What
is Somatic Breath Therapy?
"Somatic Breath Therapy is freedom in the most astral sense. It provides a deep dive into the self and unburies the most beautiful flowers of human existence while killing the weeds that inhibit our spiritual growth. The experience provides a measurable and lasting effect that continues for years." ~ John Wilkinson, Steamboat Springs, CO
Somatic Breath Therapy is a therapy that is facilitated by a highly trained practioner to help a client return to a natural, innate breathing pattern that we are all born with. In response to various stresses and traumas throughout our lives, a frenzied lifestyle, and incapacity to give ourselves the time and space to recover and return to a natural state of relaxation and being, and what is called a highly developed neo cortex in the brain, we lose our capacity to return to this natural connected breath which, in the animal kingdom is automatic and creates a natural reset in the right and left hemispheres of the brain, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Over time this creates imbalances such as PTSD, long term stress, anxiety, panic and depression, emotional pain and worry, lack of energy and/or motivation, focus and passion, overactive mind, and an inability to relax and or sleep.
What Really Causes Stress?
- The Perception that Something is Wrong
- Holding the Breath
- Sends a Signal to the Body that Something is Wrong (Whether it’s True or Not)
- Heart Rate Goes Up
- You Feel Inner Panic/Anxiety
- Body Senses Danger, Adrenals are Stimulated, Releasing Adrenaline into the System Which Raises Cortisol Levels
What
if Nothing is Wrong?
- Shift in Perception Based on What is REALLY Happening in the Moment - Calling Yourself Back to Present Time
- Take a Deep Breath and Exhale (most important!)
What Are the Practical Uses for Somatic Breath Therapy?
- Body-Mind Therapy
- Personal Development
- Spiritual Enlightenment
As a Body Mind Therapy
Directly Addresses the Journey From:
- Restricted Breathing to Open Breathing
- Physical Dis-ease to Ease
- Personal Dysfunction to Function
- This approach of body-mind therapy involves a direct encounter with whatever physical, emotional and/or mental patterns have developed within the individual that are getting in the way of their breathing and living fully and easily.
- Conscious breathing sponsors a means to emotionally cleanse, purify and integrate body-mind imbalances (or suppressions) as a way of relieving tension and creating integrated and/or higher states of functioning.
"I was very skeptical going into my first breath therapy session with Cyndy. I knew I had anxiety issues. I knew the philosophy of breath therapy was sound. Oxygen supply to the brain is essential. I found myself feeling nervous during at the start of my first class. But, Cyndy helped me break past my personal barriers keeping me from concentrating. She showed me that I was gaurding the issues that were causing my anxiety. I had no idea that on a day-to-day basis I was holding my breath and causing my body to believe it was in a state of panic. Being aware of this has helped me tremendously in regaining control of my body and my internal state. I'm still on a journey to being anxiety-free. But, I am more confident than ever that I will get to where I want to be. Cyndy is intuitive, caring, and professional. She practices what she preaches. I will continue to do breath therapy for the rest of my life."
~ Madison Vander Well, Colorado Springs, CO
For
Personal Development
Aims to uplift the body, mind and spirit of the individual toward new levels of personal performance and creative expression.
The empowering aspects of breathwork helps a client to explore new levels of personal expression, purposefulness and interpersonal communication within relationships.
The empowering aspects of breathwork helps a client to explore new levels of personal expression, purposefulness and interpersonal communication within relationships.
"In 2007 I discovered Cyndy Clemens when a friend gave me a gift certificate for breathwork. I had never heard of her or her work before, but her information said something about it being better than sex, and since I had had some great sex in my life, I was more than willing to give this a go.
I can honestly say that it wasn’t only better than sex, but that it made my sexual experiences in the future of each session deeper and more gratifying because during the breathwork sessions I was able to get deeper and deeper into myself and the emotions that had been blocking me from experiencing a fuller and more vibrant life.
I went to Cyndy once a month for a year, and those experiences that flowed through me during her sessions affect me still to this day. Each session unearthed a part of my past that affected how I was showing up in my present, and the excavated knowledge, feelings, and energy created a void in which I was able to build anew with what worked better for me.
If I lived near Cyndy today I would be having regular sessions with her again because there are so many shifts and explorations showing up for me in this crazy thing I call my life, that I know with her assistance I would be able to really bust through with great energy, music, and an insightful facilitator who would lovingly walk me through the process. You cannot ask for more than that. It truly is an experience worth delving into. It cracks your world open for endless possibilities."
