What is Rebirthing Breathwork?

Rebirthing is:

A simple, gentle yet powerful technique. It gives access to, release and integrate memories, emotions and patterns stored in your body, mind and soul that hinder you from living your full potential, physically, emotionally and mentally.
The art of conscious connected breathing.
A powerful healing method which offers you an experience of freedom and mastery in your life.
The science of enjoying all of your life.
The art of not holding your breath!

How is it done?

You discuss your issues with your Rebirther (approx. 50 - 60 min).
The breathing session itself is done lying down. You learn to consciously connect your breathing so that there are no pauses between the inhale and the exhale. The breathing is relaxed, yet full. Slowly you are guided to find your own rhythm, probably slightly faster and fuller than you are used to. With your rebirhter you work with the material that surfaces. This part lasts approximately 1 hour.
An integration phase of about 10 minutes finishes the breathing time.
In total, a session takes 2-3 hours.

How does it work?

The breath is the bridge between the conscious and the unconscious.
Rebirthing works on the principle that there is a direct connection between mental and physical well-being and the openness of the breathing. Relaxing and releasing the breath dissolves tension in the body and mind.

Physiological explanation

Through breathing continuously without break, your body takes in more oxygen than usual, which changes the CO2 level in your brain.
You enter a self-induced higher state of consciousness (non-ordinairy state of mind) where memories, pictures or emotions can come up to the surface to be reviewed, released and integrated.
The power of Rebirthing is that in this state you are the experiencer and the observer of a past incident at the same time, and therefore able, to release or re-interpret what happened then from a new and conscious perspective.

Holistic explanation

Through conscious connected breathing you accumulate life force (prana, chi, ki) which starts to move freely through your body (experienced as tingling, energy rushes or waves).
This loosens up stored blockages held in your four-body energy system (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual), thus working on all four levels at the same time. Experiences can vary every time.
The spectrum of experiences range from physical sensations of pain or pleasure to release of emotions (sadness, grief, joy, anger etc.).
There could be realisations of dysfunctional thought patterns or new thought connections and insights, and deeply spiritual or energetical experiences.

The Rebirther

The Rebirther is your guide on the journey.
He/she will skilfully manoeuvre you through the surfacing material, witness and validate your experiences, help you to stay present and maintain your mental clarity. To integrate what has come up a skilled rebirther may use various psycho-therapeutic integration tools.
The rebirther needs to be professionally trained and experienced, as well as giving unconditional personal regard and being non-judgmental and compassionate.
It is important that you feel comfortable with your rebirther.

Safety

Rebirthing has an innate self-regulatory mechanism. Whatever surfaces might be challenging for you, but is never more than can safely be integrated.
You don't necessarily have to understand or review certain incidents as pictures or thoughts to be able to release the charge around them as the whole process has its own innate intelligence.
The breath will bring up what is most important for you in this moment, enabling you to take your next step towards becoming whole and happy.
Nobody has ever died of taking deep breaths!

Logistics and finances

Once you have chosen your Rebirther you usually agree on a sequence of 10 (suggested) Rebirthing sessions.
After these you decide together what would be the most helpful or appropriate next step for you.
Another way of experiencing rebirthing is in a group setting and many Rebirthers also run various workshops. Individual and group breathing sessions are completely different experiences. Both are highly recommended.

Who does rebirthing?

Rebirthing is a journey towards freedom. But the obstacles to freedom are many and varied and it is these obstacles that propel people into seeking therapy through rebirthing.
They include:

• relationship difficulties or patterns that keep repeating themselves in every relationship;
• not knowing who you are and what you want;
• not living up to your potential;
• feeling trapped in a way of being, stressed out by efforts to please others;
• stress;
• job-related problems;
• depression;
• anxiety, panic attacks, phobias;
• shyness and low self-esteem, lack of confidence;
• general unhappiness with what seems like every aspect of your life;
• an inability to feel;
• weakened immune system;
• aches and pains;
• trauma;
• abuse;
• simply wanting to get to know yourself better and enjoy life more.