Breath is more than just a physiological necessity; it's a gateway to our inner world. Breathwork is rooted in ancient practices and have stood the test of time. The Breath is part of our autonomic nervous system (the system that keeps us alive without thinking) and is the only part we have conscious control over. 

At its core, breathwork is the deliberate control and manipulation of your breath to achieve specific outcomes. It involves various breathing techniques, each designed to serve a different purpose. 

While mindfulness and meditation are interrelated, there are differences. Mindfulness is a quality and Meditation is a practice. 

Mindfulness is the innate human capacity to live consciously. When we are mindful, we become fully aware and have the space to make choices rather than react unconsciously. Meditation is a practice of observation and connecting with consciousness itself. Through this practice, we can develop the qualities we aspire. 

It is said that we are the sum of our habits. Our day-to-day choices have the greatest impact on our overall health and wellbeing. Lifestyle medicine focuses on modifying things that may seem basic, but have an enormous impact on our vitality. Lifestyle medicine places emphasis on behavioral change that allow the body and the psyche to heal itself. This may include sleep, nutrition, movement, relationships, mindfulness/mindset, community, and connection to the things that stoke your fire.  

If our nervous system does not believe we are safe, no amount or mantras or positive thinking can get us to where we’re wanting to go.

Unhealed trauma is stored and relived in our bodies by way of our nervous system. We experience this somatically (in the body) in the form of reactions, sensations, behaviors, feelings, and eventually, thoughts.

When we are dysregulated, the parts of our brain that process language go offline. Therefore, we can't talk or think ourselves out of these experiences, we have to somatically regulate to experience a sense of calm and safety.

Parts work is a therapeutic lens that assumes each of us has many parts that makes up the whole of us. Each of the parts has conscious or unconscious needs, wants, and beliefs that help or hinder us in our day to day lives. The work is becoming aware of these many different parts within us, learning their needs, wants and fears. As we understand how each part operates, we are more able to compassionately integrate the many aspects that create the whole of ourselves. Through this work, we build capacity to creatively problem solve and move through situations where we previously felt stuck.

With psychedelics reemerging and clinical trials showing positive outcomes, the call for harm reduction and integration of these expansive experiences is important. 

Psychedelic integration is a profoundly personal. Making sense of the psychedelic journey is a way to link the insights we may learn from a journey into the whole of our every day life. Learning how to embody the information and lessons we gained while continuing to function in our society. The integration container must be held with compassion and grace as the complexity of the psychedelic experience has a way of challenging our structures and belief systems. Integration is the way to piece back together the unraveling of what no longer serves us.

* I DO NOT provide, promote, or encourage the use of illegal drugs.