Breathwork Conscious Breathing
“Breathe in dawn’s first breath and make it part of you. It is part of the life force.”
Freely adapted from Hopi tradition
Your breath in daily life
The breath is the foundation of everything I do. Our breathing stays with us throughout our lives and changes depending on what we do, feel, and experience. Stress, worry, and tension can affect the way we breathe, but by becoming more aware of our breath, we can also begin to influence it.
We explore your breathing pattern and work with exercises that help you release tension, create greater mobility in the breathing muscles, and allow your breathing to become freer and more natural.
Many people experience a greater sense of calm, increased presence and more energy when the breath has more space. You will also be given exercises that you can practise at home.
Recharging with Your Breath
Stress is a natural part of life. Our bodies are designed to move between activity and recovery. It is when stress becomes prolonged and the body does not have the opportunity to slow down that it can begin to affect our health and well-being. That is why we need to make space for recovery – preferably several times throughout the day.
Pause for a moment and place your hand on your belly. How does your body feel? Where do you feel your breath? Does it move freely or does it feel restricted? Is your breathing fast or slow, soft or strained? At first, simply notice your breath without trying to change anything.
Then allow your breath a little more space. Release tension where you can and let your exhalation become slightly longer. Calm breathing and a slightly longer exhalation can help the body shift towards rest and recovery.
Breathing is simple. Perhaps that is why we sometimes find it difficult to understand what a powerful tool it can be. By returning to our breath throughout the day, we give ourselves the opportunity to pause, notice how we feel, and give the body small moments of recovery.
Healthy breathing needs regular attention. Our breathing patterns are constantly influenced by how we live, feel, and respond to life. When tension is released and the body is able to settle into rest, more strength and energy can become available. A tense body is often a tired body.
Where and how?
Conscious Breathing is offered as individual sessions at Stenaberga Gård in Gladsax, just outside Simrishamn. You can also book a session for your own group here at the farm.
The exercises are adapted to your individual needs or the needs of the group. You will also be given simple exercises that you can continue to use at home and in your everyday life.
Conscious Breathing is for you if you want to understand your own breathing pattern and learn how to create more freedom in your breathing. Perhaps you feel tension in your body or find that breathing sometimes feels tight or difficult. You may notice that your breath is often shallow, or perhaps you long for a greater sense of calm and recovery.
Individual session: SEK 750, approx. 1 hour
Group: SEK 400 per person, approx. 1–2 hours, minimum 4 participants
Questions
If you have any questions or would like to know more, you are very welcome to get in touch. Petra
Call +46 73 378 32 27
Email me at: info@stenaberga.se
Read more about Conscious Breathing below.
Lecture and Workshop
I offer talks on breathing for companies, schools, and organisations. The talk can be combined with a workshop where participants can try different breathing exercises to support greater presence and recovery.
The format is adapted to the group and the context and can take place at your location or at Stenaberga Gård.
Price: by agreement
Oxygen – Essential for Life
Oxygen is essential for the body’s energy metabolism and is used by our cells to produce energy. Our organs, muscles, and brain depend on a continuous supply of oxygen to function.
The brain is one of the most energy-demanding parts of the body. Although it makes up only about two per cent of our body weight, it accounts for approximately 20 per cent of the body’s oxygen consumption at rest.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide work together in the body’s gas exchange, and both play important roles. Functional breathing is therefore not about taking large or deep breaths or, paradoxically, about taking in as much oxygen as possible. It is about allowing the breath to remain free and adapt to the body’s needs.
Nose Breathing
During most of our everyday activities, the nose is our natural way of breathing. When we breathe through the nose, the air is filtered, warmed, and humidified before it reaches the lungs. The nose also helps filter out particles, bacteria, and viruses from the air we breathe.
Nitric oxide, NO, is produced in the nose and sinuses. When we breathe through the nose, NO travels with the inhaled air down into the lungs. There, it helps widen the airways, allowing air to move through them more easily. It also affects the blood vessels in the lungs and can help the body absorb oxygen more efficiently.
he nose can sometimes feel blocked, but how open the nasal passages are can change. The level of carbon dioxide in the body is one of the factors that affects how much resistance there is in the nose. When carbon dioxide levels rise from a low level, this resistance can decrease, making it easier for air to pass through. For someone who is not used to breathing through the nose, it may therefore feel restricted at first, but with regular nasal breathing, breathing through the nose can gradually become easier.
