If you’re anything like me, you might’ve felt hopeless and overwhelmed by the state of the world right now. From the government seemingly collapsing to rising living costs and a pending recession, it’s perfectly understandable to feel anxious and stressed. However, I’ve been actively seeking ways to curb the anxiety and find a sense of peace. So, when I received the opportunity to attend a breathwork session with Crea Jackson, a Los Angeles-based certified breathwork facilitator, I jumped at it immediately.
But first, let’s explore what breathwork is. Breathwork is essentially a set of accessible breathing techniques that help us reconnect with ourselves and stay grounded after a grueling day, week, month, or year. The breathing techniques are designed to help us focus on our breath, which is intended for therapeutic and meditative purposes.
Here are some of the benefits of breathwork practices:
- Deepening mental clarity and focus
- Loosening up your body
- Regulating your nervous system
- Reducing stress and anxiety
- Promoting relaxation and sleep
- Boosting mood, and holistic well-being
Last week, Jackson came over to my house to conduct a 30-minute, streamlined and guided breathwork session by my pool. At first, I was hesitant, as I wasn’t confident that breathwork could help my anxiety, but I was pleasantly surprised. But before we started our session, I learned a bit more about Jackson and how she became a breathwork facilitator. Her practice began due to the pandemic. “I got into breathwork, really, during the pandemic. I was initially working in entertainment, mostly behind the scenes, in production, and development. I started seeing a need for us to get centered, and I was trying to figure out how I could do that for myself and how I could provide a service for others, too,” she shared.
Jackson continued, “In 2020, I had gotten laid off as well, so I had a lot of time to figure out how to be of service to others and myself. I had taken my first breathwork session during that time, and it was incredibly transformative for me, so I began my training process to be a breathwork facilitator.”
Jackson defines breathwork as essentially yoga, because to her, yoga is movement and breath. “I think people can get a little confused when we say that breathwork is also yoga, because it’s not entirely movement, but I define breathwork as active. Breathing techniques can be used to help you center, ground, and relieve yourself of those uncomfortable emotions that we get, like anxiety and depression,” she states.
I spoke candidly to Jackson about my experiences with trauma and stress, due to grief, and how I find those emotions, often sitting in my body. I’ve also observed that I don’t take enough deep breaths throughout the day for some reason. So, I wondered, how does this practice benefit Black women, like me? Because we encounter different types of stressors throughout the day and in our lives, we tend to become worn down over time.
Jackson believes that breathwork allows us to come back home to ourselves. “I think intentional breathwork, helps us clear out that gook that we develop over the days, over the weeks, and, as you said, trauma that we’ve had from years ago. Breathwork is there to help you clear out and cleanse, get out of your body in that way, so that you can make space for the things that we need to do, like the offerings that we want to give the world, and how we can be of service to ourselves,” she says.
What I especially like and value about breathwork is that the practice itself is pretty low-lift and doesn’t come with added pressure to perfect it in any way, like my previous experiences with meditation. Jackson agrees with my take, but notes that breathwork is a form of meditation, just a lighter one. “I think breathwork goes hand in hand with meditation, but meditation can be more challenging to do, because you have to find your center and stay still, as opposed to doing breathwork. With breathwork, you’re still doing something, even if it’s just breathing. There are different techniques where you have to think consciously about how you’re breathing, which I believe allows you to focus on something else. In contrast, meditation can be more complicated at times to find where to place your focus,” she shares.
For Jackson, breathwork is healing work, and she encouraged me to think of it that way during our demonstration.
Here’s how our breathwork session went. We’ve also listed the exercises below. If you’re interested, we’ve even included a tailored playlist for you!
1st Technique: We started by standing up and doing the Energy Release Breath Technique, designed to release stuck energy and help us stay in the present moment.
2nd Technique: We sat down and did a few rounds of breathing to help clear our aura, a technique called the Aura Clearing Breath.
3rd Technique: We moved on to a technique designed to support us in activating our spine and opening our heart energy, called the Heart Expansion Breath Technique.
4th Technique: The fourth breath we did together was a version of a technique called Alternate Nostril Breathing, designed to help balance the two hemispheres of our brain.
It’s worth noting that I saw the following colors during this technique, and I believe it’s a sign of a spiritual connection.
Round 1: Orange, bright yellow, emerald green, light aqua blue
Round 2: Light pink and light green
Round 3: Purple/Indigo
5th Technique: We then practiced a Breath of Fire technique designed to support physical strength, mental clarity, and emotional release.
6th Technique: The final, active breathing technique we did was to support us in balancing and anchoring our chi, the vital life force, which was called the chi Breath Technique
7th Technique: We closed with a Body Scan, where we breathed intentionally as we scanned through our body, releasing tension and showing gratitude to ourselves.