Breathing exercises are one of the most powerful and often overlooked methods to help us reduce acute and long-term stress and anxiety. Panic attacks, nonspecific anxiety, long-term stress and a continual feeling of reactivity and lack of safety in the world can be crippling. And because stress and anxiety have a physical reality in the body, these emotional states can be especially difficult to ‘think’ our way out of. Instead we need to learn to communicate to the body that it is safe and well in a language the body understands.
Our breathing — how fast we breathe, where we breathe inside the body, and the length of our inhales and exhales — is one of the body’s only semi-autonomous processes. Thus it sits at the juncture of our autonomic nervous system and our conscious mind, and is a perfect language we can use to speak to the body.
This workshop will focus on breathing practices specifically useful when dealing with clients with stress and anxiety. It will explain how these breathing practices work from a biological perspective in the body and what effect they can have both short-term and over time to reduce acute and persistent stress and anxiety.
These simple but powerful breathing techniques can be an ideal additional support as a client works through their therapeutic journey. (It can also be incredibly helpful for us as practitioners, healers and support for our families & children at home)
Learning Objective Participants Can Expect From This Event
- Understand the science behind how breathing exercises can reduce acute and long-term stress and anxiety
- Learn and practice 3 breathing exercises specifically designed for reducing the intensity of stress and anxiety in the body & mind
- Learn which practices can be used during a panic attack or during acute anxiety, and which practices are suited to reducing stress and anxiety over the longer-term
- Discuss practicalities, ask questions and share thoughts around applying these breathing exercises to therapeutic practice
Who is This Workshop Appropriate For?
- This workshop is open to all therapists and anyone interesting in learning more about using breathwork to support clients and/or oneself suffering with anxiety and stress.
How May This Workshop Impact Your Practice?
- This workshop will give participants new level of understanding and practical experience using breathing practices to support themselves and their clients in the management of acute and long-term stress and/or anxiety.
Course Content
Presenter
Sarah Beth Hunt is a meditation and breathwork coach, yoga teacher and founder of Messy Luminous Being online platform. She received Ph.D. in Indian Studies from the University of Cambridge, and has trained in both the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhist meditation and traditional yoga through the British Wheel of Yoga. She currently works with clients using movement, breathwork and mind-training practices to harness the body’s physiology and the mind-body connection and transform their inner state.
