If you’ve ever wondered how to feel more grounded, clear, and connected to your intuition - this episode is your invitation!
In this episode, Rae shares her personal journey with breathwork - from a transformative trip to Vermont to how it now weaves through her work as a somatic therapist, somatic coach, and breathwork facilitator. You'll walk away with a deeper understanding of how to integrate breathwork into your daily life and why this practice is a powerful portal for nervous system healing, emotional release, and returning to your truest self.
In this episode, you'll learn:
🌬️ What breathwork is and how it works on a somatic level
🌬️ Rae’s trauma-informed approach to integrative and meditative breath practices
🌬️ How breathwork supports nervous system regulation, emotional release, and creative flow
🌬️ Real-life ways to use breathwork as an anchor in daily life, in guided sessions, as self-practice, or in community
🌬️ How breathwork helps you quiet the inner critic and hear your intuition again
🌬️ Why breathwork builds your “regulation muscle” and expands your window of tolerance
Whether you're new to breathwork or deepening your practice, this episode is a loving reminder: you always have your breath.
🌿 Ready to experience the power of breathwork in your own body? Book a 1:1 Integrative Breathwork Session with Rae to shift energy, calm your nervous system, and return to clarity.
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Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast is intended to inspire, educate, and support you on your personal journey. It does not substitute for professional mental health advice. I am not a psychologist or medical professional. If you are experiencing distress, mental health challenges, or medical conditions, please seek help from a qualified professional.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back to the podcast.
If you are new here, I'm Rae,I'm a somatic coach and
breathwork facilitator, and ifyou aren't new here, welcome
back.
I'm so glad that you're tuningin for today's episode.
So before we dive into today'sepisode, I'd love to share just
a few life updates, a little bitabout what I've been up to and
(00:25):
when I'm recording this episode.
It is the beginning of June, soI'm excited because I'm about
to head to Scotland for a fewdays with my husband and another
couple that is like some of ourbest friends and so I'm really
looking forward to that triptrip and we're going to be
spending a few days in Isle ofSkye, which is like northern
(00:48):
Scotland, that's more remote,and that's where a few of the
like well-known films and moviesand shows have been filmed,
like Lord of the Rings and Gameof Thrones.
So I'm excited for that andwe'll hopefully see like a lot
of wildlife.
That's what I'm excited for.
Maybe see some puffins, I don'tknow.
And then we're spending thesecond half of the trip in
(01:12):
Edinburgh and that is more likethe city, seeing castles.
Um, they have butterbeer thereif you're a Harry Potter fan.
So I'm excited for that and,yeah, so I'm excited for this
trip that's coming up.
I haven't packed yet.
I'm having a little bit of cacaoright now as I record this
episode, and I just watered thegarden this morning, so that's
(01:35):
exciting.
I cannot believe how mucheverything is growing.
It is insane how fast it grows.
And this year we're playing.
We planted potatoes, which I'mlike I don't know.
I find this stuff likefascinating.
I think it's so cool.
So those are growing and wewon't harvest them for like a
few months, but you know, theyhave these like flowers that
(01:57):
come up from them and it's just,it's really cool.
So I just finished the secondseries of the ACOTAR books and
that is A Court of Mist and Fury, and I'm not going to give
anything away, but I am up tothe third book right now.
I'm waiting for it to come inon my Kindle and, oh my God, the
(02:17):
ending of the second book wasso good and I cannot wait for
the third book in the series andit's like it's the best.
But at the same time I want tojust reread the second book and
I know that when I finish thisseries I'm going to be like what
do I read next?
But anyway, if you're a reader,you understand.
You understand my pain.
(02:40):
Another thing that I'll sharewith you before we dive into
today's episode just personallife update is that this month
I'm doing a cycle of floweressence.
So flower essence is somethingthat I spoke about.
I think it was episode 81.
And that is all about myintention for this month.
(03:00):
So I'm doing a cycle onpleasure and I'm calling in more
joy.
So I'm feeling good and, yeah,let the good times roll.
More joy sounds good to me.
So now let's dive into today'sepisode.
So today we're going to betalking all about somatic
(03:24):
breathwork, how you can usebreathwork as a practice to
bring you back into your body,back into your regulated state,
really meet yourself whereyou're at, and you can use
breathwork as a tool.
So I found breathwork myselfwhen I was at a yoga festival
(03:44):
with one of my friends abouteight or nine years ago now.
