Clarity, connection, transformation, and a sense of purpose. These are some of the feelings present after working with Alchemy of breath (AOB). Either after a one-to-one session or as part of a group. And if you’re lucky enough to experience an AOB breathcamp., this feeling is multiplied as you transform alongside new friends, facilitators, mentors, and trainers. Breathwork integration turns a one-time event into a lifelong journey. With a little knowledge, you can have each experience be the start of the new you., rather than a temporary holiday from your normal life.
Welcome to Alchemy of breath integration.
This series on breathwork integration consists of three parts.
Part one: An understanding of what integration is and why it matters.
Part two: What and how to change your environment, habits, and connection with the world and other people.
Part three: An advanced visualisation technique to tie it all together and create a new you.
What is breathwork integration and how do you use it
So now what? You’ve had an earth moving experience and you want it to last. How do you take this new you, out into the other world? I was tempted to say ‘real world’, but I don’t think that’s accurate. In my experience, reality becomes a little more flexible once you’ve experienced what the breath can do.
As a facilitator, client, or follower of Alchemy of breath., you are now part of a family. So, support is there if you need it. In this series on breathwork integration, I will outline findings from models of integration including the field of psychedelic therapy. As well as idea’s that breathwork facilitators and participants have found useful. Plus, I will introduce specific techniques that you can use to help integrate ANY experience in your life. Breathwork Integration involves taking the changes in thought and feeling experienced during your breathwork journey and having them show up in your life once you leave the training or session.
Does all lasting change require integration
Absolutely. Integration is part of ALL successful change. Breathwork experiences often result in new threads of experience, memories, and emotions. Some may be unprocessed suppressed parts of ourselves. And some may be inspirational ideas and new habits. The value of integration is in weaving these new threads into the tapestry of your life. Sometimes the changes needed are obvious. Maybe you need to stop doing something or start doing something. Sometimes however, the message is not that clear and emotions and confusion can run high. Which is why it’s important to remember that there are people who have had a similar experience to you and are willing to help. Breathwork integration doesn’t stop when you go home. And there are simple guidelines to help you make this ongoing experience more enjoyable and fruitful.
How does breathwork integration relate to psychedelics
The Psychedelic ‘set, setting and integration’ model is probably one of the best and most well thought out models for integration there is. One of the reasons for that is because it states that, integration starts with the set and setting for the session. And the set and setting creates a ‘container’ for change to occur. In fact, it has been said about psychedelics that the container IS the medicine. And these principles apply to ANY significant personal experience including breathwork integration. Psychedelic integration models are based on harm reduction psychology. This means that the health and wellbeing of the client is above the beliefs and preferences of the coach or therapist. And it really cannot be any other way. Facilitators of client sessions are guides more than advisors. The same applies to self-development. Learn to treat yourself with care and flexibility and let go of doing things just because you’ve always done them. One of the greatest gifts of a psychedelic experience is to open you up to new possibilities. A type of reset. And this is also one of the greatest gifts of a breathwork experience.
Breathwork integration – How ‘set and setting’ applies to breathwork
If you re-name ‘set’ to ‘mindset’., then it will instantly make more sense.
This is about your frame of mind as you go into the session or to a workshop/retreat. How do you currently feel? What do you believe is going to happen? What do you WANT to happen? And so much more. It may seem obvious, but so many people miss this. Your mindset as you go to a session or event will have a big influence on what you experience. And you can only integrate what you experience. What that means, to sum it up in one sentence is this: Start changing before you change. Get excited. Know what you are getting in to. Give yourself a huge amount of credit for being willing to give yourself the gift of breath.
How do you create the right setting for Breathwork integration
Luckily for you, Alchemy of breath workshops and sessions take care of this for you. The setting for your breathwork experience is more than the physical environment. Because it also includes the cultural and social environment. Breathwork integration starts with the mentors, trainers, facilitators, and other participants. They are part of the setting. These are the people that will help you get the most from your experience. What expectations and experience do they have? What are their core beliefs and commitments to you as a client or participant. The role of these people cannot be overstated. And this is a big reason why people choose Alchemy of breath training and facilitators. Breathwork integration starts with the people you will meet and breathe with. Because everyone who is there to actively support you, has gone through extensive training. This is to give you the best possible outcome. And also, to deal with their own issues and healing before they deal with other peoples. Healer., heal thyself!
Why is Breathwork integration important
Now that you have the set and setting covered., what is the best way to integrate your experience and have it be a life changing one. Due to time commitments, most integration is left to you as an individual. And this is natural because integration is an ongoing process. Attending an event or one-to-one sessions can be life transforming. However, you need to be aware that habits are habits because they have established neurological pathways in your brain. Which means that it can be easy to restart or maintain existing habits. This is good news in that all you need to do is replace the habits., and your brain will maintain those too. You always have the choice to stay the same or go back to old habits. So, breathwork integration does take some responsibility and effort on your part. Especially when you consider one common fact. And that is that for a period, life will tend to continue to show you examples of things that you thought you had left behind.
Breathwork integration starts and ends with you
No-one knows you as well as you do. And that means that you know best where you need to make changes. But this fact is also part of the problem. Change can be hard. And sometimes it’s easier to give up trying to change and rationalise behaviour as beneficial even if it’s not. Because living up to your own expectations is key to feeling good. And if those expectations are too hard to live up to, it can be easier to lower the expectations. No-one wants to feel disappointed in themselves all the time. And so you may have developed blind spots in the way you live. For this reason it can be useful to get help from someone who knows you well. Just be prepared to have them be honest with you and accept that it may be difficult to hear. But regardless of what anyone says, the response-ability to change is with you.
Fear not though. We are about to dive into proven ways to take new decisions and habits and merge them into your life. This is the power of breathwork integration.
In part two of this series, you will learn integration of breathwork techniques that you can start using right now.
So get ready to change…
About the author:
Lance is a certified NLP and hypnosis trainer and breathwork junkie 😊. He produces meditation and drug free psychedelic sessions using light and sound.
You can find out how that works here https://roxiva.com/how-it-works-the-roxiva-rx1-brainwave-entrainment-device/