~ Jill Luigs, Artist, New York
As
a Practice for Spiritual En-Lightenment
Somatic Breath Therapy iss utilized to aid an individual’s journey toward spiritual enlightenment
A natural by-product of circular or connected breathing is the stimulation of longer (Theta/Delta) brainwave patterns found during transcendent or meditative (deeply relaxed) states of consciousness and deep sleep.
The Therapeutic Practitioner often observes and must carefully attune to and negotiate the presence of what has been called “non-ordinary states of reality.”
Experiences can be extremely profound and usually benefits every aspect of and individual’s life experience.
A natural by-product of circular or connected breathing is the stimulation of longer (Theta/Delta) brainwave patterns found during transcendent or meditative (deeply relaxed) states of consciousness and deep sleep.
The Therapeutic Practitioner often observes and must carefully attune to and negotiate the presence of what has been called “non-ordinary states of reality.”
Experiences can be extremely profound and usually benefits every aspect of and individual’s life experience.
Other
Uses for Somatic Breath Therapy
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The Evolution and History of Breathwork
Ancient Practices
–China (Qi Gong)
–Tibet (Tantra)
–India (Pranayama)
–China (Qi Gong)
–Tibet (Tantra)
–India (Pranayama)
Leonard Orr
– Rebirthing
Memories of birth surfaced while “processing” in hot tubs connected to breathing exercises, not the water exclusively.
– Rebirthing
Memories of birth surfaced while “processing” in hot tubs connected to breathing exercises, not the water exclusively.
Stanislov Graf
– Holotropic Breathwork
Used to access “non-ordinary states of consciousness.
– Holotropic Breathwork
Used to access “non-ordinary states of consciousness.
Dr. Judith Kravitz
– Transformational Breathing
Weaving multi-disciplinary (shamanic, etc.) knowledge of breath.
– Transformational Breathing
Weaving multi-disciplinary (shamanic, etc.) knowledge of breath.
Jeremy Youst
– Somatic Breath Therapy/Power of Breath Institute
Combining connected touch with the Power of Breath for Self-Empowerment.
Board member of International Breathwork Training Alliance for establishing ethical and professional breathwork training standards.
– Somatic Breath Therapy/Power of Breath Institute
Combining connected touch with the Power of Breath for Self-Empowerment.
Board member of International Breathwork Training Alliance for establishing ethical and professional breathwork training standards.
Cyndy Clemens
– IBTA CertifieSomatic Breath Therapy Practitioner, Life Purpose Coach and Life Empowerment Facilitator
Loving Breath, LLC
– IBTA CertifieSomatic Breath Therapy Practitioner, Life Purpose Coach and Life Empowerment Facilitator
Loving Breath, LLC
- Certified under International Breathwork Training Alliance guidelines, receiving her certification in 2005 through the 2-year program at The Power of Breath Institute, located in Spofford, NH. She has been practicing Somatic Breath Therapy since 2003, and has maintained a private practice since her graduation. She also facilitates classes, groups, and workshops.
- Trained as Life Purpose Coach through Life on Purpose Institute from 2001 to 2002.
- Graduated from Earth Circle Ministries 2-Year Earth Circle Leadership Training and received her Ordination in 2008.
Why
Consciously Breathe?
To Integrate Three Levels of Breath:
Body ~ Mind ~ Spirit
Body ~ Mind ~ Spirit
Level I ~ The Body ~ Opening the Breath
- Conscious breathing is a choice that creates conscious awareness in one’s body.
- Respiration is both autonomic and voluntary.
Conscious Breathing =
Conscious Living
The
Three Parts of Breath
3
Components of Breath
- Connected/Circular
- Diaphragmatic
- Relaxed Exhale
Delivering to an Area of 100 Sq. Meters
The
Diaphragm
A SMOOTH muscle, designed to go on continually
vs skeletal muscles – e.g. abdominal muscles or intercostal muscles that lift the ribcage – which tire and need rest. This is one of the main reasons for shallow and/or ineffective breathing.
vs skeletal muscles – e.g. abdominal muscles or intercostal muscles that lift the ribcage – which tire and need rest. This is one of the main reasons for shallow and/or ineffective breathing.
The
Medulla Oblongata is Stimulated by Connected Breathing
- Controls Autonomic Functions (such as breathing and blood pressure)
- Relays Nerve Messages from the Brain to the Spinal Cord
- Function Control of Sneeze ~ Cough ~ Swallow ~ Suck Reflex ~ Vomiting
Connected Breathing Balances:
Parasympathetic and Sympathetic Nervous Systems
Parasympathetic: controls involuntary and unconscious bodily functions
Parasympathetic: controls involuntary and unconscious bodily functions
- Creates relaxation in the body
- Fight or flight response in the body
What
Does the Breath Do?
