The first action we perform as soon as we are born is to breathe. In our last moments, we breathe out. Breathing has a strong relationship with the quality of our life. Taking a deep breath can help you calm your racing nerves. Intentional breathing has many benefits apart from decreasing stress levels. It improves our physical, mental, and spiritual health. That is why so many breathwork schools are opening up to teach people the benefits and techniques of breathwork.
What is Breathwork?
Breathwork refers to the practice of conscious breathing. It is an active form of deep diaphragmatic, or belly breathing that triggers a relaxation response in the nervous system and body. Breathwork is any breathing technique or pattern you practice intentionally. There are many breathwork techniques, each with a different purpose producing a different effect.
With intentional breathing, you can bypass your mind block and enter a higher state of consciousness. Meditation also has similar benefits but requires more practice and experience. Breathwork can take you to a state of self-awareness that helps you tap into your feelings, thoughts, and memories. You can release negative energies that do not align with healing and self-love.
The Rising Popularity of Breathwork Schools
A breathwork school teaches you the ins and outs of breathing techniques and how to use them to improve your well-being. It helps you incorporate breathing techniques into your daily life. A breathing certification course can be anywhere between a few weeks to months. Once you complete your certification, you will be adept at breathwork and can teach others how to do it.
Career as a Breathing Coach
People need ways to relax and connect to their inner selves in this fast-paced world. So they need breathwork coaches to reach a higher level of awareness. It creates a lucrative opportunity for breathing coaches to earn a handsome salary. While it depends on many factors, breathing coaches can earn anywhere between $35,000 to $75,000 annually.
The only compulsory requirement is certification from a reputable and competent school. Let us explore the best breathwork schools that offer breathwork courses.
Top Five Breathwork Schools to Look Out for in 2023
1. Soma Breath
SOMA Breath is an innovative breathing school that uses cutting-edge methods of breathwork techniques backed by science. This school’s founder is Niraj Naik, a breathwork expert and certified UK pharmacist turned holistic wellness expert. He aimed to build a global platform that helps people worldwide take charge of their spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional health. A supportive community of like-minded experts and amateurs enables you to unlock your full potential and holistic health evolution.
Discover the cathartic benefits of breathwork through their modern approach to India’s ancient Pranayama techniques. SOMA combines modalities like breathwork, visualization, and uplifting music to create an experience that leads to your fulfilment. Their holistic health coaching includes meditation, music, neuro somatics, and dance.
SOMA teaches you all original Pranayama techniques. ‘One shoe does not fit all,’ so all options for breathing techniques are available to the students. All of them are backed by science, and Niraj modernized these ancient practices by introducing Breathwork Music Technology and breathing in beats. Breathing in rhythm is a unique practice by SOMA and has many benefits. It works on a deeper level of physiology to balance the nervous system, helping participants to turn off stress on command, fall asleep more easily or get a boost of energy. This practice helps to change a person’s feelings and thoughts on an unconscious level and access the body’s healing power.
Currently, Cambridge is studying the institution’s methodology, citing its ‘clear and systematic approach’ effective as per the participating people and researchers. SOMA Breath is one of the best breathwork schools if you want to start your journey of healing, reaching optimum health, increasing longevity, aligning with your purpose, removing blockages, overcoming limiting beliefs and creating the life you truly want and deserve. Becoming a coach yourself is an added benefit.
2. One Breath
Lisa McNett founded this company with co-founder Debbie Schirmann to provide a safe space for people. One Breath believes in the intrinsic power of the body to heal itself. People have the ability to be and have all they desire. They have the answers they are looking for in them. One Breath helps you find those answers through a supportive environment that supports inner healing. They guide their members through their personal journeys and make them feel understood. If you want to become a practitioner, this school is a great place to start.
Their groundbreaking system- Introspective Breathwork™, assists with spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional growth. It is one of the most elaborate and competent breathwork training programs. The idea behind Introspective Breathwork™ is that every person has the capability to heal themselves. It involves connecting to your body for a present-moment sensation through conscious breathing. It allows the mind to experience, process and integrate the arising sensations or feelings.
