A Bad Name for Breathwork

You've probably seen the videos.

Breathwork events where people are crying, screaming, shaking or having dramatic emotional releases. Sometimes you'll even see facilitators placing their hands on the chests of scantily clad women, breasts half exposed, while they sob in anguish. It's giving breathwork a bad name.

For many people, this has become the public face of breathwork.

But it isn't the whole story.

Since breathwork surged into the mainstream in the early 2020s, there has been an increasing focus on cathartic breathing sessions, with many people coming to believe these intense experiences can release and heal trauma.

The reality is far more nuanced.

Intense breathing practices can create powerful physical and emotional experiences, but that doesn't automatically mean trauma has been healed or that the experience was beneficial. For someone whose nervous system is already overwhelmed or living in a constant state of stress, these sessions may be too much, too soon.

The issue isn't that these methods exist.

The issue is when they're offered as a one-size-fits-all solution, or when facilitators chase intensity instead of meeting each person where they are.

In my opinion, the most profound breathwork doesn't always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like someone taking their first slow, comfortable breath in years. Sometimes it looks like a woman noticing that her shoulders have dropped, her jaw has softened and her mind has become a little quieter.

I'm not pointing fingers.

Most people who enter the helping professions—including breathwork—do so because they genuinely want to make a positive difference.

The problem is that not all breathwork training is created equal. Some schools continue to teach ideas about trauma release and healing that go well beyond what the current evidence supports.

As a result, facilitators may unintentionally guide people into experiences that aren't appropriate for their individual nervous system, history or current capacity.

And perhaps this is one of the biggest reasons breathwork has developed such a polarising reputation.

Calm doesn't make for exciting social media.

A room full of people quietly breathing, becoming more aware of themselves and gently regulating their nervous systems doesn't stop people scrolling.

People crying does.

People screaming does.

People shaking does.

Those moments are visually dramatic, so they're shared. They attract attention, fill workshops and reinforce the idea that breathwork is supposed to be an intense emotional experience.

But that's a very narrow view of what breathwork can be.

In my opinion, the most profound breathwork doesn't always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like someone taking their first slow, comfortable breath in years. Sometimes it looks like a woman noticing that her shoulders have dropped, her jaw has softened and her mind has become a little quieter.

Those changes don't make viral videos.

Yet they're often the very foundation of long-term change.

When your nervous system feels safer, your body becomes more adaptable. You think more clearly. You make better decisions. You respond rather than react. Healthy habits become easier to sustain because you're no longer constantly operating from survival.

That's the breathwork I teach.

I don't chase emotional releases.

I don't believe everyone needs a cathartic breakthrough.

I believe most people need to develop a greater sense of inner safety first.

From that place, meaningful change has the opportunity to unfold naturally.

So if you've been curious about breathwork but have been put off by the dramatic videos you've seen online, I'd love to invite you to experience something different.

My sessions are calm, evidence-informed and designed to help you reconnect with yourself, regulate your nervous system and build the inner safety that supports lasting transformation.

It may not make for the most exciting social media content.

But it creates something far more valuable: a nervous system that feels safe enough to change.

Mel x

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