As you may have noticed in the news and social media, there’s been a lot of attention around breathwork recently. And with that attention, I have noticed a wave of curiosity, confusion, skepticism, and very real questions especially from women who are wondering what breathwork actually is, how it works, and whether it could truly support them.
I love always LOVE answering these questions.
Because they usually come from a place of longing.
A longing to feel better. To feel safer. To feel more at connected and at home in your own body.
I hear the HOPE within the inquiry.
As both a physical therapist and breathwork practitioner, I am honoured to stand at an intersection that allows me to see breathwork through two lenses: the clinical and the deeply human.
The science of the nervous system, fascia, and physiology paired with the energetic and emotionality presence in each lived experience.
This isn’t just about supporting the body physically, it’s about meeting the body in the stress, stories, trauma, and deep responsibilities we also hold.
So let’s start simply.
Breathwork is the intentional use of breathing patterns to support people physically, emotionally, and mentally.
It’s the entry way into learning about and supporting the nervous system.
At its core, it’s about creating a NEW relationship with your breath and through that, with your body.
But unlike many breathing techniques that focus purely on calming or relaxation, therapeutic breathwork can also gently but powerfully access layers of sensation, emotion, memory, and awareness that often live beneath our conscious control.
Your breath is directly connected to your nervous system.
Every inhale and exhale sends signals to your brain about whether you are safe, threatened, overwhelmed, or regulated. The breath interacts and can influence EVERY PART of your body.
In modern life, many of us live in a state of low-grade chronic stress, otherwise known as chronic sympathetic state. Our bodies have adapted to always being “on,” alert, productive, braced, and responsible.
Over time as this becomes our baseline, our body also started to shift and change in result. Chronic pain, shallow breathing, disrupted sleep, and reactive behaviours start to become the norm.
Breathwork offers a way back into regulation, capacity, and presence. Not by forcing calm, but by allowing the body to complete stress cycles, process held tension and increase capacity.
From a physiological standpoint, breathwork supports oxygen delivery, carbon dioxide regulation, circulation, lymphatic flow, digestion, immune response, and hormonal balance (just to name a few). It directly influences the health and adaptability of the vagus nerve, which plays a central role in emotional regulation, resilience, social connection, and stress recovery.
From a lived experience standpoint, breathwork often feels like being met.
I know for me, it was as if I was able to finally allow myself to decompress and in turn allow the body to speak what was deeply stuffed down.
Many women come to breathwork feeling disconnected from their bodies, emotionally shut down, anxious, overwhelmed, exhausted, or stuck. Some are navigating motherhood, caregiving, grief, burnout, identity shifts, trauma, or long seasons of putting themselves last.
Breathwork becomes a place where they can soften the armour, feel safely held, and reconnect to themselves, their emotions, and their power.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Breathwork isn’t about pushing, forcing, or reliving trauma.
(If you ever are in a space that promotes this… RUN.)
The way I facilitate breathwork is grounded in safety, consent, and nervous system awareness.
Sessions are designed to build capacity, not overwhelm it. To allow release without retraumatization. To support integration, not emotional flooding.
One of the most common fears I hear is: “What if I lose control?”
In truth, breathwork doesn’t take control away.
It gives it back.
It helps your body remember its own intelligence.
You remain aware, present, and guided throughout the process. What unfolds does so because your nervous system feels safe enough to allow it.
Another question I hear often is: “Do I need to have trauma or something ‘wrong’ with me to benefit?”
Absolutely not.
Breathwork isn’t only for supporting stress and trauma.
It’s for expansion, clarity, connection, creativity, rest, and growth.
It supports women who feel stuck, numb, disconnected, uncertain, and also those who feel deeply alive but want to go deeper. It meets you where you’re at.
Whether you’re surviving, stabilizing, or ready to just step into a fuller expression of yourself.
As a physical therapist, I deeply respect the body’s wisdom and knowing. As a breathwork practitioner, I trust the body’s timing.
Breathwork doesn’t rush. It doesn’t force. It doesn’t bypass. It invites.
And perhaps that’s why it’s becoming such a valued therapeutic tool right now.
In a world that moves fast, demands productivity, and praises resilience at all costs, breathwork offers something radically different: A return to presence. To listening. To slowing down enough to feel.
Not to fix yourself but to remember yourself.
Breathwork isn’t a magic pill.
It’s a relationship.
One that deepens over time. One that teaches you to notice sensation, emotion, thought, and breath as interconnected rather than separate. One that slowly rebuilds trust between your mind and your body.
If you’re curious, uncertain, or quietly hopeful, I want you to know this: You don’t need to feel ready, calm, or confident to begin.
You simply need breath and have a willingness to meet yourself with honesty and care.
That’s where the real work begins.