One Breath teaches many breathing techniques including Pranayama (specific breathing techniques and meditation that can help to calm the mind and access deeper states of peace and relaxation), Holotropic Breathing (focused practice that involves intense breathing and often includes music, guided visualization, and movement for spiritual exploration), Connective Breathing (helps to reduce stress and promote balance throughout the entire body), Coherent Breathing (combines breathwork with an energetic connection- partner, music, visualization- for a transformative experience), Breath of Fire (used to increase awareness and physical energy and help to reduce stress and tension), Four-square Breathing (rhythmic breath pattern meant to promote complete and even inhales and exhales), Box Breathing (helps slow down the Breath and encourage relaxation), Nadhi Shodhana (helps balance the energy in the body and help reduce stress) and Ujjayi Breath (creates heat, helping to relax and stimulate the body).
Paul and Lindi founded the Owaken Breathwork School using ancient breathing techniques integrated with modern practices. They have a network of teachers who guide you through virtual and in-person sessions. They majorly focus on Holotropic breathwork and Indian breathing exercises like pranayama and ujjayi Breath.
The techniques of this school dive deeper into the emotional and spiritual aspects of the practice. Owaken focuses on the ‘five-point breath,’ a breathwork technique that aims to release suppressed trauma or emotions. Students can remove their emotional energies and begin self-healing with a particular rhythmic pattern. Another vital breathwork technique this school focuses on is ‘spontaneous active meditation.’ Rapid eye movements and conscious breaths help individuals focus on more profound thoughts and emotions.
Owaken welcomes people from all cultures, races, and belief systems to experience the transformative power of breathwork programs. Many members of this lively community went on to become breathing coaches after expiring the life-changing effects of breathwork.
Pause Breathwork School believes that the body can heal itself. It has breathwork coaching techniques to aid your transformation journey to a whole and healed person. They help you achieve a state of bliss and embody peace and happiness. You will learn to release your negative energy and embrace your higher self.
This school teaches effective breathwork techniques like Coherent Breathing, Alternate Nostril Breathing, Circular Breathing, Pranayama, Ujjayi Breath, and Kapalabhati Breath.
Pause Breathwork starts with a few minutes of gentle breathing. The next step is to bring awareness to the body. It helps focus on the breath, senses its constrictions and relaxations, and explores the feelings that it brings up. The goal is to identify areas of tension, relieve them, and relax into a deeper state of rest and repose.
The last step in Pause Breathwork is to focus on the desired outcome. It could be feeling calm, focusing on the positives, manifesting the life you envision, or simply sitting in silence. By the end of the session, the practitioner feels relaxed with a sense of clarity and awareness.
This institute aims to bring awareness to the benefits of deep breathing. Samantha Skelly founded it. She is a wellness expert who seeks to heal addiction, anxiety, and mental health issues using the power of breathwork. You can join this community and become a practitioner after their certification course.
5. Alchemy of Breath
Unlock your potential to live a happy life with the Alchemy of Breath. It is a wellness institution that fosters a safe and peaceful environment for its practitioners and students. It urges the members to explore the power of their Breath and walk into their physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional well-being.
Students learn active breathwork- long, slow, deep breaths through the nose. It increases oxygen levels and prepares the body for deeper breathing and relaxation. Next, they practice rhythmic breathwork, which uses breaths to induce a meditative state. During this breathwork, practitioners vary their breathing pattern, shifting from longer, slower breaths to shorter, deeper breaths. From rhythmic, they change to connected breathwork, where practitioners focus on connecting their breath with their emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations. This type of practice is especially beneficial for developing mindfulness and building emotional intelligence. The last type of breathwork is non-directed breathwork, designed to help practitioners enter a meditative state without any specific goal or plan. It helps build emotional resilience and promotes self-acceptance.
Alchemy of Breath School aims to help cultivate self-responsibility, respect, and inclusiveness. Anthony Abbagnano, a world-famous breathwork guru, founded this educational organization to help people connect with their consciousness and achieve higher self-awareness. You will learn much from this place and become a competent practitioner and facilitator.
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Earn Your Certification Today!
Many schools offer breathwork course certification, each with a unique approach to the process. You can contact any of these schools and start your journey to being a breathwork coach today. Hurry up and join now!