Are the holidays triggering you? 3 reasons why you need yin breathwork
‘Tis the season! But for some people, Christmas isn’t always joyful. In fact, it can be quite triggering – for anyone.
Maybe it’s sitting across from a relative that you don’t get along with at the dinner table.
Or trying to get out of a congested Westfield Shopping centre parking lot and wasting a lot of time you didn’t plan on in your car.
Christmas rom coms anyone?
Maybe you feel a sense of shame or guilt as you are trying to afford the perfect gift but your bank account is telling you that you can’t.
Maybe it’s the rising cost of living – how expensive it is just to survive while adding Christmas presents to that pressure.
Whatever it is that sets your nervous system in a fiery flush of tension, it’s triggering childhood wounds, past traumas and other information that we haven’t quite processed in our subconscious.
The more we leave these unprocessed, subconscious triggers unresolved, the more likely they are to stir and bubble up like the lava of a volcano until eventually, they explode.
Explosions can take place by yelling at the customer service representative, saying something we don’t mean to a loved one, breaking down into tears and anger at the pressure of it all. It doesn’t align with “Joy to the World.”
You simply might find yourself relating to Ebenezer Scrooge or the Grinch. Christmas is cancelled this year!
The common coping mechanism that society teaches us to do is numb out with a substance like alcohol or Netflix, still ignoring the root cause and leaving it to be triggered again.
What if there was a way to fix this? What if there was a way to help your nervous system cope with the pressure cooker of a modern Christmas? What if there was a way that lasted and was kinder to your overall health and wellbeing?
Yin breathwork is the answer. Here are 3 reasons why you need it:
- Yin breathwork activates the parasympathetic nervous system.
Why is this important? Your nervous system gets to RELAX. When you experience total relaxation from the breath, the nervous system is able to relax, freeing up the energy to flow through your body, clearing blocks and stuckness. Unprocessed emotions, memories, patterns, limiting beliefs and trauma that well up beneath us are able to start releasing from the body. Pain could be relieved. Energy shifted. Your body could start to cope with the wild world again.
- It makes you a better, more resilient person.
When a wild animal gets triggered, we see them immediately shake it out. They quickly deal with it and move on. For some reason, humans don’t do this and the trigger gets stored in us, resulting in pain, anxiety, depression, illness over time. Yin breathwork can help us to ‘shake it out’ in a gentle way and the more often we do it, the more resilient we become. The effects are noticeable and long lasting. You’ll have better sleep, improved immune function, less anxiety, less fear and less anger. You’ll be able to cope with the wild world again. Christmas traffic and flight delays? No worries!
- Don’t skimp on your health and wellness.
As the holidays draw closer and as the pressures of cost of living mount, people often look at where they can make cuts in their personal time and finances. Sadly, health and wellness seem to get the cut. I can’t tell you what to do but health and wellness should be a priority. It isn’t a nice to have, it’s a must have. By looking after ourselves and our nervous systems, we are looking out for our systemic health and our mental health – resulting in less cost on larger issues in the future. We become better humans. And we give ourselves a beautiful gift. We can view the world through the lens of love, connection and peace rather than anger, fear and dread. Yin breathwork is a wonderful, relaxing experience. It is accompanied by sound healing and energy work. A numbing glass of wine cannot provide you with the long-lasting effects and bliss that yin breathwork offers. Numbing behaviours cannot connect you with the divine. And when they wear off, they have the opposite effects and can actually cause more anxiety and depression due to being suppressants. Ultimately, the choice is up to you, but I know which one I would choose.
So there you have it. Yin breathwork is the anecdote to the pressure cooker that is Christmas. Is time an issue? As the old saying goes, if you don’t have time to meditate for an hour everyday, you should meditate for 2 hours. You’ll be surprised by the amount of time you gain back by offering yourself this gift.
If you would like to find out more about yin breathwork or have a discussion about how it can help you, please reach out. Wishing you a Merry, peaceful and magical Christmas. We all deserve it!
Almost sold. But wait, what is yin breathwork?
Yin breathwork was originally known as rebirthing breathwork. It is a gentle style of breathing through the nose in a circular pattern. This conscious breathing or energy breathing helps people to learn to breathe from the breath itself. It was founded by Leonard Orr. This style is a great alternative to holotropic (mouth) breathing which is a bit more intense and it might not be the best first option.
About your practitioner
Lindsay Simoncavage trainined in Yin Breathwork in 2023 with Daniel Coates (Suntara) and his wife Rosarmy. Her sessions my include the use of crystal quartz singing bowls, tuning forks, reiki, koshi chimes, shamanic drum or silence depending on the client’s preference and her intuition. There is also the option to combine the breathwork with a shamanic journey.
