Preparing for Body and Mind for Breathwork

This chapter outlines vital, mental, and physical foundational practices that ensure that clients can optimally benefit from therapeutic breathwork. It opens with preparations targeted to helping patients find ease and peacefulness in their vital and mental layers of experience, offering sample scripts for opening centering practices and exercises to calm the nervous system and achieve a sense of calm before and during physical and breathing practices. Vital and mental preparation is included to help clinicians welcome and support most, if not all, aspects of sensations, mind stories, and strong emotions that may arise for clients during breathwork. With that context in place, this chapter recommends physical practices that support healthful postural alignment and movements that help with physical awareness and readiness for therapeutic breathwork. The chapter includes practices for neck and shoulder releases, rib basket resilience, vital heart opening, and core stabilization. It discusses the profound connections of nasal clearing and tongue strengthening to optimal therapeutic breathwork practice and breathing in daily life.