And when you go to these yogafestivals, they have all these
different classes that you canchoose from, and at the time I
was really struggling withanxiety and grief.
It was like the peak of mygrief and anxiety.
I had just lost someone in myfamily about six months prior to
(04:09):
this moment and my mind wasjust like, oh, it was just not
in a good place.
So I go to this yoga festival.
I read the description of thisclass and the class is talking
all about how you can releasegrief, you can release anxiety,
you can connect with your spiritteam, you can really.
(04:30):
I was just talking a lot aboutlike anxiety and grief and
release, and I was like, yes,yes, yes, I need that.
So I went to this class and Ihad a huge emotional release,
which was amazing.
It was the first time that Ifelt like my mind really got
quiet and it was the first timethat I actually felt like
(04:50):
something shifted for me, whichis exactly what I needed at that
time.
And then, you know, years wouldgo on and at the time,
breathwork or like this style ofbreathwork that I'm speaking to
didn't really wasn't reallyaccessible.
It wasn't something that Ireally knew about until I went
to that class at the festival,and so I would drive like an
(05:11):
hour and a half into Brooklyn sothat I could do some breathwork
and fast forward to where I amtoday.
Now I'm a certified breathworkfacilitator.
It's something I'm reallypassionate about.
It's something I incorporateinto my daily life, in my
personal practices and also intomy work as a somatic therapist,
(05:33):
as a somatic coach and, ofcourse, as a breathwork
facilitator.
So it shows up in a lot ofdifferent ways for me in my life
and it's something that I'mpassionate about sharing with
you.
You always have your breath.
It is a tool that you have inyour back pocket.
It is the first thing that youreceive when you come into this
(05:55):
world and it is the last thingthat you'll have when you leave
the earth.
So it is your life force,energy, it is yours, it is your
power.
It will bring you so muchclarity and empowerment and
relief and release andcompassion, and so it's
something I'm very passionateabout.
And there are so many differentforms of breathwork.
(06:18):
There's different styles,there's different ways that you
can incorporate it into yourlife, different ways that you
can receive from the breath, andI'll share a little bit about
my approach.
So my approach is traumainformed somatic breath work.
So that looks like reallytaking into account and attuning
(06:38):
to each person's individualnervous system any kind of
stored trauma that might beliving in the body.
So meeting them with curiosity,compassion, attunement,
titration, pacing, creativity,not having an agenda, really
meeting them where they're at.
(06:59):
So that's like thetrauma-informed piece and then
the somatic piece is reallyworking with the body.
So there's no when it comes tothe body, there's no force,
there's no pressure to perform.
It's really allowing the mindto quiet and allowing the what
the body's needs are to comeonline and when that happens
(07:22):
you're able to release storedtrauma, you're able to complete
a cycle of something.
So like if what happens in thebody is if there is like a
traumatic experience, the cycle,the event never got to complete
, the emotion never got tocomplete and so it becomes stuck
energy in the body.
And when you tune to the bodyand you allow it to move at its
(07:46):
pace and you get curious aboutwhat it needs, you can allow
that trauma to release andcomplete that cycle.
And I can share that in the past, even for myself.
I have gone to a class beforein the past where the the
intention of the class it seemedthat the harder you breathe,
(08:10):
like the more intensely youbreathe, the greater the
transformation, and I don'tactually believe that to be true
.
So in that class I ended upbreathing so hard that I pulled
a muscle in my chest.
I wish I was kidding, butthat's how deeply I was
breathing.
But I actually don't believethat to be true.
(08:31):
I believe that when you attuneto your body and you attune to
your needs and you let the bodymove through the process as it
needs to, that it doesn'tnecessarily mean it needs to be
an intense experience, abackground in trauma and also
(08:53):
has education in trauma.
I could see how that would belike really detrimental to
someone's experience.
So that is a piece that Iincorporate also into that
trauma-informed lens of like youknow your body, I trust your
body, I'm going to support youand guide you, but there's not
going to be a force or like.
It doesn't mean like the harderyou breathe, the greater the
(09:14):
transformation.
And there are two ways that Ioffer breathwork.
So the first is in what I wouldcall like an integrative
session.
So this is a shorter amount oftime.
It's something that we wouldmeet for like 40 minutes.
Those are the integrativesessions.
