Transitions are hard.

They're hard for toddlers, they're hard for neurodivergent people, and I think they might just be hard for damn near everyone? Honestly, I don't know. I'm neurodivergent 😅 and we are a type who draw our own type, so what I do know is that for many of you reading this: transitions are probably hard for you, too 😉

Breathwork can help you move through transitions.

Breathwork can be a bit of a physical surprise, where you find yourself really needing to focus and be present. It helps to shake out your nervous system and it helps you to move from your dwelling on the past or the future and helps to keep you in the present moment. 

Transitions are that moment of closing a door and opening a window.

And like, what if you prefer a door to a window? What if you don't want to open the window?? Transitions mean that something is different; that something is changing; that time continues to march on. There's something really vulnerable about a time of transition because that window represents the unknown.

The whole month around an equinox or a solstice is considered a transition time.

It's a little pre-and post-cushioning for that expected turbulence, going from a time of energetic depth and germination to that of upward motion and growth. That focus switch is a particularly intense one, because your deep, winter energy still needs to have the seeds of spring in it to bust through the inertia.

This breathwork, we're tapping into that seed.

We're saying hello to the awakening spring energy that is moving its way upward from the depth of your wintery soul.

Breathwork at Well Collab Acupuncture is:

• A form of active meditation. And it is really active, which is why I limit it to a quick, 30 minute group session that consists of:Zoom groups where everyone’s video and audio are shut off, so you don’t have to worry about anyone else seeing or hearing you!Groups because even though it’s through Zoom, the energy is palpable. How? Well, that’s the answer to the question of why I am a breathwork facilitator. As the person holding space for the group, whether it’s 2, 20, or 200 people, I’m doing just that: my own form of active meditation, which consists of guiding you, holding space for you, and connecting you. That means that we all feel each other. There's a vibe. Groups make that possible.I start everyone out with the intention for the session that day, and I talk a little bit about how it’s universally relevant. If the group is small, I often know how it’s relevant to the participants and through anonymity still tie it into your personal life, which can be helpful for the actual breathwork aspect of it - this is part of why community is important! …the breathing, aka the werk: You lay down. You have what you need with you. The breathing consists of two sharp intakes of breath, and then a quick and forceful exhale. Sharp intake one: into your belly. Sharp intake 2: into your chest. And then exhale it all out. This three part breathing does not stop for the duration of the breathwork, unless you want it to. If you get dizzy, slow down. If you feel out of control, breathe into that. Or stop. It's really all within your control. Part of what makes it work is letting your body experience it all, which is why it's important to remember that you're laying down, you're in a safe space, and it is self-paced. The work is knowing when it’s time to push yourself a bit. I believe we call this adulting?

• Something that can change your relationship to yourself, your body, how you experience the world, creativity, pain, sadness, anger, joy…

Breathwork at Well Collab is not:

• Easy, lol. Because it is work, and I don’t want you to think that you’re breathing softly and mindfully for 10-15 minutes and that’s it. There are meditations like that; this just isn’t one of them. The active breathing portion is really active, and is good for someone who’s feeling angsty, ADHDy, monkey-mind-y, or an overwhelm of any emotion (regret, desire, anger, guilt, sadness… insert your own emotional state here).

Why Breathwork?

Well... how do you find yourself coping?

We have myriad ways to disconnect, to soothe, to distract… but all paths ultimately lead to dissociation as the easiest way to push away stress, tune out, feel less, slam on the breaks of being human and slip into automaton for just a brief moment (or, for long stretches of moments).

And we do this because feeling takes work. Feeling can suck. Remember being a teenager?

Well, you may have grown out of the angst but the feelings are still there. You just have more socially acceptable ways of dealing with them now.

This is where embodied practices really shine.

Embodied practices help to re-sociate you.

Many of us are coming out of what has been a mind boggling juxtaposition: in the midst of a literal, actual global pandemic, we have been largely confined to our homes and yet in this social distance, we’re ever the more connected through social media. And even though it's been years, we're still learning how to be in what feels like a post-something world. 

You need theory and practicum to learn anything, and within the past few years, there’s just been a whole lot of theory (that’s the social media) without a lot of practice (actually being social).

I think we're all more aware that we consume, we take in, we binge on non-stop news that circulates around the world... without being in the world.

So it often gets stuck, in a pit, in your stomach, because it’s too much. We are taking in too much. 

A particular type of imbalance begins, or maybe this unsteadiness has already been a part of your life.

I know that for myself, I have great trouble with taking in, pausing, digesting, and then moving on. What ends up happening is I take in take in take in because it’s all so exciting and informative to me, and then it just piles up: undigested. Relatively unknown. Ungrown. Untended.

We're all part of this modern world.

We’re not particularly inspired to pause to absorb, synthesize, and reflect before moving on to the next thing because it's 2024, baby! Everything around us is warp speed except for our own prehistoric functioning bodies. 

Breathwork helps our ancient body shake out some of the modern detritus we accumulate.