WHAT IS BREATHWORK?

breathwork is a powerful and sacred healing practice that uses intentional breathing to catalyze deep healing, emotional release and spiritual connection.

Breathwork harnesses the innate wisdom of the breath to bridge the mind, body and subconscious by unlocking altered states of consciousness where we can rewrite old narratives, patterns and regulate our nervous systems. With deep healing comes inner clarity and the ability to shift from fear to trust, from survival to courage and from disconnection to presence.

The historical roots of Breathwork

Breathwork is not new—it is ancient medicine. For thousands of years, cultures across the world have turned to the breath as a gateway to healing, awakening and transformation.

From the yogic pranayama practices of India and prana (life force), to Taoist breathwork that balances qi (energy), to the deep rhythmic breathing of shamanic traditions across the world, indigenous cultures across the Americas, Africa and Australia have long known that how we breathe shapes how we live.

From the breath-centered healing rites of the Amazon to the trance breath of the San Bushmen in Southern Africa, these traditions remind us that every breath has always been a bridge—between worlds, between body and spirit, between disconnection to presence. In Southern Africa, we are particularly inspired by the ancestral wisdom of the San and Khoi peoples—considered to be some of the most ancient lineages on Earth. These traditions remind us that breath is not simply physiological—it is spiritual.

It is the thread that links us to our ancestors, to the Earth, and to the unseen intelligence within and around us.

Lineage and Approach

This style of conscious breathwork is rooted in the Rebirthing Breathwork lineage developed in the 1970’s by Leonard Orr. Influenced by yogic breathing and spiritual purification practices, Rebirthing introduced a specific technique knows as conscious connected breathing-a circular continuous breath without pauses between inhale and exhale. This method gently bypasses the thinking mind, activates the subconscious and creates space for emotional release, trauma resolution and nervous system regulation. At a bare minimum, a breathwork session provides deep relaxation and stress relief. However, at its fullest potential, it can lead to emotional breakthroughs, trauma healing, a sense of oneness, and spiritual awakening.

Courageous Life and Breathwork

At The Courageous Life, we honor these ancestral roots by weaving the ancient with the modern—offering breathwork as both a sacred ritual and a trauma-informed healing practice. Each session is held with deep reverence for the breath’s power to transform, guided with care to create a safe space for nervous system regulation, emotional release and soul reconnection. Whether in person or virtually, our modalities support:

• Nervous system regulation through somatic practice

• Grief, burnout and transition integration

• Creativity, clarity and inner alignment

• Accessing ancestral wisdom and deeper connection to Source

• Moving stuck energy in they body for emotional and physical releases

• Processing and releasing trauma

The importance of trauma-informed breathwork

Many people carry unresolved trauma in their bodies, often without knowing it. Breathwork has the power to bring those buried experiences to the surface, which is why trauma-informed breathwork is essential. Your body always remembers what your mind often forgets. With Elle, sessions are guided with care, presence and training to recognize each individual’s pace and needs. This makes it so the process is not overwhelming, but instead gentle, empowering, and supportive of true healing. Rather than re-traumatizing the nervous system, trauma-informed breathwork creates safety, choice and the space needed for real integration.