So the practice is anywherefrom probably around like a 20
(09:35):
minute guided practice, but thebreathing is eight minutes or
less, and then there's somemeditation involved and some
movement involved, which is good, and then there's time for
integration and reflection atthe end.
So it's a shorter practice.
It's great for nervous systemregulation, it's great for
grounding.
It's also great for upliftingyour energy.
(09:56):
So if you're feeling like downregulated and you need like a
boost, instead of reaching forthat second cup of coffee, you
can do integrative breath workto energize your system and
uplift your system, which ispretty cool too.
There is another form of breathwork that I also offer, which is
called meditative breathwork,and that is the inner alchemy
(10:18):
breathwork sessions, and thoseare great for emotional release,
for deep energetic healing, andthis is a more activating
breath pattern.
So this is typically athree-part breath inhaling into
the belly, inhaling into thechest, inhaling into the chest
and exhaling all through themouth, and this is a longer
practice, so the activebreathing can be sometimes up to
(10:40):
30 minutes or more, but thesession itself is an hour or an
hour and 15 minutes.
So both practices areincredible and have their own
benefits.
I love both of them.
They have both been such animpact in my personal life and
also in the lives of my clients.
One way that I incorporateintegrative breathwork into my
(11:02):
work is if it were like acoaching session or a therapy
session, we might start withbreathwork and for a meditative
session.
That's something that you cando in addition to your practices
.
So we would do like a fullsession.
A full meditative breath can doin addition to your practices.
So we would do like a fullsession, a full meditative
breathwork session in additionto, you know, whatever other
forms of support that you have.
And there are so many differenttypes of breathwork kundalini
(11:27):
breathwork, shamanic breathwork.
I see some facilitators likeblending plant medicine with
breathwork.
So, yeah, really looking intowhat feels good for you and what
feels good for your nervoussystem.
What's pretty cool is you canhave two facilitators trained in
the exact same thing and you'llhave a different experience
(11:48):
with both, because it's reallyabout the facilitator and the
person and what their approachis.
So that's a little bit aboutbreathwork, a little bit about
my approach, and it has shown upfor me breathwork itself in my
life in so many different ways,and so I want to share with you
how it can be integrated intoyour life too.
So the first is you can usebreathwork as something that
(12:10):
will help you to stay grounded,something that you can use as an
anchor, like a practice thatyou return back to every day,
and this can be really helpfulif you're moving through any
kind of transition where youneed something that is
stabilizing any kind of anxiety,where you're really looking for
(12:30):
that sense of safety, thatsense of stillness and presence
and any sort of overwhelm.
It feels like things are movingfast, it feels like things are
overwhelming and you always haveyour breath to come back to.
So using it as an anchor thatwill allow you to pause and
reconnect with yourself.
And that can look like doingmindful breathing, something
(12:54):
like box breathing or four,seven, eight breathing these are
practices that are considered,I would consider, more like
mindful breathing, or it canlook like an integrative
breathwork practice.
So that's something that Ioffer and something that you can
check out if it interests you.
And the second way that I liketo incorporate breathwork is as
(13:15):
a guided practice, so that canlook like an integrative session
or meditative session.
But, like I mentioned earlierin the episode, I used to drive
an hour and a half to findsomebody to facilitate
breathwork and that was actuallyjust for a group practice.
That wasn't even for individualsession.
So, whether you're looking fora group or individual, I find
(13:37):
that now there are so many moreoptions to connect virtually.
That is something that I offer.
So, no matter where you are inthe world.
I do offer virtual sessions orin-person sessions, so
connecting with your breaththrough a guided practice can be
really helpful.
I find that one of the blocksthat comes up a lot with my
clients is am I doing this right?
(13:59):
So they sit down to do theirbreathwork practice or to do
their meditation and they'regoing through it and they're
thinking am I doing this right,am I doing this right?
And it's like that voice of theinner critic comes online and
it makes it really hard to dropinto the practice.
So when you work with afacilitator, they can guide you
and cue you the whole time and,yeah, it's really helpful for
(14:21):
release, for clarity, forshifting your energy, and that
is something that I offer inperson, virtually for
individuals and also for groups.
And then the third way that Ilove to incorporate breathwork
is making it a part of yourpersonal ritual.
So that means you canincorporate it through even like
(14:43):
habit stacking.
So, for example, if before yougo to sleep you usually journal,
or when you wake up in themorning, you want five to 10
minutes of breath workincorporated into your routine.
