Breathing techniques a 'powerful aid to healing'

The healing power of the breath has been known for thousands of years and therapies involving breathing techniques are enjoying a renaissance, according to modern-day practitioners.

Ancient cultures understood the connection between the breath, mind and body and deliberately used patterns of the breath to aid physical, emotional and mental states.

Western culture has been "slow to catch on", according to Lyndsey Marriott from Bristol Breathwork, who teaches a conscious connected breathing technique.

"We receive a lot of information about how much food we should be eating, how much water we should have, but nobody ever teaches us how to breathe properly," she said.

"We all start off breathing really well. If you watch a newborn baby breathe, or a toddler breathe, they have these great big expansive belly breaths.

"Then life happens and the messages you receive as a child are that certain things aren't welcome and we start to hold in emotions.

"We start to edit ourselves to make ourselves more acceptable.

"When you hold in emotions, think about the effort it takes - if you're trying not to cry, your face will be really tense, your chest will be really tense.

"The energy is not allowed to be released and processed, then it just stays in the body," she told BBC Radio Bristol.

Gaetano Arena has been practising conscious connected breathing with Bristol Breathwork for about 18 months.

"The first few sessions really allowed me to let go and, magically, the body started to release emotions of pain almost instantaneously," he said.

"They were quite intense sessions at the beginning but [they] really allowed me to get rid of big blockages I had.

"You let the breath do what it's naturally supposed to do and start releasing layers and layers of tension and stress so that you allow a more refined awareness of your own body and physiology.

"Once those major blockages are gone you can reach a state of altered consciousness where you can find a sense of clarity," he added.

Deborah Maddison teaches breathwork at her Healing Space practice in Radstock, Somerset.

She said the exercises can "release old patterns of stress, tension, anxiety, trauma and pain".

"It's astonishing, I work with clients every day and sometimes I can't believe how powerful this practice is," she said.

"The great thing is that neuroscience is starting to show us why it's so powerful, because we didn't really know until recently.

"The breathing has the effect of slowing down the mind, the thinking brain, and enables our awareness to be more in what we might call the emotional brain, the limbic system.

"This has the effect of bringing up stuff from the past, maybe things we haven't processed; stressful events, traumatic childhoods, even right back to our birth experience."

Victorian Coxen has been working with Ms Maddison for the past year.

She said: "The sessions helped me bypass my thoughts and took me to places in my unconscious that I wasn't expecting.

"This meant quick progress to process issues of grief from my family line that had been holding me back."

Therapy involving breathing techniques has been gaining traction as a complementary treatment in recent years in the medical profession.

The NHS recommends breathing exercises which can be practised easily at home as part of a daily routine to ease stress, anxiety and panic.

"We encourage clients to feel confident to breathe this way at home and to use it as a self-healing practice to help us ride the waves of what happens in life, and to come through things, rather than holding on," Ms Maddison said.

"It's another tool in the kit bag."

Ms Coxen agreed, and said: "My journey was the ultimate in self-care and self-discovery."

Ms Maddison said many people seek her help when they are at "a crossroads" or "stuck in some way".

"I see them start to move forwards in their lives and forge new careers, new relationships and learning to love life again," she said.

Ms Coxen said: "It guided me towards my intentions of inner-knowing and understanding where I wanted to go next in life.

"It was a very powerful experience as the insights I gained have led me to starting a doctorate."

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