My Philosophy on Breathwork

Off the Bat:

Breathwork is medicine.

Breathwork is an enhancement to your consciousness and holistic well-being.

Breathwork supports the healing of physical and psychological illness and dis-ease.

I have been practicing breathwork for 10 years now, and I am beyond grateful for this practice — so grateful that I have devoted a huge portion of my life to being a student of the Breath.

Through podcasts at age 18, I was introduced to breathwork, specifically the Wim Hof Method. That was my gateway. Since then, I have practiced countless methods and techniques, all with discernible effects that I learned to utilize when needed.

Some techniques have subtle effects, while others can mightily shift consciousness — certainly in ways that could be likened to psychedelic states. Through engaging in different techniques at varying lengths, speeds, and breath holds, I have experienced both the highs and the lows that come with making breathwork a major facet of health and healing.

Despite its allure, breathwork is not fully about transcending or getting high. Based on my first-hand experience, philosophy, and approach, the real work is here — grounded on Earth and in the body. For breathwork to truly work and for us to reap its benefits, we must be radically honest with ourselves about the information we receive and be able to integrate that into life off the cushion or yoga mat.

Like meditation, breathwork is happening anytime you intentionally bring conscious awareness to the present moment. My definition of breathwork is this: intentionally altering, controlling, or noticing your breathing in order to shift your current state — physically or psychologically — into a different or more desired state. Yes, this happens even when you simply notice your breathing. 

I facilitate and practice various breathwork techniques that range from subtle regulation to expansive shifts in state. No matter the technique, method, flow, or sequence, the underlying intentions for engaging these practices remain the same: regulation, connection, embodiment, and clarity. Any energy in the way of that I consciously move by being present with the breath, connected to my experience, and trustful of the process.

My approach while facilitating breathwork is relational, connected, and Heart-oriented — both healing and empowering. It is about building a relationship with your body, developing self-Love, and learning to listen to what is real for you in each moment.

When practiced with safety and agency, breathwork becomes a path toward regulation, Connection, Love, and embodied integration — supporting a more honest way of living from the Heart, and a deeper connection with yourself, others, the world, and the great spinning wheel of this Universe.

What I Think Breathwork Is Not

Rather than beginning with what breathwork is, I want to start with what it is not. This comes solely from my perspective — from what I have observed, practiced, and integrated — and it is only as true as my experience has revealed so far.

Breathwork is not about getting high for the sake of getting high. This is one place where culture in the U.S. differs greatly from other traditions. We have, in many ways, distorted what it means to alter consciousness and stigmatized the intention behind it.

Altering consciousness is a natural and sacred human capacity. When entered intentionally, it can offer insight, clarity, and perspective. What we often call “getting high” is simply a shift in conscious awareness — a quieting of the mental noise and irritation that usually obscures what is actually real in the present.

I believe exercising this human capability not only feels AMAZING, but is also incredibly helpful — maybe even critical — for our human evolution toward a world composed of more conscious, care-full, and connected Loving beings.

Not everyone is going to expand themselves using psychedelics. Not everyone wants to continue using substances, especially because of the comedown that can follow. Breathwork offers an accessible and safe way to zoom out perspective and connect to the Ultimate Wisdom within your body and Heart, anytime you’d like. 

Breathwork is not about pushing yourself beyond your edges, because that mentality can do more harm than good. It can lead to dissociation, which widens the gap of disconnection between the mind and the body’s signals.

Some techniques — including the one I offer stemming from David Elliott’s teachings — may present you with your limits. In those moments, you have agency. You can consciously decide to move toward the limit, move away from the limit, or simply be with the limit.

This is not the time to override your body’s wisdom when it tells you to slow down. This is partly why it can be important to have a professional facilitator with you during long-form breathwork practices.

The mentality of pushing through is a shadow element ingrained in Western culture, and it perpetuates the very disconnection we are trying to heal through this therapeutic modality.

This is one of the places where my approach differs from other teachings. Without proper mentorship and guidance, “the push yourself mentality” can do some serious damage.

The breathwork I offer and practice is not a way to spiritually bypass. My approach is not about “just breathe and let it go,” or “we breathe with peace like waves of the ocean,” or “the purpose of being alive is to be in bliss.” No. I believe we must go through the muck to get there.

And for this reason, breathwork is not sexy.

Like taking an alternate route, bypassing may get you to the destination, but you avoid a lot along the way. Even if you avoid it in order to experience bliss or a heightened state, what remains is still there in your system — left untouched, unmet, and untended to.

You may leave the session feeling great… until the high wears off.

This is the pitfall of breathwork when it becomes an escape. It does not contribute to lasting benefits.

Dare I say, the high was wasted.

What are you avoiding feeling and becoming aware of?

