My journey to breathwork

I am officially certified as a Bali Breathwork Facilitator!

I have learned an immense amount over the last six months, building on my knowledge of the breath and nervous system, developing my skills and confidence as a facilitator, and deepening my appreciation and wonder of the wisdom of the body and power the breath holds to connect our mind, emotions, and body and enable deep healing.

My first experience of breathwork three years ago came about as I felt a gut instinct that the healing and understanding I sought was to be found in relationship to the body. Through years of experiencing the deep lows of depression and frantic paralysis of anxiety, I had found many ways of building and supporting my wellbeing. The power of talking therapies was profoundly impactful for me and enabled me to cognitively understand and begin to process the traumas and challenges I had experienced; putting words to experience allowed a whirl of pain and hopelessness take form, no longer an overwhelming wave, but something I could articulate and contextualise. I now recognise this as movement from a deep freeze response, which had previously kept me safe, but meant I became a prisoner within my own walls. Through verbalising my experiences and being witnessed and supported by skilled counsellors and therapists, and loved ones around me, I was able to begin to recognise and witness the inner parts of myself that remained scared, frozen, and hurt.

 I reached a point where I felt like I had hit a barrier, where being up in my head no longer felt like enough, and I had a gnawing feeling I was missing a piece of the puzzle. I could understand rationally my internal world, my thoughts and emotions, and how past experiences affected my life, and my mind felt calmer and less turbulent. But my body was telling a different story. I still swung between feeling numb and disconnected, and feeling overwhelmed by a frantic heartbeat and constricted chest and throat, aware of a well of grief and anger I didn’t know how to access – and didn’t feel able to. As I was awakening to this gulf between mind and body, I began to become aware that this was being discussed more and more in the world. Reading ‘The Body Keeps the Score’ by Bessel van der Kolk spoke to this dissonance I was experiencing, and validated my instinct that the ongoing process of healing needs to take place both cognitively and somatically, and that emotional wounds and traumas are stored in the body.

I began to explore different somatic therapies, and embarked on an extraordinary journey researching and learning all I could, (a journey I am very much still on!). I came across breathwork, started exploring the effect my breath had on my body, emotions, and mind, and attended my first breathwork session with Mel at the Bali Breathwork studio in London. I experienced a profound connection and release; through my breath I was able to safely connect to the activated nervous system, connect to my sympathetic fight/flight/freeze, and allow my body to respond and react in the way it wanted to and was always meant to, but had not been able to in the past. This allowed me to discharge, and release suppressed energy and emotion which had felt so stuck and ancient, but now could move. I was then guided back into regulation – and supported to process and integrate my experiences through slow abdominal breathing and powerful visualisations. This vital part of the session meant that loops were able to complete, activated buried parts in me were able to be held in safety and love, and my body was able to give this to myself – which I find so incredible – everything I need is held within myself.

It's not a one-stop shop kind of thing – connecting to one’s body, to these lost parts of yourself that need reclaiming and reparenting; it’s an ongoing process and it’s not the easy path. It requires getting familiar with being uncomfortable, taking responsibility for your internal world and how you relate to others, and dedicating time and energy to start listening to your body and the wisdom it holds.

This Breathwork Facilitator Training has not only helped me on my own healing path, but it has been a real privilege learning how to facilitate breathwork sessions, hold space, and guide people on journeys that reconnect them to their body, that allow them to learn to regulate their nervous systems, to know themselves better, and reclaim a sense of agency and empowerment.

I am so excited to facilitate both 1:1 and group breathwork sessions in 2026, and share more of my exploration of somatic and energetic healing, so stay tuned for more details on these offerings in the New Year!

(This reflection is shared from lived experience and is not medical or psychological advice. I am not a medical or mental health professional, and breathwork is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health care.)