An Exploration of the Shadow Side of Breathwork Facilitation

To explore the shadow side of the majority of Breathwork that we currently witness being offered in the main, we must first begin with some essential context. To start, let it be understood that most (but not all) Breathwork we see being taught today (within the Conscious Connected Breathwork field) is that of open-mouth breathwork, meaning the inhale is being taken in through the mouth, and the exhale is being released through the mouth (i.e. in mouth, out mouth). Because of this approach, most mouth-inhale (open mouth) Breathwork Journeying activates the “fight or flight” (sometimes freeze) stress response in the body, also known as the sympathetic nervous system, due to the placement of the sympathetic receptors in the upper lungs. Meaning, the sympathetic nervous system receptors are triggered by a mouth-inhale. Entering into a self-induced sympathetic stress state (through Breathwork) can create anxiety, non-safety and/or defensiveness in the body, also bringing the nervous system into high alert.

For anyone unaware of what the fight or flight response is, simply put, it is an automatic physiological reaction to an event that is perceived as stressful or frightening. The perception of threat activates the sympathetic nervous system and triggers an acute stress response that prepares the body to fight or flee.

For anyone unfamiliar with the term oxidative stress: Oxidation is a normal and necessary process that takes place in your body. Oxidative stress, on the other hand, occurs when there's an imbalance between free radical activity and antioxidant activity. When functioning properly, free radicals can help fight off pathogens.

It is one thing for somatically-attuned, emotionally intelligent and nervous-system regulated individuals who are in a masterful place with Breath to play with stress states in the body from time to time (though still not advised long term), yet it is an entirely different thing to push an aggressive, stress-based format in the main as a “cookie-cutter” approach to Breathwork Journeying without any regard for a breather’s unique nervous system composition. At SBA, we believe this “default” approach is causing far more harm than good, and must be deeply evaluated. 

The Shadow Side of Breathwork Facilitation and Breathwork Containers

The following is not to make anyone necessarily “wrong”, but it is to shine a powerful light of accountability on very distinct shadow pieces emerging within the CCB breathwork world, in service to the good of the whole.

If you are a Breathwork Facilitator or School, it is essential that you deeply look at, sit with and unpack the following, if you are participating in it in any way, knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously.

SHADOW PIECE 1: A large volume of present-day (CCB) Breathwork is considered forced, rushed (“in and out”), stress-inducing Breathwork with no safe container offered post-journey for integration, reorienting or trauma-informed processing. Especially the 30 min or less journeys we see happening all over. This format is highly unethical as most people are just beginning to experience catharsis and meet their deeper layers before they are being pulled out and “sent on their way”. A facilitator cannot bring someone into their subconscious, emotional body and/or pain body, and then just “yank” them out. It’s honestly shocking that this even has to be explained to anyone offering the work. 

SHADOW PIECE 2: Not covering safety protocols, globally-recognized breathwork contraindications, physical sensations, emotional and somatic experiencing, tetany, general structure, the subconscious descent, etc beforehand i.e. failing to give context for the work and coach breathers around what they will experience. Dropping people into Breathwork with ZERO due diligence and explanation can actually RETRAUMATIZE the dysregulated! This is unacceptable.

SHADOW PIECE 3: The majority of open-mouth Breathwork (in the main) is creating unnecessary stress states in the body, meaning the inhalation method is inducing fight or flight responses (also sometimes freeze). When a sympathetic nervous system response like this is activated, it can result in further body armoring, fracturing, tension, dysregulation, protective mechanisms, and even oxidative stress at a cellular level. In simple terms, it is creating an environment of non-safety in the body. Facilitator, are you consulting with the nervous system of every single breather before offering them Breathwork? Or are you pushing a generic format without tuning into their deeper needs or the state of their nervous system? Meaning, is the Breathwork that you offer Nervous System-Led? Trauma-Informed? Ethical? Attuned? Honoring and Reverent? Are you aware of the alternative of Parasympathetic-Inducing Breathwork, and do you know how to teach it? 

SHADOW PIECE 4: Corners are cut on contraindications or they are completely neglected to be mentioned altogether.  

