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I still remember the day as clearly as yesterday.

It was around four years ago. I had just quit my job where I had a prestigious and well-paid position within the banking sector that left me feeling unfulfilled in life. I had moved from Scandinavia to the other side of the world—to New Zealand. I didn’t have it all figured out yet, and I wasn’t sure what I actually wanted to do with my life.

I had been trying to find myself through meditation and had been meditating on and off for some time, but without noticing any difference in my life. My biggest struggle with meditation was to not let my mind interfere. I found it hard to sit in stillness and let my thoughts pass by as clouds. So often, while sitting in meditation, I came to realize I had once again been pulled out of the present moment and into a story of my own mind.

My Introduction to Breathwork

This one sunny day while being in my new home in New Zealand, I received the intuitive nudge to do a quick Google search on what kind of meditation sessions were organized nearby. I found this one place not far away from my home that would be arranging a four-hour-long mindfulness event called Breathwork Healing. It was only a couple of days to the event. I had never heard of Breathwork at that time, and I had no clue what I was getting myself into. For some mysterious reason, I felt drawn toward this specific event, and I’ve always been eager to explore and try new things, so I signed up!

The event started with us all being led to sit on yoga mats in a circle. We were an intimate group of under 20 people, and everyone had a couple of minutes to introduce themselves. It was super well-led, and the instructor made me feel seen and safe throughout the whole journey. After being introduced to breathwork and explained how to do the breathing pattern, I already found myself laying down on my yoga mat. The scent of incense burning and the sudden sharp sounds of drum rolls woke up my senses. I was excited for what was to come, although I had no idea what to even expect. I felt a deep sense of peace wash over me, knowing that it was all going to be alright. It was this deep knowing that I was right where I was meant to be.

In the beginning, as I laid there on my yoga mat with 15 other strangers breathing loudly around me, my mind tried to convince me to stop. My mind told me all sorts of things like what the hell do you think you’re doing? Who do you think you are? Are you out of your mind? Let’s leave right now! I didn’t listen to the voice of my mind. Instead, I focused on keeping up with the rhythmic breathing pattern that I had just learnt, and I focused on the instruments that were being played in the background. The music was pretty upbeat, and it was supposed to evoke different emotions within us and help bring up old memories and emotions to the surface.

The instructor’s soft voice led me into a deeper state of consciousness. I had an out-of-the-body experience. How I could best describe it is I felt like I was floating in other dimensions and in outer space. I felt light and relaxed. It was in this deep state of relaxation that I lost my sense of time. And before I knew it, 45 minutes had passed, and I returned to normal consciousness and back into this 3D space. Returning back into my body, I noticed that my legs were cramping and my hands and face were tingling. I was covered in goosebumps, and I felt like my whole body was vibrating. I felt a deep sense of love and peace wash over me. The experience transformed my life! 

Breathwork was the Reset Button for My Mind and Body

Up until that moment, my life had been extremely fast-paced, and it was all about hitting goals and achieving big things in life. I had never really made the time to sit down and ask myself what I really want in life. For two decades of my life, I was living in constant fight-or-flight mode from growing up in an abusive household, and having trauma was all I knew. I was constantly stressed and overwhelmed, reacting to the outer world and letting outer circumstances affect how I felt.

I wasn’t in touch with my body or emotions at all. I had learnt to numb my past trauma and pain with food and alcohol. Breathwork helped me get out of my mind and tune into my body and energy on a much deeper level than meditation ever did. I was focusing on the active breathing part of breathwork that really enabled me to get out of my head and into my body. Breathwork was the liberation from my thoughts and the ongoing mind chatter. Breathwork helped free myself from my past and helped me heal and process my trauma and old memories in a safe way. It served as an emotional release and helped process repressed and suppressed emotions in a healthy way.

Breathwork has been a huge part of my transformational journey. I have noticed significant changes in myself and my life ever since. Breathwork really elevated my mental and physical well-being, and it felt like I had released a lifetime’s worth of tension and stress that my body had held onto. Breathwork has helped me come home to my true, authentic self and helped me peel off the layers of my past conditioning and who I never was.

I love breathwork so much because it truly is the reset button for the mind, body, and soul. 

Breathwork Brought Me New Perspectives to Life’s Challenges

Breathwork has helped me go through life’s challenges with more ease. I’ve learnt to see the challenges and obstacles from a fresh perspective and approach and deal with them in a different way. From practicing breathwork, I’ve gained this deep knowing that I am able to handle whatever life throws at me. No matter how impossible it seems. Breathwork has given me resilience and inner strength. I have become much more self-aware and able to have self-compassion, for both myself and others. I feel like I’m able to be much more present in life and present with other people, rather than going into my mind’s stories.

Whenever I feel like I need to clear my mind and there’s a big decision I have to make or something I’m worrying about, breathwork is my go-to because it brings me clarity. Whenever I practice breathwork, I receive intuitive insights and downloads. I’ve always been super intuitive, but now even more so, and breathwork has opened up my spiritual gifts of claircognizance and clairsentience to a whole new level. They were always there; it’s just that through breathwork I’ve been able to tap into them much more and gain trust and certainty in my own abilities.

Today, I practice some sort of breathwork at least once a day, whether it’s a short five-minute practice to boost my energy in the morning or for my midday slump or a deeper 30-minute practice to come back into the present moment and tune into and heal my body and align my energy centers. After a session, I always feel super energized, and I have so much inspiration flooding through me, yet there is this deep feeling of peace and calm.

Moving from Practicing Myself to Helping Others

During the past years, breathwork has gone mainstream, and it’s become the new wellness trend. But breathwork is actually nothing new. It dates back to the ancient yoga traditions and to the Indian monasteries where breathwork practices were safeguarded and a well-kept secret for hundreds of years as the secret for longevity.

After experiencing huge breakthroughs and seeing amazing benefits in my physical and mental well-being from practicing breathwork myself, I wanted to share this beautiful and powerful tool with the world. I wanted to help other people transform their lives from the inside out through the power of their own breath too. I decided to further deepen my knowledge, and I attended several trainings to become a certified breathwork facilitator. Ever since being a certified breathwork facilitator, I have incorporated breathwork into my coaching business, and breathwork has become a big part of my 1:1 coaching and online programs.

I don’t call it breathwork, though; I call it the breath journey. Because it is indeed a journey—a journey to tune back into our home frequency, to reconnect with our soul, and find our true, authentic self.

~

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