What inspired you to become a breathwork facilitator?
My breathwork course teacher recently asked me this question, which got me thinking. What did drive me to take the breathwork course? And, to be honest, I don’t know!
Last year, we were in another lockdown, and I decided to get to the bottom of what was causing my skin problems. I was born with eczema, and it has plagued me on and off for all of my life. There never seemed to be any rhyme or reason to it – sometimes it has terrible flare-ups, and other times it was less so, but it’s never totally gone away.
I embarked upon a journey into and out of my body
I wanted to know if it was something inside of me, or something outside of me – or was there something else that was causing my skin to be unhappy.
Working with my coach and mentor, Leigh, I got a complete analysis of my gut microbiome. There are links to a particular type of bacteria in the gut and eczema. I cleaned up my diet thoroughly, cut out sugar, gluten, eggs and alcohol and no processed foods. One of Leigh’sLeigh’s other suggestions was to practice breathing – as the skin and liver are closely connected. The liver, lungs and skin are major detoxification organs, so it makes sense that a problem in one area could lead to problems in other areas.
Around a similar time, I listened to a podcast with James Nestor and subsequently read his book ”Breathe”, which I found fascinating (you can read my review here).
I am Chek Practitioner, and a Pilates instructor, both of these methods have ”breath” at their core. I’ve always taught elements of breath, and I understood its importance for movement, but I wanted to understand how further and how the breath could connect to spirit.
“Breath is the bridge that connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.”
Thich Nhat Hann
Having worked with Leigh and the methods I teach, I decided that ”breathing” was the one nut that I needed to crack and decided to do a deep dive into it. So I started reading anything that I could get my hands on about breath, listening to podcasts and just generally immersing myself into all things breathe.
I didn’t plan to become a breathwork facilitator.
My obsession was purely for my healing. However, I met Shakti Tracy through an unrelated business group during my studies. She mentioned that she was running a course to become a breathwork facilitator – this was the first time I’d ever heard of this term. I didn’t even know that there was such a thing! I did a few online conscious connected breathes and they blew my mind. I didn’t know that we had this power within us, and we could access it at any time.
I felt completely guided towards doing it – I can’t tell you why or how, but I just knew that it was something that I had to do, so I signed up on the spot. It just felt like the right thing to do.
I can honestly say it’s one of the best things I’ve done. I’m sitting here today writing this, having run several breathwork sessions, and I’m now taking the ”Leadership” course, which will enable me to teach other facilitators. Everything has just felt so natural, the community is fantastic, and breathwork has allowed me to bridge the gap between physical and spiritual. Something that I wanted to do in my business.
I feel entirely in the flow with my business and life. Breathwork has allowed me to embody my teachings, connect to my higher self and release lots of the nonsense we carry around in our heads. I cannot imagine life without practising breathwork – it’s become part of my holistic life, just like lifting a kettlebell, drinking water and getting enough sleep.
The course is challenging in so many ways, and it’s been a complete journey of self-discovery. Has it been worth it? Absolutely!
So, back to the question, what inspired me to become a breathwork facilitator?
I can’t say that it was inspiration, more of a calling. I’m so glad I trusted my instinct; the training and the practice have permeated throughout my life and business, and I feel much calmer and in control via the power of the breath.
You can read about my ‘Adventures in Breathwork’ here.
Jill x
Did you know I had a weekly podcast? The ‘Small Business Whole Health Podcast’ has new episodes every Monday and is all about pursuit of hippy, business and life. You can listen here.
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