Can you tell us what breathwork is?

Breathwork is a technique that’s used to access a different mental state, gain clarity and even purge emotions. The style I teach is called transformative breathwork. It’s described as twenty-seven years of therapy in twenty-seven minutes, without saying a word. Although that experience isn’t always true for everyone, it often leaves people mentally “lighter” after a session. Breathwork is also a fantastic way to get out of your head and into your body, which makes healing more accessible. People have likened it to experiences with psychedelics.

What are the benefits of breathwork?

Personally, I love the clarity it brings and the emotional release. People that I’ve worked with have shared that, in a few sessions, they were able to work through an emotional issue or problem that had been weighing them down for decades. It seems to really get to the root of things by somehow bypassing the narratives the brain has about a situation and addressing things at the source. It’s been described as life-changing.

How does one apply breathwork to their daily lives?

There are so many different styles of breathwork that serve different purposes. Box breathwork is a technique that people can use daily as an anxiety and nervous system management tool. It’s easy, super-effective and takes just a few minutes. I think of this as the breathwork equivalent of brushing your teeth. The style of breathwork I teach is a little different. It’s more surgical. In other words, transformative breathwork is something you do maybe once a week to once a month with the intention of healing old trauma. The purpose of it is to release things and heal things so you can be happier and feel more connected to yourself.

Are there benefits to breathwork that people would be surprised by?

Such a great question. Nose breathing is better for nervous system regulation and helps with mitigation of increased cortisol levels, which would absolutely impact fat loss. I think one of the most surprising things for people with the style of breathwork I teach is how effective it is at releasing emotion. I always tell my clients that what comes out of them emotionally isn’t going to make them sick, but what stays in them will. It’s like a Bioré strip for buried emotions. It brings things up to the surface where we can purge them.

How are most people shortchanging themselves in the way they breathe?

Honestly, the breath is one of the few constants we have in our life. It’s this beautiful involuntary thing that our body just does automatically for us. I think that we shortchange ourselves when we forget how powerful this is.

You’re also a life coach; how does breathwork play into that part of your practice?

Life coaching is my purpose on this planet, for sure. I absolutely love my job and it’s something I truly feel I was born to do. The problem is…that sometimes the brain is the thing causing all the problems. In coaching I use what’s called a “bottom up” approach. In other words, I witness how someone’s emotions impact their thoughts. The body feels the emotions and the brain makes sense of them. It’s how I find patterns—and it’s one of my most effective tools in helping people understand themselves better. Sometimes though, a person’s brain is getting between them and their own emotions. This is where breathwork is incredible. It gets them out of their head and into their heart where all the “capital T” truths are.

For more information on Trish Law and her coaching and breathwork practice, visit trishlawcoaching.com.