So you can really incorporatefive to ten minutes of breath
(15:03):
work into your current practicesand what that's going to allow
you to do is build your ownrelationship with your breath
and with your body.
Relationship with your breathand with your body.
It's going to allow you to alsoshift your energy, shift your
(15:25):
state of mind, tend to yournervous system.
Does your body need a practicelike a breath practice that is
upregulating, something that'shigh energy, or does it need
something that's really gentleand soothing and grounding?
So it's going to allow you toattune to yourself and learn to
self-regulate.
And then, the last way that Ilove to offer breathwork is as a
community experience.
So this is something that we'lldefinitely be doing at the
(15:48):
Return to Soul Retreat.
It's something that I offer alot.
I absolutely love doingworkshops with groups.
It is so cool to see whatpeople can receive in a group
experience.
So guided breath work in agroup, co-regulating with the
group's energy, really allowingyourself to be witnessed, being
(16:10):
in community, feeling less alone, feeling less isolated and
connecting connecting, yeah,with other people in your
community.
So this is something that Ioffer in person and virtually,
and something that we'lldefinitely be doing at the
retreat in October.
So one reason why I really lovethe practice of coming back to
your breath is because for me,for someone that had such a
(16:31):
history with anxiety and reallyspent a lot of time in the mind,
it was a practice that allowedme to come back to my body, to
quiet the mind and really createthat space in a world that's
moving very fast and is veryloud.
So sometimes I feel like mybreathwork practice is basically
like how much can I distractmyself from my mind so that the
(16:56):
mind quiets and then the voiceof my heart comes online, or the
voice of the compassionatevoice of yourself, your
intuition, your inner wisdom?
So really allowing that innercritic to quiet and allowing
enough safety to be created sothat you have the space for your
(17:17):
emotion to come through, foryour compassion to come through
and you release any of thatenergy that you need to so that
you can move forward.
I also believe that being ableto self-regulate is just like a
muscle.
So if you are training for amarathon, you're going to go out
there and you're going to.
You know you're going to getyour runs in, you're going to
(17:39):
get your miles in, you're goingto do what you need to do for
your race and with breathwork, Ifind that you don't need to sit
down and, you know, commit tolike an hour a day or something
like really intense.
It's how it's a practice that,just like a muscle, you will
build each day.
When you put in one minute,when you put in five minutes,
(18:02):
put in 10 minutes If you want todo an hour session, it's all
going to compound on itself andwhat it's going to do is expand
your window of tolerance so youwill be able to move in and out
of your window of tolerance withmore ease and return back to
your optimal state quicker, themore that you do breathwork and
(18:26):
the more that you're able toself-regulate and learn more
about your nervous system.
And I also believe thatbreathwork is a great gateway to
hearing the voice of yourhigher self, hearing the voice
of your spirit guides your heart, your inner divine parent.
And every time you dobreathwork whether it's a guided
experience, like for anintegrative, or a longer
(18:49):
experience with the meditativeevery journey is so different,
but they are powerful each timein their own way.
So when life feels overwhelming, when things feel out of
control, when you feel anxious,or even when you're looking to
(19:09):
manifest and call in more joyand call in more love and be
connected to bliss.
You always have your breath.
So if you are just starting outand you want to dive more into
breath work, I suggest juststarting with a five-minute
practice so you can play a songon your phone that is soothing.
Find a breath that feels goodfor you.
I like to do the 2-1 breath,which is inhaling twice through
(19:29):
your nose and exhaling oncethrough your mouth.
Play the song, do the breathfor five minutes and see how you
feel you can also work with afacilitator.
Ones through your mouth.
Play the song, do the breathfor five minutes and see how you
feel you can also work with afacilitator.
I offer integrative andmeditative breathwork sessions
in person and virtually.
So if any of that speaks to you, you can definitely check out
the links in the show notes andI would be super, super happy to
guide you through an experienceand just, yeah, meet you
(19:52):
exactly where you're at andhopefully guide you in how
you're hoping to feel at the endof our time together.
And that is what we have fortoday's episode.
So I hope that you enjoyedtoday's episode.
I hope you received somethingfun and exciting from it and,
yeah, I love recording these foryou.
I love recording this episodetalking about breath work.
It's like one of my favoritethings.
(20:13):
Probably is actually myabsolute favorite modality if
I'm being real real, but anyway,I hope that you have an
incredible rest of your day.
I hope you have an incrediblerest of your week and I will
talk to you soon.