How long until you are ready to experience freedom in the body?

That is what breathwork can offer.

What I Think Breathwork Is

Breathwork is an embodiment practice. The highest possible reality available to anyone who practices breathwork is feeling stronger, and more connected and rooted in their body and Heart. Everything else is great too — but hopefully you have a reliable process for integrating cosmic and inter-dimensional downloads into everyday life. I know I don’t.

The point is this: in order to actually live the life you want, with the relationships you want, you need spaciousness in the body to see yourself “doing it again.” What I mean by that is seeing more clearly, in real time, the manifestation of patterns, conditioning, and triggers that commonly result in unwanted outcomes.

What I am trying to avoid with my offerings is another blast-off method. Blasting off using various tools and medicines, while never bringing consciousness to the nitty-gritty energies and patterns that recreate the cycles you are so used to. Again and again you are left wondering why.

That is why we must be willing to go into the body and be receptive to the information stored there. This is why we release so that we may be clear. Breathwork is a tool to access that bodily information, and it is never wrong. 

Apply what you discover to your conscious awareness and work with it. Bring that updated state into common situations. 

Trust that things will naturally change — for the better.

Breathwork is a spiritual practice. Yes — breathwork is a wonderful spiritual practice. Based on my experiences doing spiritual work, I believe spirit is housed in the body, and in order to be connected to spirit within and without, we must go deep within the body, de-armoring and de-layering ourselves along the way.

If you believe surface reality is all there is, you don’t have to go on a medicine journey to learn otherwise. You can access deeper levels of reality simply by using your breath. You can connect with your spirit by breathing through the blockages, energies, and muddied mind-filters that make that connection vague and distant.

From my perspective, the journey to true, integratable connection with Spirit is through the body — bringing full awareness to what is felt there, allowing it to move.

In day-to-day life, no matter who you are, energy gets stuck and stagnant. A sense of Spirit gets foggy. It is not your fault, and you can clear things up and get it flowing again.

You can sense your spirit buzzing and vibrating in your body more often — not just at retreats — thanks to these ancient and new-age breathwork techniques we have available locally and online. 

Breathwork is about agency. I used to think, “I need to do this perfectly.” Thankfully, in the last few years, I have let go of that perfectionist approach (at least for breathwork). 

There are multiple ways to say this, but my favorite is: you can’t do it wrong. I think the wrong way is doing something that feels deeply unnatural. Maybe your intuition is telling you that your body prefers a different pace, depth, or technique altogether. Rigidity is not a virtue here, and part of the process is learning to let go.

But, without the individual making that choice for themselves, it means very little. Agency is a core pillar of my teachings. We must learn how to honor what is right for us by listening deeply to what is true and real in the field of our awareness in the present moment. This is regulation. This is what it means to find your rhythm. 

I encourage those I work with to let go of the one-size-fits-all mentality. I used to think people needed to do the breathwork exactly as I taught it. I realized quickly that it really doesn’t matter. People had powerful experiences no matter what they did. They are, indeed, the experts of their healing.

By all means, breathe in the ways that are most available to you, and be courageous enough to lean into your discomforts. You can always lean out. You don’t have to do breath holds for as long as everyone else, for example. You will always receive the benefit or information you most need in every session.

Just show up and breathe consciously. The rest will follow.

Closing

To close, I want to touch on rigidity, since it was mentioned briefly in the last section. What I want to mention is that rigidity is very much part of the process. It is usually the thing we are showing up to breathe through. Our convictions, our closed systems, our narratives, our judgments, our beliefs, our dogma — this is, without a doubt, a huge section of the path. 

I understand that everything I write could come off as rigid and matter-of-fact. I admit, I am passionate. I’m especially excited about my most up-to-date understanding of these things, and I do believe what I am saying to be true, to me.

It is a process anytime I start writing or speaking. Life is a process, a means to no end. I use my thoughts and ideas as a way to take me further, like the countless thinkers before me.

The questions to ask ourselves are: how much further until the rigid ideations no longer serve? If I let go of this, does that mean I was wrong? In my belief, not necessarily. 

If there is something I can leave you with, it is this: rigidity can only take you so far, and the moment you let go — like ice melting into a stream that feeds the river — it frees up energy to move, to harmonize the ever-evolving flow. That is the purpose of a spiritual practice.

Being rigid and letting go are both integral to growth, understanding, and deep wisdom. If you can be open and honest with yourself in every moment, then you will see when you are being rigid or letting go. 

Breathwork is and isn’t everything I said it was… for now. I look forward to having these thoughts challenged, as of course they will naturally. Until then, here it is. I hope this has affirmed, helped, or inspired you in some way or another.

Blessings to you and your breathwork practice.