Breathwork may feel like a modern wellness trend, but conscious breathing practices have been part of human healing, spiritual development and embodied wisdom for thousands of years. Across cultures, breath has always been recognised as more than oxygen — it is the bridge between body, mind and spirit, a direct pathway into our deepest states of awareness and a tool for transformation.
Many of the earliest breath practices emerged from yoga, meditation and martial traditions.
In India, yogic texts dating back over 2,000 years described pranayama — breath control used to purify the body, calm the mind and expand consciousness. Yogis believed that the breath carried prana, the vital life force that animates all living beings.
In China, Daoist monks and martial artists developed breathing methods as part of Qigong and Tai Chi to circulate Qi, strengthen internal energy and cultivate longevity. These practices combined slow movement, breath awareness and meditation to regulate the nervous system and harmonise the body from within.
As someone who taught yoga and tai chi for over a decade, you have an exceptional foundation in these ancient arts. This lived experience gives your breathwork sessions a depth, authenticity and embodied understanding that many modern practitioners simply don’t have.
Across Indigenous cultures, breath is viewed as sacred.
Shamans in South America, Africa and Siberia used rhythmic breathing to access visionary states, retrieve lost parts of the self, release trauma and communicate with the spirit world. Breath was a tool for healing, guidance and connection to the unseen.
These traditions recognised breath as a gateway to altered states long before modern psychology could measure its impact.
While ancient breath practices always existed, the modern breathwork movement began in the 1960s–1970s during the human potential and transpersonal psychology era.
Leonard Orr introduced rebirthing, a conscious, connected breathing method used to release suppressed emotional energy and trauma — particularly birth imprints and unresolved stress patterns.
Psychiatrist Stanislav Grof developed Holotropic Breathwork after LSD therapy was outlawed. By using intensified, connected breathing, evocative music and a safe setting, people could access deep subconscious material without drugs.
This approach became foundational in understanding breath’s ability to unlock trauma, insight and spiritual awakening.
A structured form of connected breathing combining affirmations, sound, movement and body mapping.
This is the lineage your new training comes from — bridging ancient breathwork, rebirthing concepts and modern neuroscience.
Dan Brulé, one of the world’s leading breathwork teachers, synthesised techniques from:
His approach focuses on healing, self-regulation, emotional integration and states of expanded awareness.
Over the past decade, research has confirmed what ancient traditions always knew.
Studies on breathwork show it can:
Breathing is now recognised as one of the most powerful tools for trauma recovery, emotional balance, nervous system regulation and spiritual awakening.
Modern breathwork blends:
Your own background in yoga, tai chi, meditation, Reiki and clinical hypnotherapy puts you at the perfect intersection of these traditions — allowing you to guide clients through breathwork not just as a technique, but as a whole-person healing process.
Clients today are seeking more embodied, experiential practices that help them break patterns, process trauma and reconnect with themselves. Breathwork offers a direct pathway to these outcomes, bypassing the limitations of talk therapy alone.
People are drawn to breathwork today because it offers:
For clients who feel they’ve “tried everything” but still feel stuck, breathwork often becomes the missing piece — the somatic and energetic shift needed for real transformation.
With Carol’s background — 20+ years in hypnotherapy, 10 years teaching yoga and tai chi, decades of energy medicine work — she have a rare ability to blend:
Our approach is not trend-based. It is rooted in real practice, real wisdom and real clinical experience.
Begin your Breathwork journey with confidence today.
1. Diaphragmatic / Belly Breathing
A slow, relaxed breathing pattern that expands the belly on the inhale and softens on the exhale.
Purpose: Calms the nervous system, reduces anxiety, improves oxygenation, supports grounding.
2. Box Breathing (Square Breathing)
A controlled breathing pattern of equal counts: inhale – hold – exhale – hold (e.g., 4–4–4–4).
Purpose: Balances the nervous system, increases focus, reduces stress; used by Navy SEALs.
3. Coherent Breathing
Breathing at about 5–6 breaths per minute, usually with equal inhale and exhale.
Purpose: Regulates heart rate variability (HRV), stabilises emotions, promotes deep calm.
4. Extended Exhale (1:2 Breathing)
Exhale is twice as long as the inhale.
Purpose: Activates the parasympathetic nervous system, reduces anxiety, stops spiralling thoughts.
5. Triangle Breathing
Inhale → exhale → pause, forming a 3-part cycle.
Purpose: Natural, grounding, clears tension and resets the mind.
6. Conscious Connected Breath
A continuous breathing pattern with no pause between inhale and exhale. Often done through the mouth for activation or through the nose for gentler sessions.
Purpose: Builds energy, surfaces suppressed emotions, facilitates breakthrough experiences.
7. Circular Breathing (Rebirthing / Holotropic Style)
A stronger version of conscious connected breathing with a rhythmic flow, usually mouth breathing, designed to activate deeper layers of the subconscious.
Purpose: Trauma release, emotional clearing, spiritual experience, expanded awareness.
8. Energising Breaths
Short, sharp, active breaths such as Breath of Fire, HA breaths, quick inhales/exhales.
Purpose: Boosts energy, increases heat, clears stagnation, improves focus.
9. Physiological Sigh / Cyclical Sighing
Two short inhales followed by a long slow exhale.
Purpose: Rapidly reduces stress, resets overwhelmed nervous systems, scientifically proven.
10. Alternate Nostril Breathing (Nadi Shodhana)
Breathing through one nostril at a time using the fingers to close each side.
Purpose: Balances the left/right brain, calms anxiety, clears emotional congestion.
11. Humming Breath (Bhramari / Bumblebee)
Inhale through the nose, exhale with a gentle humming sound.
Purpose: Relaxes the vagus nerve, reduces irritability, soothes the mind, promotes serenity.
12. Yawning & Sighing Techniques
Deliberately encouraging yawns or sighs.
Purpose: Releases tight diaphragm, clears emotional stagnation, softens stored tension.
13. Full Yogic Breath (3-Part Breath)
A full inhale from belly → ribs → chest, and exhale in reverse.
Purpose: Expands lung capacity, improves prana/qi flow, centres the body.
14. Fire, Water, Earth, Air Breaths (Elemental Breathing)
Breathing styles designed to match energetic qualities—calming, activating, grounding or cleansing.
Purpose: Emotional regulation, spiritual connection, intuitive alignment.
15. Hypopressive & Reverse Breathing
Specialised techniques used to work with deep core muscles or alter abdominal pressure.
Purpose: Deep somatic work, pelvic floor support, advanced breath awareness.
In 2026, I will be offering structured group breathwork classes and themed workshops and sessions designed to support emotional healing, nervous system reset, deep relaxation, and personal transformation.
These sessions will be suitable for beginners through to advanced practitioners and will incorporate conscious breathing, guided processes and integrative practices.
Join my mailing list or follow my social pages to be notified when group classes open.