Thank you for being here andtuning in to Somatic Healing for
(20:34):
Wellness-Focused Women podcast.
If you were moved or inspiredby today's episode, please take
a moment to leave a rating andreview on Apple Podcasts.
It truly helps the podcast growand helps more people find me
on their healing journey.
Make sure to check out the shownotes to sign up for the
monthly newsletter, links tomore resources, opportunities to
(20:55):
work with me and ways that wecan stay connected.
If we aren't already connectedon social media, head over to
Instagram to follow me atraythesomaticcoach.
Send me a DM.
I'd love to connect with youand I answer each note that
comes in.
I am so happy you're here and Icannot wait to talk with you on
our next episode of the podcast.
Welcome back to the podcast.
If you are new here, I'm Rae,I'm a somatic coach and
breathwork facilitator, and ifyou aren't new here, welcome
back.
I'm so glad that you're tuningin for today's episode.
So before we dive into today'sepisode, I'd love to share just
a few life updates, a little bitabout what I've been up to and
(00:25):
when I'm recording this episode.
It is the beginning of June, soI'm excited because I'm about
to head to Scotland for a fewdays with my husband and another
couple that is like some of ourbest friends and so I'm really
looking forward to that triptrip and we're going to be
spending a few days in Isle ofSkye, which is like northern
(00:48):
Scotland, that's more remote,and that's where a few of the
like well-known films and moviesand shows have been filmed,
like Lord of the Rings and Gameof Thrones.
So I'm excited for that andwe'll hopefully see like a lot
of wildlife.
That's what I'm excited for.
Maybe see some puffins, I don'tknow.
And then we're spending thesecond half of the trip in
(01:12):
Edinburgh and that is more likethe city, seeing castles.
Um, they have butterbeer thereif you're a Harry Potter fan.
So I'm excited for that and,yeah, so I'm excited for this
trip that's coming up.
I haven't packed yet.
I'm having a little bit of cacaoright now as I record this
episode, and I just watered thegarden this morning, so that's
(01:35):
exciting.
I cannot believe how mucheverything is growing.
It is insane how fast it grows.
And this year we're playing.
We planted potatoes, which I'mlike I don't know.
I find this stuff likefascinating.
I think it's so cool.
So those are growing and wewon't harvest them for like a
few months, but you know, theyhave these like flowers that
(01:57):
come up from them and it's just,it's really cool.
So I just finished the secondseries of the ACOTAR books and
that is A Court of Mist and Fury, and I'm not going to give
anything away, but I am up tothe third book right now.
I'm waiting for it to come inon my Kindle and, oh my God, the
(02:17):
ending of the second book wasso good and I cannot wait for
the third book in the series andit's like it's the best.
But at the same time I want tojust reread the second book and
I know that when I finish thisseries I'm going to be like what
do I read next?
But anyway, if you're a reader,you understand.
You understand my pain.
(02:40):
Another thing that I'll sharewith you before we dive into
today's episode just personallife update is that this month
I'm doing a cycle of floweressence.
So flower essence is somethingthat I spoke about.
I think it was episode 81.
And that is all about myintention for this month.
(03:00):
So I'm doing a cycle onpleasure and I'm calling in more
joy.
So I'm feeling good and, yeah,let the good times roll.
More joy sounds good to me.
So now let's dive into today'sepisode.
So today we're going to betalking all about somatic
(03:24):
breathwork, how you can usebreathwork as a practice to
bring you back into your body,back into your regulated state,
really meet yourself whereyou're at, and you can use
breathwork as a tool.
So I found breathwork myselfwhen I was at a yoga festival
(03:44):
with one of my friends abouteight or nine years ago now.
And when you go to these yogafestivals, they have all these
different classes that you canchoose from, and at the time I
was really struggling withanxiety and grief.
It was like the peak of mygrief and anxiety.
I had just lost someone in myfamily about six months prior to
(04:09):
this moment and my mind wasjust like, oh, it was just not
in a good place.
So I go to this yoga festival.
I read the description of thisclass and the class is talking
all about how you can releasegrief, you can release anxiety,
you can connect with your spiritteam, you can really.
(04:30):
I was just talking a lot aboutlike anxiety and grief and
release, and I was like, yes,yes, yes, I need that.
So I went to this class and Ihad a huge emotional release,
which was amazing.
