Seven Ways Breathwork Helps to Heal Trauma

Sarah Jons Author

Are you looking for a powerful way to heal from past trauma? Join me as I share my personal journey of transformation through breathwork.

Hi there, I’m Sarah, and I want to share with you how breathwork has really helped me journey into the depths of stored trauma to help me heal.

Growing up, I experienced a cascade of significant events that would be labelled as traumatic. The first one I remember consciously was my sister being killed in a road traffic accident when she was 7. Understandably, this affected my mother’s mental health. I was only 3 at the time and didn’t really process or understand it. Children weren’t allowed in hospitals then, so we were left in the car while my mum and dad sat by her bed side, until sadly she passed away.

I didn’t realise that these events would affect me. It was only when my life started to fall apart in my early 30s, driven by certain addictive behaviours, that I started to get help.

Counselling and medication helped me recognise how some of these childhood issues were contributing. But they didn’t bring any resolution or closure to them. They just existed in my mind and body, like a creepy gallery of images I didn’t want to look at or speak about.

It wasn’t until my first Transformational Breath® weekend that I really began the process of unpacking these to heal.

Now, a decade later, I understand it a bit more.

Let me share 7 ways that Breathwork helps to heal trauma.

1. Bypassing the Conscious Mind

Conscious Connected Breathing, including Transformational Breath®, can help you access deeper layers of your psyche by inducing altered states of consciousness. During my first breathwork weekend, I found myself bypassing my usual thoughts and defences. Suppressed memories and emotions from my childhood started to surface, which was both intense and uplifting.

2. Deactivating the Sympathetic Nervous System

Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight had become my norm. My journey with breathwork over the years and multiple sessions helped me deactivate my usual stress response and shift into a state of surrender. I was told by my Transformational Breath® Facilitator to breathe through the emotions and feelings. I felt my body releasing the tension it had been holding onto for years, allowing me to dip into these traumas and weaken their grasp on me.

3. Stimulating the Vagus Nerve

Breathing deeply and slowly using the diaphragm is proposed to stimulate the vagus nerve. This nerve is split into two parts and runs from the brain, touching various organs, down into the body. This helps regulate the nervous system, promoting a sense of calm and balance. I felt a profound relaxation that I hadn’t experienced before, which allowed my body to enter periods of deep rest, no longer reliant on the cocktail of booze and sleeping pills which had been my nocturnal habit.

4. Increasing Embodied Awareness

Before breathwork, I wasn’t aware of my body unless it was in pain, or if I was depressed, I was aware of the effects, the emotions, and feelings.

Breathwork helped me tune into my bodily sensations with a sense of curiosity. This newfound perspective allowed me to understand and process the physical responses to my trauma, making me feel more whole and connected. Years of osteopathy treatment for back pain were no longer necessary.

5. Promoting Emotional Release

One of the most powerful aspects of breathwork is its ability to promote emotional release. During my sessions, I found myself crying, shaking, and even laughing as suppressed emotions came to the surface. It was like my body was finally able to express and release the feelings it had been holding onto for so long. Let’s not even talk about rage or anger. I’m still working through this now. Transformational Breath® is my go-to practice to help me manage life and all its struggles.

6. Completing the Stress Response Cycle

Some breathwork techniques can trigger the body’s stress response in a controlled way. This might sound counterintuitive, but my facilitators allowed me to reprocess traumatic events and complete the stress response cycle that had been interrupted. By engaging with these memories in a safe environment, I could finally start to resolve and integrate them.

7. Creating a Safe Space for Processing

My Transformational Breath® sessions provided a safe and supportive environment where I could explore my trauma without fear of judgement. This was crucial for my healing process. With the guidance of a certified breathwork facilitator, I felt safe enough to dive deep into my emotions and memories, leading to significant breakthroughs in my recovery.

While these outcomes aren't available with all breathwork practices, they are achievable through the regular practice of Transformational Breath®.

Looking back, my first weekend of breathwork was transformative. My body vibrated with energy, and long-buried memories and emotions floated into my awareness and then passed.

While counselling and medication were helpful starting points, it was breathwork that truly allowed me to heal my trauma. Pills are like a sticking plaster, and talking wasn’t easy or comfortable for me. If you’re looking for a way to dive deep and unlock your deepest healing, conscious connected breathingmight be the answer.

If you’re on a healing journey, I highly recommend incorporating Conscious Connected Breathing into your life.

Sarah Jons, founder of The Breathwork Teachers, helps people transform their physical, mental, and emotional health through breathwork. With nearly 25 years of experience working and living in student residences at the London School of Economics, Sarah understands the pressures students face. After overcoming personal challenges and working as a Cognitive Hypnotherapist and Life Coach, she discovered the power of breathwork in 2012. In 2014, she co-founded The Big Breath Company, teaching breathwork up to facilitator level. In 2023, she launched The Breathwork Teachers, offering 1-to-1 sessions and on-demand workshops and for groups, teams, and student communities.

Categories: : Breathwork, Conscious Connected Breathing, Transformational Breath, Trauma