The Three “70’s”
Approximately:
Creates 70% of energy in the body
70% of toxins released thru breath
70% of breath is meant to be diaphragmatic
Thanks a MILLION! Every breath exchanges a million particles (6 million breaths per year)
Heart’s Code: The Heart adds it’s own “L” or unique quantum energy field to the O2/Prana before it goes to the cells
Yawning and Stretching is another way the body seeks to get more oxygen
Approximately:
Creates 70% of energy in the body
70% of toxins released thru breath
70% of breath is meant to be diaphragmatic
Thanks a MILLION! Every breath exchanges a million particles (6 million breaths per year)
Heart’s Code: The Heart adds it’s own “L” or unique quantum energy field to the O2/Prana before it goes to the cells
Yawning and Stretching is another way the body seeks to get more oxygen
Why
Do We Do Conscious, Connected
Breathing?
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Level II ~ The Mind: Clearing and Integration of the Subconscious
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Suppressions: Where we put our stuffed feelings & traumas. Turning our conscious attention away from something because it feels bad and making it wrong in our minds. CHILDREN suppress feeling memories in the body-mind, not just cognitively – BREATHWORK gives us access to those memories through ACTIVATION and INTEGRATION. Emotions (energy in motion) and feelings: By facing the feelings in the presence of BREATH AWARENESS, you can integrate it. |
Why Don’t We Breathe Fully?
TO SHUT OFF OUR FEELINGS! And, as a learned behavior from: •Stress •Entrainment to parents’ breathing patterns •Parental and cultural oppression and conditioning •As a response to physical and emotional trauma and pain •Coping patterns/habits of thought, etc. Shallow Breathing Becomes a Deeply Ingrained Habit (not a good long term strategy!) in Dealing with Life |
What
You Resist Persists
How Does Somatic Breath Therapy Work?
Integration:
- When the TRUTH Sets You Free!
- When You Can Perceive Something as Whole and Not Resist it or Make it Wrong
- Transforms Charged Memories into Simple Memories
How Does Breathwork Help Our
Minds and Emotions?
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Typical
Holding (Control) Patterns
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Level III ~ The Spirit: Connecting to Higher Levels of Awareness
Connected breathing leads to connected living. Relaxed, circular breathing creates a remembrance of inner spiritual connection and a prioritization of values according to the Soul’s purpose for being. This prioritization of value supports those choices that lead to conscious, authentic and integrated life experience.
Connected Breathing Creates Connected Living: To Self, others and the world.
Connected Breathing Creates a “Higher Vibrational” State = Conscious connection to Higher Self and God.
PERFECTION and JOY become understood as the normal states of being.
How
Does Somatic Breath Therapy Create a Spiritual Effect?
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Cutting Edge
With the current rise and support of professional and ethical standards of breathwork internationally, Therapeutic Breathwork shall soon be seen as the cutting edge to personal empowerment as well as an equally adjunct to psychotherapy and spiritual disciplines
Where Do We Go From Here? Is Somatic Breath Therapy Right For Me?
Do you Have a Set of Lungs???
Then the Answer is a Resounding YES!!
Options:
Personal Intensives: 4 sessions in two days - Created for those who are not local or want a fast, intense start to moving through deep-seated patterns
One-on-One Sessions: In packages of 3, 6, 8 and 12 Sessions (Most people will need to work with me for 5-7 sessions, depending on the depth of the issues they are working through physically/emotionally/mentally/spiritually
Group Sessions/Classes
One-on-One Sessions: In packages of 3, 6, 8 and 12 Sessions (Most people will need to work with me for 5-7 sessions, depending on the depth of the issues they are working through physically/emotionally/mentally/spiritually
Group Sessions/Classes
Empowerment Program 2018
What's in an Empowerment Program Immersion? Nine months of learning new ways of living that support and sustain a lifestyle that is supportive of living from a more authentic place. After nine months, at the very least you will have improved your breathing habits, which increase oxygen in the body, massages organs, balances sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, teaches you how to breathe THROUGH difficult emotions instead of avoiding or overreacting to them, and the list goes on.