It was the first time that Ifelt like my mind really got
quiet and it was the first timethat I actually felt like
(04:50):
something shifted for me, whichis exactly what I needed at that
time.
And then, you know, years wouldgo on and at the time,
breathwork or like this style ofbreathwork that I'm speaking to
didn't really wasn't reallyaccessible.
It wasn't something that Ireally knew about until I went
to that class at the festival,and so I would drive like an
(05:11):
hour and a half into Brooklyn sothat I could do some breathwork
and fast forward to where I amtoday.
Now I'm a certified breathworkfacilitator.
It's something I'm reallypassionate about.
It's something I incorporateinto my daily life, in my
personal practices and also intomy work as a somatic therapist,
(05:33):
as a somatic coach and, ofcourse, as a breathwork
facilitator.
So it shows up in a lot ofdifferent ways for me in my life
and it's something that I'mpassionate about sharing with
you.
You always have your breath.
It is a tool that you have inyour back pocket.
It is the first thing that youreceive when you come into this
(05:55):
world and it is the last thingthat you'll have when you leave
the earth.
So it is your life force,energy, it is yours, it is your
power.
It will bring you so muchclarity and empowerment and
relief and release andcompassion, and so it's
something I'm very passionateabout.
And there are so many differentforms of breathwork.
(06:18):
There's different styles,there's different ways that you
can incorporate it into yourlife, different ways that you
can receive from the breath, andI'll share a little bit about
my approach.
So my approach is traumainformed somatic breath work.
So that looks like reallytaking into account and attuning
(06:38):
to each person's individualnervous system any kind of
stored trauma that might beliving in the body.
So meeting them with curiosity,compassion, attunement,
titration, pacing, creativity,not having an agenda, really
meeting them where they're at.
(06:59):
So that's like thetrauma-informed piece and then
the somatic piece is reallyworking with the body.
So there's no when it comes tothe body, there's no force,
there's no pressure to perform.
It's really allowing the mindto quiet and allowing the what
the body's needs are to comeonline and when that happens
(07:22):
you're able to release storedtrauma, you're able to complete
a cycle of something.
So like if what happens in thebody is if there is like a
traumatic experience, the cycle,the event never got to complete
, the emotion never got tocomplete and so it becomes stuck
energy in the body.
And when you tune to the bodyand you allow it to move at its
(07:46):
pace and you get curious aboutwhat it needs, you can allow
that trauma to release andcomplete that cycle.
And I can share that in the past, even for myself.
I have gone to a class beforein the past where the the
intention of the class it seemedthat the harder you breathe,
(08:10):
like the more intensely youbreathe, the greater the
transformation, and I don'tactually believe that to be true
.
So in that class I ended upbreathing so hard that I pulled
a muscle in my chest.
I wish I was kidding, butthat's how deeply I was
breathing.
But I actually don't believethat to be true.
(08:31):
I believe that when you attuneto your body and you attune to
your needs and you let the bodymove through the process as it
needs to, that it doesn'tnecessarily mean it needs to be
an intense experience, abackground in trauma and also
(08:53):
has education in trauma.
I could see how that would belike really detrimental to
someone's experience.
So that is a piece that Iincorporate also into that
trauma-informed lens of like youknow your body, I trust your
body, I'm going to support youand guide you, but there's not
going to be a force or like.
It doesn't mean like the harderyou breathe, the greater the
(09:14):
transformation.
And there are two ways that Ioffer breathwork.
So the first is in what I wouldcall like an integrative
session.
So this is a shorter amount oftime.
It's something that we wouldmeet for like 40 minutes.
Those are the integrativesessions.
So the practice is anywherefrom probably around like a 20
(09:35):
minute guided practice, but thebreathing is eight minutes or
less, and then there's somemeditation involved and some
movement involved, which is good, and then there's time for
integration and reflection atthe end.
So it's a shorter practice.
It's great for nervous systemregulation, it's great for
grounding.
It's also great for upliftingyour energy.
(09:56):
So if you're feeling like downregulated and you need like a
boost, instead of reaching forthat second cup of coffee, you
can do integrative breath workto energize your system and
uplift your system, which ispretty cool too.
There is another form of breathwork that I also offer, which is
called meditative breathwork,and that is the inner alchemy
(10:18):
breathwork sessions, and thoseare great for emotional release,
for deep energetic healing, andthis is a more activating
breath pattern.
