Many people carry deep emotional wounds that never fully heal—not because they don’t want to heal, but because trauma often lives where words cannot reach: in the body.
Talk therapy can be incredibly helpful, but sometimes true healing requires something more physical, more primal. This is where breathwork comes in. Breathwork is a powerful tool that helps people release stored trauma, reconnect with their bodies, and create space for emotional and spiritual healing. It is simple, accessible, and deeply transformative.
What Is Breathwork?
Breathwork refers to a variety of breathing techniques designed to intentionally change your breathing pattern for therapeutic benefit.
Unlike the automatic, shallow breaths we often take during stress, breathwork involves conscious, controlled breathing that activates the body’s natural healing systems.
There are many styles of breathwork, including:
– Conscious Connected Breathing
– Holotropic Breathwork
– Box Breathing
– Coherent Breathing
– Pranayama (yogic breathing)
Each method offers different benefits, but they all share the goal of regulating the nervous system and accessing deeper layers of emotional and physical memory.
How Trauma Gets Stored in the Body
When a traumatic event occurs, the body’s fight, flight, or freeze response is activated. If the body is unable to fully process and discharge the survival energy (like running, fighting, or crying), that energy can become trapped in the body.
Over time, this stored trauma can lead to:
– Chronic tension or pain
– Anxiety and hypervigilance
– Emotional numbness
– Difficulty trusting oneself or others
– Digestive or sleep problems
Research published in Frontiers in Psychology supports the idea that unresolved trauma dysregulates the autonomic nervous system, keeping individuals stuck in survival mode (van der Kolk, 2014).
Breathwork helps complete these unfinished stress cycles by creating a safe space for the body to release trapped energy.
How Breathwork Supports Trauma Release
🌬️ 1. Activating the Parasympathetic Nervous System
Breathing deeply and intentionally activates the parasympathetic nervous system—the “rest and digest” system. This calms the body, reduces stress hormones like cortisol, and helps shift out of chronic fight-or-flight states.
A 2017 study published in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies showed that slow-paced breathing significantly reduced symptoms of PTSD and anxiety (Zaccaro et al., 2018).
🌿 2. Accessing Subconscious Emotions
Breathwork bypasses the thinking brain (the prefrontal cortex) and taps into the emotional and survival centers of the brain (the amygdala and limbic system).
This allows old, buried emotions—such as grief, anger, fear, or shame—to rise gently to the surface for acknowledgment and release.
💧 3. Providing a Safe Way to Discharge Energy
Through connected breathing patterns, people often experience physical sensations like tingling, shaking, crying, or spontaneous movements. These are signs that stuck energy is being released.
Instead of suppressing these reactions, breathwork invites the body to complete its natural healing cycle—something it may not have been able to do at the time of trauma.
✨ 4. Restoring a Sense of Safety and Embodiment
Trauma often causes disconnection from the body. Breathwork gently guides individuals back into their bodies in a safe, manageable way, rebuilding trust in physical sensations and emotions.
This reconnection is vital for long-term healing and emotional resilience.
Simple Breathwork Techniques for Trauma Healing
If you’re new to breathwork, here are some gentle techniques to start with:
1. Box Breathing (Square Breathing)
Box breathing is a simple, structured way to regulate emotions and calm anxiety.
– Inhale for 4 counts
– Hold for 4 counts
– Exhale for 4 counts
– Hold for 4 counts
– Repeat for several minutes
This method helps stabilize the nervous system and create emotional balance.
2. Coherent Breathing
In coherent breathing, you breathe slowly at a rate of about 5 breaths per minute (inhale for 6 seconds, exhale for 6 seconds).
This technique synchronizes the heart, lungs, and brain, promoting deep relaxation and emotional regulation.
3. Conscious Connected Breathing
This involves breathing in a circular rhythm—smooth, continuous inhales and exhales without pauses.
Conscious connected breathing can lead to profound emotional releases and insights. However, it’s best practiced with a trained facilitator if deep trauma is involved.
Safety Tips for Trauma-Informed Breathwork
Breathwork is powerful, but it’s important to approach it gently and intentionally when working with trauma:
– Start slowly and listen to your body’s cues.
– Practice in a safe, quiet environment.
– Work with a certified breathwork practitioner if you have a history of severe trauma, dissociation, or panic attacks.
– If intense emotions arise, slow down and return to normal breathing.
– Ground yourself afterward by drinking water, journaling, or connecting with a trusted person.
Healing happens best when we move at the pace of trust.
Breathwork as Part of a Holistic Healing Journey
Breathwork is not a standalone cure—it is a complementary tool that works beautifully alongside therapy, mindfulness practices, movement, and other healing modalities.
Many holistic recovery programs now integrate breathwork to support clients in:
– Emotional release
– Trauma resolution
– Addiction recovery
– Grief processing
– Personal growth
Each breath becomes a bridge between body and mind, past and present, pain and peace.
Final Thoughts
Breathwork reminds us that healing doesn’t always require complex tools or long explanations. Sometimes, it’s as simple—and as profound—as breathing deeply, fully, and freely.
By reconnecting with our breath, we reconnect with life itself.
In the space between inhale and exhale, trauma can be released, strength can be rediscovered, and a new story can begin.