But you also learn eating habits that are nourishing to the body and soul. You learn how to communicate better with others. Time in circle teaches you how to actively listen until it is your turn to speak, to really HEAR others. You learn how to shift your thinking. You align yourself more with nature. You develop a community of friends in an intimacy that cannot be duplicated, and the bonds created last a lifetime. You allow yourself to truly be SEEN within the context of that intimacy, celebrated and loved for who you are without your identities. You learn to laugh more. Play more. Relax more. Trust more. All of these components together along with so many more, just simply by the act of DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT than what you've always done, will change your life and just as importantly, the lives around you, for the better.
Just a tidbit.
Empowerment and Awakening Consciousness Program 2018 Level I
Here is the basic curriculum for an intimate group of 6-10 individuals that want to really go for active, conscious participation in deep transformation. We all have gifts that we possess but for various reasons have been suppressed in our psyches due to social, familial, economic and other conditioning factors.
Latent gifts that we are born with emerge, and we then embark on a discovery for how to offer our gifts to the world. We use the powers of breath, movement, body awareness, presence, the heart, intention, and mindfulness toward creating a culture of loving connection within this small community that will last a lifetime. We learn how to listen more and talk less, we learn how to listen with the intent of hearing and understanding, rather than thinking of what we are going to say in reply.
This is a program for deepening into a real COMMITMENT to greater self awareness physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, while in the presence of "other," (and/both, inclusion vs exclusion), as well as spiritual growth... It is designed to meet you where you are, and help you foster a deeper relationship with yourself and others, whole also embracing whatever current spiritual values you have. All external relationships will be benefited greatly from your commitment to the process.
What's in an Empowerment Program Immersion? Nine months of learning new ways of living that support and sustain a lifestyle that is supportive of living from a more authentic place. After nine months, at the very least you will have improved your breathing habits, which increase oxygen in the body, massages organs, balances sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, teaches you how to breathe THROUGH difficult emotions instead of avoiding or overreacting to them, and the list goes on.
But you also learn eating habits that are nourishing to the body and soul. You learn how to communicate better with others. Time in circle teaches you how to actively listen until it is your turn to speak, to really HEAR others. You learn how to shift your thinking. You align yourself more with nature. You develop a community of friends in an intimacy that cannot be duplicated, and the bonds created last a lifetime. You allow yourself to truly be SEEN within the context of that intimacy, celebrated and loved for who you are without your identities. You learn to laugh more. Play more. Relax more. Trust more. All of these components together along with so many more, just simply by the act of DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT than what you've always done, will change your life and just as importantly, the lives around you, for the better.
Just a tidbit.
Empowerment and Awakening Consciousness Program 2018 Level I
Here is the basic curriculum for an intimate group of 6-10 individuals that want to really go for active, conscious participation in deep transformation. We all have gifts that we possess but for various reasons have been suppressed in our psyches due to social, familial, economic and other conditioning factors.
Latent gifts that we are born with emerge, and we then embark on a discovery for how to offer our gifts to the world. We use the powers of breath, movement, body awareness, presence, the heart, intention, and mindfulness toward creating a culture of loving connection within this small community that will last a lifetime. We learn how to listen more and talk less, we learn how to listen with the intent of hearing and understanding, rather than thinking of what we are going to say in reply.
This is a program for deepening into a real COMMITMENT to greater self awareness physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, while in the presence of "other," (and/both, inclusion vs exclusion), as well as spiritual growth... It is designed to meet you where you are, and help you foster a deeper relationship with yourself and others, whole also embracing whatever current spiritual values you have. All external relationships will be benefited greatly from your commitment to the process.
In this level we will:
- create a safe, intentional community of women - authentic, connected relationships to last a lifetime
- learn the basics of Therapeutic Breathwork: it's fundamentals and definitions and how to use this powerful tool in your life
- create personal intentions for the journey - what do you want to create/how do want to see yourself at the end of the journey?
- learn the Spirit Earth of Being - through Breath, Yoga, Movement, and Dance
- discover the necessity of being fully in our bodies through movement, awareness, true nourishment, rest, joy, and connection
- learn the difference: Structure vs Love (flow), Drama vs Discharge
- learn how we become empowered
- discover 7 Intelligences of the Heart
- immerse into Intimacy and Sexuality: Soul Connection Breathing I
This program includes 1 30-minute "check-in" telephone coaching session per month during the course of each level, up to one Q & A/support e-mail per day, 5 days per week, monthly newsletter and free webinars for up to a year.
One private session per month is required and is offered at 40% off the regular rate for participants for $100.00 per 2-hour session (can also be wrapped into the whole cost of the program)