As we become more aware of our breathing patterns, it is important to notice whether we breathe mainly through the nose or the mouth.
The diaphragm
The diaphragm is our most important breathing muscle. It sits like a sail in the lower part of the ribcage, separating the chest from the abdomen. When you breathe in, the diaphragm moves downwards. At the same time, the ribcage expands, giving the lungs more space to expand. The belly gently moves outwards. When you breathe out, the diaphragm returns to its resting position and the belly moves inwards again.
This is the movement we often mean when we talk about “breathing into the belly”. Of course, the air does not actually go into the belly – it is the movement of the diaphragm that causes the belly to move.
Stress, fear, and intense tension can change the way we breathe. Muscles tense and the breath may become faster, shallower, or move higher up into the chest. If this becomes a habitual breathing pattern, the diaphragm’s natural movement can become restricted.
A free and mobile diaphragm gives the breath space to move, but this does not mean that every breath needs to be large or deep. At rest, natural breathing can be small, calm, and gentle.
The Parasympathetic Nervous System – Our Rest and Relaxation System
Calm, natural breathing, where the diaphragm is free to move, can support the parasympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system – our rest and relaxation system.
When parasympathetic activity increases, the body is better able to rest, recover, and digest. Heart rate and breathing can slow down, and muscle tension can decrease.
Feeling safe and relaxed changes the way we meet the world. It becomes easier to think, learn, and be curious. We have more capacity for social connection and interaction with others, and it can become easier to experience joy, hope, and closeness to ourselves and others.
“Breathwork with Petra helps me in my personal development, both consciously and unconsciously. It strengthens me in the challenges of everyday life, and I have come closer to my inner sense of calm.” Alexandra
The Sympathetic Nervous System – Our Activity and Defence System
When we experience stress, fear, or threat, activity in the sympathetic nervous system increases and the body prepares for action. The heart beats faster, muscles tense, and breathing becomes faster and shallower.
The sympathetic nervous system is a natural and vital part of us. It helps us mobilise energy, stay alert, and be ready for action, and is active when we need to perform and get things done. Stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are part of this mobilisation. Problems arise when stress becomes prolonged and the body does not get enough time for rest and recovery.
During intense or prolonged stress, our ability to think clearly, reflect, and see different perspectives can also be affected. We become more focused on quickly noticing and reacting to what feels important or threatening.
The Vagus Nerve and ANS – The Autonomic Nervous System
The vagus nerve is sometimes called the long wanderer because of its long and branching path through the body. It begins in the brainstem and travels down through the neck and chest into the abdomen, with connections to the heart, lungs, and several of our internal organs.
The vagus nerve is an important part of the parasympathetic nervous system – the part of our autonomic nervous system that is particularly active during rest, recovery, and digestion. A large part of the signals carried by the vagus nerve travel from the body up to the brain, helping the brain sense what is happening.
Breathing is special because it happens automatically but can also be influenced consciously. Through the breath, we can influence our state.. Calmer breathing and a slightly longer exhalation can influence the interaction between breathing, the heart, and the autonomic nervous system and support parasympathetic activity.
The vagus nerve also has connections to the throat and larynx. The voice, singing, and the longer exhalation that often comes naturally with sound and toning can therefore be additional ways of working with the breath and the body’s regulation.
The Breath – A Forgotten Gateway to the Soul
Thanks to yoga and its extensive tradition of breathing practices, Pranayama, we in the West have been able to reconnect with the breath. In many traditions, the breath has been part of both physical and spiritual practice since ancient times.
The breath has been used as a path to stillness and presence, to altered states of consciousness, and to connect with deeper parts of ourselves.
Through different breathing practices, we can explore parts of ourselves that are not always accessible to us in everyday life. We can come closer to our creativity, intuition, and inner guidance, and give more space to what wants to emerge within us.
Today, we are rediscovering much of this knowledge and reconnecting with something ancient traditions have carried with them for a very long time: the breath can be a bridge between the body and our inner life.
Petra’s Breathwork – The Art of Breath, Body and Presence