CONTRAINDICATIONS EXPANDED UPON: There are contradictions to full, Conscious Connected Breathwork and not everyone is a candidate. Know this well. Have breathers review the contraindications in addition to signing a waiver, ensuring they understand that strong energetic, emotional and physical release may and will arise. Explain the nature of the Breathwork process in advance. Again, we hear stories often that facilitators guiding Breathwork are giving their groups little to no context for what they are doing, nor explaining what could arise during the process. This is irresponsible. Cover your bases and be thorough, while simultaneously inspiring your audience to enter into this transformational experience with openness and curiosity. It's an artful dance. If someone is not a candidate for full Breathwork, consider working with a Modified, Gentle Yin Breath. We teach a variety of modified breath alternatives in our trainings to be able to adapt to any client’s needs + unique nervous system.

SHADOW PIECE 5: * Many facilitators neglect responsibility, do not create scheduling considerations in this work for the highest good (i.e. booking as many people as possible without creating space for post-breath needs), and do not take the time, care or consideration to properly explain the work or prepare their breathers for what they are about to experience. There tends to be much more of a “service to self” (especially to revenue and public persona) orientation than true “service to others.”

DUE DILIGENCE EXPANDED UPON:

Understand that people are often experiencing Breathwork for the first time, and thus it’s vital to give an introduction before beginning. If you have time constraints as a facilitator, check your motives for squeezing an immersion into an hour window (which does not give enough time for introduction or post-breath processing). Be mindful in booking workshops and sessions. Give enough time for processing at the end and ensure the Breathwork Journey itself is 45 min-1 hour minimum all the way up to 1.5-2+ hours if needed. The 30-minute 3-part circular breath immersions we are seeing all around are irresponsible and dysregulate breathers, especially as they are being pulled out of their process much too soon. We observed a few and witnessed people being incomplete in their process/release and ultimately being brought out too soon. This is unethical. Be aware of this.

IMPORTANT: In your Breathwork explanation, again be sure to touch on the range/spectrum of emotional catharsis/release, tetany in hands/mouth/jaw/body, tingling hands/body, somatic experiencing, uncoiling/unwinding the nervous system, uninhibited movement, shaking, toning, sounding, etc.

SHADOW PIECE 6: Facilitators can become blinded by their ego, making the journey of the breather(s) more about them (the facilitator), rather than holding an attuned, grounded space for the sacred process of the other (the breather). Rather than honoring the intelligence and intuitive wisdom of their breather(s) body, being and deeper knowing, they (the facilitator) will instead insert their personal will into the equation. This is subtlety (or not so subtlety) arrogant, invasive (to varying degrees) and ill-informed.

There are many ways egoic interference can show up, but some of the most pronounced are that of the facilitator asking the breather to lay still and not move. Or asking them to lie back down if they need to sit, unwind, stretch or shift their body for a time during their experiential process. It includes anything else which halts or interrupts the breather’s organic unwinding. It can further include a facilitator inserting themselves (and their ego) into the midst of a deep cathartic release for a breather because (unconsciously) the facilitator’s ego wants to be “involved in the action”.

I have also seen far too many facilitators poking on, prodding, inserting and sometimes even mildly violating the breather in the midst of their vulnerable internal process. I would suggest that a very small percentage of the time, intervention serves (if done in a safe, gentle and conscious way). The majority of the time, it doesn't. What I also witness within this is the touch (or any other ”insertion” of the facilitator) not being received by the breather yet the breather also feels unresourced to claim their boundaries in the moment, especially in a “student-teacher” dynamic. I have also seen several male facilitators placing their hands on women in highly in appropriate places during a journey. This behavior MUST be examined.

Fierce Truth: It’s arrogant and egoic to ever assume that we, as facilitators, ever fully know what’s best for another’s unique journey of healing and unwinding. Because it is something that is happening within them, not us! And it’s happening intimately within their body, being and consciousness. We can ONLY support this. We should not be directing it unless they are completely stuck, frozen or immobilized in their process. For a true facilitator only holds space for the other to reclaim their own innate capacities, nothing more.

We can never fathom the depths of anyone’s process. Rather, we can only bear witness to it as an anchored, present and compassionate witness. We must remain in reverent humility to the intelligence and alchemy of the breath. The breath is the Master Teacher, not us. We do not know what another’s nervous system, body or musculature needs to do to release something lodged within it. This wisdom exists within their inner knowing alone. Moving through it within themselves is also how they reclaim safety, sovereignty and empowerment within their own body temple. When a facilitator overly “inserts” themself, they interrupt this internal process. (Always with exceptions to intervention and in-the-moment support, of course.

