I remember walking in to my first yoga class, feeling totally broken and going through a painful divorce. At the end of the class during savasana, they came around and massaged everyone’s neck with a cooling gel that had peppermint and lavender. It was HEAVEN. I hadn’t realized how healing the combination of aromatherapy and touch were. I know that’s controversial (the touch and scent during savasana, not the power of them!). But what happens when we combine the potent effects of scent with the transformative practice of breathwork?

I recently got a new Fitbit, excited about all the fancy health metrics it could track. Steps, sleep, heart rate – the usual suspects. But one metric caught my eye: HRV, or Heart Rate Variability. I'd heard it mentioned in passing but never really paid much attention to it. Curiosity piqued, I checked my score... and was shocked. It was alarmingly low, more in line with someone in their 70s or 80s, not a relatively healthy individual in their early 40s.

This sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole of research. What exactly was HRV? What did it measure, and more importantly, what did my dismal score mean for my health? The more I learned, the more fascinated I became.

I recently came across a comment online that said "nervous system regulation is just new-age bullshit." As both a nurse and a breathwork business owner it got my back up and it got me thinking about how much we underestimate the power of our own breath and our ability to influence our body.

The truth is, our breath and our bodies are deeply connected. It's not just about staying alive; it's about how we feel, think, and experience the world. Our breath is a mirror reflecting our inner state, and it's also a bridge connecting our mind and body.

In breathwork, we have a profound paradox. On one hand, practices like Conscious Connected Breathwork (CCB) and Holotropic Breathwork can be incredibly transformative, opening doors to deep healing, self-discovery, and spiritual awakening. On the other hand, these powerful experiences can also stir up a whirlwind of emotions, unearthing buried traumas and shaking the very foundations of our sense of self.

While these intense emotional releases can be cathartic and ultimately lead to profound healing and emotional integration, they can also be destabilising, leaving individuals feeling overwhelmed, disoriented, or even re-traumatised. This is where the practices of grounding and resourcing become not just helpful, but absolutely essential.