Awakening your Inner Shaman

What if I told you that you have the ability to heal yourself form dis-ease? Connect with lost souls? Meet your creator and become one with him? Heal past trauma? Have an out of body experience? Literally, see matters from a birds eye view? Have complete clarity on a specific intention set?

The above are a few of the shared experiences by those who have just completed a Shamanic Breathwork session.

Each individual’s experience of the Shamanic Breathwork process is different. Participants have reported altered states of consciousness; feelings of divine bliss; struggles or battles with negative forces in the psyche; spiritual rebirthing; and release from old, negative patterns. Because each individual’s journey is so unique, it is nearly impossible to describe the process accurately. It is truly something that must be discovered through experience.

It is important to realise that each of us has the gift of self-healing and self-realization abilities.

A few years ago, I experienced breathwork for the first time. Not knowing its true power I went fully into the session with complete surrender. It’s hard to believe that breathing alone can take us to such great heights. The experience was beyond words and defies description. I could not believe the state I was in could be experienced without external substances, chemicals or plant medicine. The insights, connections to my inner soul, healing and lessons taught were beyond what I could have imagined. It was as if all the pieces to the puzzle of my life connected. That single experience led me on a wonderful journey diving deep into the world of breath, to study and understand the different modalities, the non-ordinary states of consciousness that it leads to and the tremendous benefits of the breath. Now, I can share the wonders and magic of breathwork with my family, friends, and the world.

Having personally met the founders of many different breathwork techniques and studying underneath their great wisdom, I eventually found myself resonating and connecting on a spiritual level with Shamanic Breathwork under the Venus Rising Association. My kinder spirited teacher, Linda Star Wolf, fused Shamanism with Breathwork and created Shamanic Breathwork.

What is Shamanic Breathwork?

Shamanic Breathwork is a powerful healing process that inspires individuals to Awaken Your True Self. Allowing you to transcend your mind and tap into your consciousness as a way to heal.

For thousands of years the Shamans, also known as the medicine men & women, the healers, have used the breath as a means to connect with the spirit world. By definition, a Shaman is he or she who sees in the dark. Not the darkness without light, but the darkness within, and seeing with your third eye, your intuition and internal compass. Shamanic traditions have used ceremony and ritual for thousands of years as a way of bringing healing to all aspects of the self; Mind, Body, Heart, & Spirit.

Just like the Shamans, we use the breath as a tool to go into expanded states. The breath has the ability to alter your consciousness, calm your physical body and still the mental chatter of your mind. We do this through Breath, Music, & Movement. Within each one of us resides an inner Shaman, our inner healer, a higher consciousness and wisdom that knows how to heal and how to transform.

Through this transformative process, individuals' journey and experience different realms of consciousness, accessing Greater Love, Wisdom, Healing, and Transformation. Breathwork allows you to go deep enough to reach the original material and actually release the bound-up energies. Case studies have shown that one or two breathwork sessions are equivalent to years of psychotherapy.

Breathing Technique

The Shamanic breathwork technique involves breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth in a circular / connected motion. This is one of the most powerful modalities for creating balance and harmony in all systems of the body. It helps restore equilibrium between the body, mind, emotions and Spirit. As soon as the inhale is up, the exhale begins. As soon as the exhale is over, the inhale begins right away.

With every inhale, we increase our energy levels as we are breathing in the sacred life force. With every exhale our whole body relaxes as we release tension. The breathwork provides an opportunity for suppressed emotions to come to the surface and be released. It is a gateway into the subconscious mind.

Breathers lie comfortably on their back while listening to chakra attuned music, activating your energetic centres. The process allows the breathers to experience deep healing and transformation of spirit, mind and body.

From a shamanic perspective, it is understood that when we hold onto our emotions they can poison us, but when we allow them to freely move through our bodies, they can transform us.

The breathwork allows us to go deep beyond the conditioning and programming that we have been accustomed to throughout our lives. You are then able to dissolve these old patterns, releasing these thoughts and behaviours from a limited way of being. The Shamanic Breathwork will give you the opportunity to channel and release intense emotions and suppressed memories in a safe container. Breathing is the foundation of all Spiritual practices and can provide greater clarity, insight and understanding in life. Eventually how we breathe is how we live.

As you begin to breathe deeper, to go into the process, you expand your consciousness where you are then able to connect to a part of you that is much larger than your Ego self. This larger part is your inner healer.

Shamanic Breathwork can help reawaken and empower the transformational shaman within. Through a powerful and highly experiential healing process, the facilitator assists you on the journey to psycho-spiritual reconnection. Using the power of deep, rhythmic breathing, you journey within yourself guided by the sacred sounds of drumming.

Who is this for?

Breathwork is a powerful yet gentle process that supports individuals in releasing outdated programming; to move beyond their limiting beliefs, dissolve old patterns, and step into the wholeness of their Greatest and Fullest Soul Expression. Here are just a few examples for of the reasons those partake in the breathwork:

Searching for Healing & Spiritual change
Seeking Transformation in their lives
Wanting to Expand Consciousness
Releasing Stress & Anxiety
Searching for Clarity, Vision & Guidance
Releasing Old Paradigms, Patterns and Behaviours that keep them stuck
Embodying their Personal Power and Soul’s Potential
Finding out about Passion, Purpose & Mission
Connecting with higher forces & Spirit Guide

Preparation

A trained and certified facilitator will guide you on your journey. A few guidelines on preparation prior to a breathwork session include:

Most importantly prepare to fully surrender to the process
Have a light meal prior, food no less than 1-2 hrs before the session (full bellies make it hard to do breathwork)!
Prepare a comfortable place on the floor to lie down in, with eyes closed (eye mask optional)
Set a conscious intention for the journey prior to breathing to help guide your journey in the right direction
Smudge with sacred sage releasing anything that no longer serves you
Call upon that which is most sacred to you, spirit guides, spirit animals, angels, or any energy you may work with
Breathe until you’re surprised!

Process Group

Once the journey comes to an end, the breathers have the chance to process and integrate the experience. We use Mandela drawings to take a snapshot of the psyche. Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning literally “circle” or “completion”. Light circles are drawn on sheets, helping the breathers focus on their experience and express it in a concise way. The mandalas are later used in the Process group where we share the visual as well as the verbal accounts describing the experience.

Precaution

This type of breathwork should be avoided by anyone with a history of the following: cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, glaucoma, retinal detachment, aneurisms, epilepsy, significant recent physical injuries or surgery. Pregnant women should avoid this type of breathwork as well. If you are planning on joining any of our upcoming sessions, please email us prior on journeys@nafas.life to see if this process is for you.

How often can I do Shamanic Breathwork

Shamanic Breathwork is a profound experience because the transformation comes from within. Your body knows when it will be ready for the next session. Once you have fully integrated the experience, then the next session can be joined. Breathwork is not addictive, nor harmful. Some breathers prefer once a month, once a week, while others prefer more. It is a personal choice and it all depends on your state of mind.

Shamanic Breathwork is a beautiful experience, once we are able to shift the ego mind and drop into a deep meditative state. It is an inspiring and truly humbling practice.

Shamanic Breathwork - Breathing to heal