Hill - Breathwork session
Such a wonderful venue and perfect for those who live in West-London.
This small studio (max. 8 people), has a great feel and vibe to it all. Like a little safety cave to explore what wants to come alive
Tickets here
15th of June - Half Day Breathwork Experience @ Soma hOMe
Experience everything the breath has to offer in this breathing deep-dive covering the science behind and practice of functional breathing and of course a full, long, breathwork session!
In this 4-hour workshop you'll walk away with:
- An understanding of the Nervous System
- New Breathing Techniques
- A Personalised Daily Breathing Practice
- A full transformational breathwork experience
- A little gift...
Ongoing Breathwork Classes @ Sauna and Plunge - Shoreditch
I’ve recently joined the Sauna & Plunge team!
I’ll be providing breathwork session on Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
But definitely also check out the other practitioners or go for an actual sauna and plunge experience.
A real gem in the heart of London!
Check it out here.
The Micropractice
Go for a little walk and observe everything “nature” around you.
What can you learn from it?
