RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AFTERCARE

Below are our suggestions for supporting your integration process  after your breathwork session.

There are two different ways to integrate your experiences in breathwork:  actively, or passively.

In active integration, you make a conscious effort to work with your  material through a variety of means, including such things as focused  therapy, journaling, artwork, collage work, stream-of-consciousness, and  much more.

In passive integration, the general idea is to simply create as much embodied presence and self-awareness in your life as  possible after a breathwork session because the deeper your self-presence, the more you’ll be realigning with the state-dependent memory which you accessed during your breathwork session, which will  lead to further insights and understandings about it, and the emergence of new puzzle pieces.

Passive integration can include such activities as meditation and yoga, walks in nature, massage and energy work, hot baths with candles, etc.

Be Gentle With Yourself

• Allow for greater sensitivity, openness and vulnerability

• Allow some time for self-nurturing

• Allow yourself to be with whatever emotions and feelings arise after the session in a loving, accepting way without judgment. Make them into your best friends. What you consider your “negative” emotions many times give you the most insight into what is really happening in your inner world. Do your best to stay in your body and with the emotional sensations in your body. No matter what is arising within you, meet yourself with the utmost compassion and remember that it will pass.

• Re-enter your normal life and activities mindfully

• Take some time to slow down and be present in the next 24 hours – it really helps to integrate the experience.

• Give yourself time for reflection and rest with a lighter schedule and to-do list. Stay in your calm, quiet environment for as long as you can.

• Drink plenty of water and maybe some hot tea for some extra grounding

• Eat grounding, healthy, nourishing food – veggie soups and roots such as radishes, carrots, potatoes and beets.

• Keep downregulating your nervous system:

  • Slow diaphragmatic breathing with extended exhales (untimed or 4 seconds in and 8 seconds out)

  • Humming

• Spend time by yourself or with people who are nurturing, healing, and understanding of your journey. It’s important to know yourself and what is best for you – more alone processing time or if it’s ok for you to be social.

• Cuddle with your pet or partner

• Light a (scented) candle or some incense/essential oils to help keep you grounded

• Spend time in nature, going on a longer walk or sit outdoors. If possible, connect with the earth barefoot, meditate in nature or relax by a tree. 

• Take a nurturing hot salt bath or shower

• Drink a hot tea or warm water

• Exercise gently (i.e. walking, stretching)

• Get a massage or do some self-massaging

• Listen to relaxing music you enjoy (I have all sorts of playlists I can send)

• Do something expressive and creative like drawing, making music, dance, cook, etc.

• Get adequate rest and sleep

• If you still feel activated after the session, but not anxious or emotional, I recommend conscious dancing, shaking or going for a slow run.

Lingering Emotions After A Deep Dive Session

Transformational Breathwork sessions can be deeply emotional experiences. They can bring repressed emotions to the surface and help you process them.

Most often, the processing of an emotion is completed during the journey itself.

Sometimes, an experience may bring something to the surface of your awareness, but the process won’t be completed yet.

You might also feel raw or vulnerable after a session. This is completely normal.

However you feel immediately after your journey, emotions coming to the surface is always in your favor, independent of the speed with which you move through them.

Breathwork is not about making something go away – it’s really about bringing material up, so we can move through it consciously.

When emotions linger after a session, it doesn’t mean the session wasn’t successful or something is wrong – it means you now have an opportunity to integrate what is calling your attention, something you might have suppressed for a long time.

You can now work with what is brought up from the ocean of your unconsciousness to your awareness.

With much love and continual healing,