A facilitator invalidates a breather when they instruct them how to be in relationship with their own body. If you are participating in this, please stop. It must be understood that a breather’s innate body intelligence knows exactly what to do to recalibrate itself within the expanded state of consciousness that Breathwork induces. This is why SBA promotes shaking, movement, emoting sounds, free-form and uninhibited expression and anything else that individual needs to do for a somatic release so as long as it’s not disrupting their neighbor. It is VITAL to craft safe, intentional spaces where breathers are free to express fully and freely- however that looks for them. Stop interfering with this organic unwinding. We hear it happens often. Surrender your personal ego onto the altar of the moment; be a clear conduit for the grace which wants to birth through into the space. Be humble. Be reverent. Be open to the mystery of the unfoldment (what is), rather than what you need it to be. 

SHADOW PIECE 7: Many facilitators send breathers “on their way” after a journey without checking in with them. This also applies to group journeys, including EVERY person within the group. Large virtual Breathwork journeys with no check-ins after are unethical!

IMPORTANT: Not everyone is resolved or complete after one Breathwork journey. Tune into each person and track them. Looks for cues that distinguish whether they need additional support or processing. Give space at the end of a journey for people to share, process, receive or simply be held and met in their experience. If something big comes up for them and it’s not fully resolved, again, sending them off without any check-in is completely irresponsible. Check in with each and every person before, during and after the experience. Remain in integrity. Ensure they are ok. Ask them to follow up with you the next day if they are not. Have either further processing on the phone or invite them for an immediate second breathwork session.

SHADOW PIECE 8: Many facilitators hold short, rushed journeys and then send their breathers away to operate a motor vehicle immediately after! This is truly unbelievable.

Please do NOT allow breathers to drive a car/motorbike for at least 30 minutes after a breathwork journey. If you hold a real processing session after, this will happen naturally. Please be responsible and realize the depth of this work and the state of consciousness it induces. Make sure breathers are fully “back” before they leave. Also, consider weaning people off the breath and slow it down 15-20 minutes prior to concluding. Then have them resume a normal breath 10 minutes before. Then a 5-7 minute savasana-style rest in a still-point space for integration. Don’t pull them out too soon. Many teachers do so unknowingly. This is why we have created Breathwork Savasana. What is the point of having breathers do the deep work to generate nourishing panic energies if they can’t rest in them afterwards to fully receive their healing and regenerative benefits? Please let go of the imbalanced yang/“in-and-out” approach to healing. We have enough of this in our fast-paced, modern society and this way of teaching Breathwork is only a further symptom of our collective imbalance. Instead, invite sacred feminine receptivity into the space.

SHADOW PIECE 9: Pop-Up Breathwork “Teacher Trainings” with instant “certification”?!

No individual, organization or school should be holding “pop-up”, especially weekend-long, teacher trainings! This is HIGHLY irresponsible, unethical and just plain shocking. Breathwork Teacher Trainings should not be under 200 hours and you should not be holding them unless you have undergone a Trainer’s Apprenticeship. Said with fierce accountability, no one should be “popping out” Breathwork Facilitators the way one could receive a day-long reiki attunement. And even the length of most reiki attunements are questionable. Breathwork is significant and paradigm-shifting work and facilitators must be trained properly in how to guide breathers through experiential emotional release, especially if a latent trauma is arising. There is no way anyone can learn the nuances and depth of this in a matter of days. 

If you are conducting these “pop up” trainings, please reflect on your motives and intentions. If your motive is revenue, we ask you to sit with this and consider the implications of what you are doing. You are affecting the whole with your actions. Be in integrity. Know your work in and out. Please stop causing harm. This is why we witness so much irresponsible Breathwork facilitation presently. It ends with your integrity.  © SBA

A Final Note: Breathwork is big, life-changing work and it is imperative that we honor its magnitude. Because of this knowing, our Academy remains a leader and pioneer of ethical, trauma-informed and attuned space-holding. We have heard far too many stories to count within the Breathwork community of breathwork being held in an irresponsible, “sloppy” and/or non-informed way, and so it has become our FOREMOST INTENTION to set an unwavering community standard of impeccability and somatic safety when guiding this work. We hope that you will all join us in this standard!

— Written by Kaya Leigh, Founder of Sacred Breath Academy

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A Personal Note from Kaya: Although you may have been inspired by this webpage, it is NOT in integrity to take my words as your own, as dozens have been doing over the years. This is my deepest life’s work. Please respect & honor it as sacred! Thank you for remaining in integrity! With love, care & devotion to my life's work & mission.

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