So this is typically athree-part breath inhaling into
the belly, inhaling into thechest, inhaling into the chest
and exhaling all through themouth, and this is a longer
practice, so the activebreathing can be sometimes up to
(10:40):
30 minutes or more, but thesession itself is an hour or an
hour and 15 minutes.
So both practices areincredible and have their own
benefits.
I love both of them.
They have both been such animpact in my personal life and
also in the lives of my clients.
One way that I incorporateintegrative breathwork into my
(11:02):
work is if it were like acoaching session or a therapy
session, we might start withbreathwork and for a meditative
session.
That's something that you cando in addition to your practices
.
So we would do like a fullsession.
A full meditative breath can doin addition to your practices.
So we would do like a fullsession, a full meditative
breathwork session in additionto, you know, whatever other
forms of support that you have.
And there are so many differenttypes of breathwork kundalini
(11:27):
breathwork, shamanic breathwork.
I see some facilitators likeblending plant medicine with
breathwork.
So, yeah, really looking intowhat feels good for you and what
feels good for your nervoussystem.
What's pretty cool is you canhave two facilitators trained in
the exact same thing and you'llhave a different experience
(11:48):
with both, because it's reallyabout the facilitator and the
person and what their approachis.
So that's a little bit aboutbreathwork, a little bit about
my approach, and it has shown upfor me breathwork itself in my
life in so many different ways,and so I want to share with you
how it can be integrated intoyour life too.
So the first is you can usebreathwork as something that
(12:10):
will help you to stay grounded,something that you can use as an
anchor, like a practice thatyou return back to every day,
and this can be really helpfulif you're moving through any
kind of transition where youneed something that is
stabilizing any kind of anxiety,where you're really looking for
(12:30):
that sense of safety, thatsense of stillness and presence
and any sort of overwhelm.
It feels like things are movingfast, it feels like things are
overwhelming and you always haveyour breath to come back to.
So using it as an anchor thatwill allow you to pause and
reconnect with yourself.
And that can look like doingmindful breathing, something
(12:54):
like box breathing or four,seven, eight breathing these are
practices that are considered,I would consider, more like
mindful breathing, or it canlook like an integrative
breathwork practice.
So that's something that Ioffer and something that you can
check out if it interests you.
And the second way that I liketo incorporate breathwork is as
(13:15):
a guided practice, so that canlook like an integrative session
or meditative session.
But, like I mentioned earlierin the episode, I used to drive
an hour and a half to findsomebody to facilitate
breathwork and that was actuallyjust for a group practice.
That wasn't even for individualsession.
So, whether you're looking fora group or individual, I find
(13:37):
that now there are so many moreoptions to connect virtually.
That is something that I offer.
So, no matter where you are inthe world.
I do offer virtual sessions orin-person sessions, so
connecting with your breaththrough a guided practice can be
really helpful.
I find that one of the blocksthat comes up a lot with my
clients is am I doing this right?
(13:59):
So they sit down to do theirbreathwork practice or to do
their meditation and they'regoing through it and they're
thinking am I doing this right,am I doing this right?
And it's like that voice of theinner critic comes online and
it makes it really hard to dropinto the practice.
So when you work with afacilitator, they can guide you
and cue you the whole time and,yeah, it's really helpful for
(14:21):
release, for clarity, forshifting your energy, and that
is something that I offer inperson, virtually for
individuals and also for groups.
And then the third way that Ilove to incorporate breathwork
is making it a part of yourpersonal ritual.
So that means you canincorporate it through even like
(14:43):
habit stacking.
So, for example, if before yougo to sleep you usually journal,
or when you wake up in themorning, you want five to 10
minutes of breath workincorporated into your routine.
So you can really incorporatefive to ten minutes of breath
(15:03):
work into your current practicesand what that's going to allow
you to do is build your ownrelationship with your breath
and with your body.
Relationship with your breathand with your body.
It's going to allow you to alsoshift your energy, shift your
(15:25):
state of mind, tend to yournervous system.
Does your body need a practicelike a breath practice that is
upregulating, something that'shigh energy, or does it need
something that's really gentleand soothing and grounding?
So it's going to allow you toattune to yourself and learn to
self-regulate.
And then, the last way that Ilove to offer breathwork is as a
community experience.
So this is something that we'lldefinitely be doing at the
(15:48):
Return to Soul Retreat.
It's something that I offer alot.
I absolutely love doingworkshops with groups.
