The Breathwork Companion by Margaret Townsend

Author:Margaret Townsend
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Artisan
Published: 2022-12-14T07:36:29+00:00

Breathing as an Act of Self-Compassion

The foundation of my breathwork practice is the idea that giving yourself a conscious breath is an act of self-compassion, a way of opening up to meet yourself and those parts that you may want to push away. That’s a kind response. This breath of love serves as a portal to the heart, through compassion for yourself and for others. The powerful combination of conscious breathing and self-compassion is at the root of self-care. When you combine conscious breath with a self-compassionate attitude, you have a skill you can rely on for the rest of your life. Your presence of mind when you breathe consciously will make a difference, and your motivation reinforces the effectiveness and experience of breathwork.

What’s more, when the breath is open, we are more open to receiving self-compassion and knowing that we are taking it in as we breathe. By contrast, when we believe our own judgments and self-criticism, we are disconnected from our heart’s access to acceptance and love and our body and breath tighten.

At some point as an adult, I realized that self-compassion was a much-needed, yet missing, link in my life. Throughout my childhood, there were unexpected emotional outbursts at home. I struggled so much in grade school that I often felt tight in my body with constant panic and anxiety. The physical effects of this stress hijacked my brain function and manifested as chronic knots and problems in my gut. My nervous system was stuck in the stress cycle. This early experience with breathing and my own need for compassion led me to this path of practicing breathwork with self-compassion, now my life’s work. Knowing that allows me to have deep compassion for my younger self and motivates me to help others who find themselves wanting to open their breath and places where they feel stuck. When we’re ready, we can help those responses soften and relax.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.