It is so cool to see whatpeople can receive in a group
experience.
So guided breath work in agroup, co-regulating with the
group's energy, really allowingyourself to be witnessed, being
(16:10):
in community, feeling less alone, feeling less isolated and
connecting connecting, yeah,with other people in your
community.
So this is something that Ioffer in person and virtually,
and something that we'lldefinitely be doing at the
retreat in October.
So one reason why I really lovethe practice of coming back to
your breath is because for me,for someone that had such a
(16:31):
history with anxiety and reallyspent a lot of time in the mind,
it was a practice that allowedme to come back to my body, to
quiet the mind and really createthat space in a world that's
moving very fast and is veryloud.
So sometimes I feel like mybreathwork practice is basically
like how much can I distractmyself from my mind so that the
(16:56):
mind quiets and then the voiceof my heart comes online, or the
voice of the compassionatevoice of yourself, your
intuition, your inner wisdom?
So really allowing that innercritic to quiet and allowing
enough safety to be created sothat you have the space for your
(17:17):
emotion to come through, foryour compassion to come through
and you release any of thatenergy that you need to so that
you can move forward.
I also believe that being ableto self-regulate is just like a
muscle.
So if you are training for amarathon, you're going to go out
there and you're going to.
You know you're going to getyour runs in, you're going to
(17:39):
get your miles in, you're goingto do what you need to do for
your race and with breathwork, Ifind that you don't need to sit
down and, you know, commit tolike an hour a day or something
like really intense.
It's how it's a practice that,just like a muscle, you will
build each day.
When you put in one minute,when you put in five minutes,
(18:02):
put in 10 minutes If you want todo an hour session, it's all
going to compound on itself andwhat it's going to do is expand
your window of tolerance so youwill be able to move in and out
of your window of tolerance withmore ease and return back to
your optimal state quicker, themore that you do breathwork and
(18:26):
the more that you're able toself-regulate and learn more
about your nervous system.
And I also believe thatbreathwork is a great gateway to
hearing the voice of yourhigher self, hearing the voice
of your spirit guides your heart, your inner divine parent.
And every time you dobreathwork whether it's a guided
experience, like for anintegrative, or a longer
(18:49):
experience with the meditativeevery journey is so different,
but they are powerful each timein their own way.
So when life feels overwhelming, when things feel out of
control, when you feel anxious,or even when you're looking to
(19:09):
manifest and call in more joyand call in more love and be
connected to bliss.
You always have your breath.
So if you are just starting outand you want to dive more into
breath work, I suggest juststarting with a five-minute
practice so you can play a songon your phone that is soothing.
Find a breath that feels goodfor you.
I like to do the 2-1 breath,which is inhaling twice through
(19:29):
your nose and exhaling oncethrough your mouth.
Play the song, do the breathfor five minutes and see how you
feel you can also work with afacilitator.
Ones through your mouth.
Play the song, do the breathfor five minutes and see how you
feel you can also work with afacilitator.
I offer integrative andmeditative breathwork sessions
in person and virtually.
So if any of that speaks to you, you can definitely check out
the links in the show notes andI would be super, super happy to
guide you through an experienceand just, yeah, meet you
(19:52):
exactly where you're at andhopefully guide you in how
you're hoping to feel at the endof our time together.
And that is what we have fortoday's episode.
So I hope that you enjoyedtoday's episode.
I hope you received somethingfun and exciting from it and,
yeah, I love recording these foryou.
I love recording this episodetalking about breath work.
It's like one of my favoritethings.
(20:13):
Probably is actually myabsolute favorite modality if
I'm being real real, but anyway,I hope that you have an
incredible rest of your day.
I hope you have an incrediblerest of your week and I will
talk to you soon.
Thank you for being here andtuning in to Somatic Healing for
(20:34):
Wellness-Focused Women podcast.
If you were moved or inspiredby today's episode, please take
a moment to leave a rating andreview on Apple Podcasts.
It truly helps the podcast growand helps more people find me
on their healing journey.
Make sure to check out the shownotes to sign up for the
monthly newsletter, links tomore resources, opportunities to
(20:55):
work with me and ways that wecan stay connected.
If we aren't already connectedon social media, head over to
Instagram to follow me atraythesomaticcoach.
Send me a DM.
I'd love to connect with youand I answer each note that
comes in.
I am so happy you're here and Icannot wait to talk with you on
our next episode of the podcast.
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