When we think about breathing techniques, the tendency is often to focus on external prescriptions—do this type of breathing to achieve that specific result. Many traditional practices like pranayama offer structured exercises designed to guide the breath in particular ways, often with the aim of achieving a predetermined outcome. However, Somatic Breathing shifts the perspective away from doing something to the breathe and instead towards feeling our way into the experience of breathing. This immersion transforming breathing into an interaction with our own deeper innate intelligence. This approach invites a deep harmonisation of the communications between the brain and the body, creating a more integrated, responsive experience.
Beyond Breathwork Techniques: Entering the Soma
Somatic Breathing doesn’t seek to apply a specific breathing pattern with the assumption that this will always lead to a particular result. Instead, it asks us to engage with the sensations of the breath itself, allowing the body’s inner intelligence—thatof the Soma—to lead the way.
In this process, we don’t impose breath patterns as if they were a one-size-fits-all solution. Rather, we feed the body a range of variations, stimulating and awakening its natural intelligence to find its own optimal breathing rhythm. It’s less about forcing a result and more about inviting a deeper connection with the body’s unique, evolving patterning. We replace Force with Finesse.
Sensation and Breath: Awakening the Sleeping Soma
As I just stated when we engage in Somatic Breathing, we move away from the idea that any one breathing exercise is universally beneficial. Instead, we focus on breathing as a dynamic interaction, one that is deeply personal and constantly changing. By introducing variations in breath patterning, we invite the Somatic Intelligence—that of the living, sensing body—to wake up. The Soma then begins to observe, adapt, and harmonise these signals, creating changes in the way we breathe and live.
This process of variation is essential. By engaging different breath patterns, we provide the opportunity to awaken parts of ourselves that may have been dormant. The beauty of Somatic Breathing lies in its adaptability. Each breath becomes an opportunity to communicate with the body, not to impose a structure upon it. In this way, we develop a wide, diverse set of possibilities from which a naturally optimal breathing pattern can emerge.
Variations in Breathing: Creating Space for Expansion
The introduction of varied breathing patterns stimulates expansion, allowing us to experience how the body responds to different signals coming from the brain initiating action and engage in graduated adjustments. In doing so, we aren’t looking for a single ‘correct’ way to breathe, but rather a range of options that can optimally fit each present moment experience and the unique needs and growth potentials of the individual. These variations allow our whole body systems to adapt and refine our own breathing in ways that support greater ease, efficiency, and vitality for our whole being
By offering ourselves variations, we invite the discovery of more natural, authentic and organic breath rhythms. Each new pattern we introduce becomes a part of our toolkit, expanding its ability to respond, adapt, and evolve. Over time, we learns to communicate more effectively with our whole being, leading to greater harmony between the signals sent by the brain and the sensations experienced in the body.
Inner Intelligence: The Power of Adaptability
One of the most powerful aspects of Somatic Breathing is its ability to stimulate our inherent intelligence. This intelligence isn’t just about mechanics or technique; it’s about recognising that we are continuously adapting, adjusting, and evolving. The more we encourage variability, the more we can refine our own signalling and optimise the breath patterns that work best for us in each moment.
This adaptability is key to enhancing how we breathe, and, ultimately, how we live. Rather than locking ourselves into fixed patterns and techniques, we embrace the fluidity and responsiveness of our whole being. The Soma, when awakened, naturally seeks the patterns that are most aligned with its current optimal state, creating a breathing experience that supports postive development, well-being, and creative flow.
Stimulating Requisite Variability for Enhanced Living
Somatic Breathing isn’t about finding one perfect breathing pattern—it’s about developing the capacity for breath to flow effortlessly in a variety of ways, relative to what is occurring in any moment. By stimulating variability, we provide our being with the flexibility and congruence to engage in our own life experiences with ease and grace. This, in turn, translates to enhanced living, as our breath supports our actions, emotions, and creative expression.
Breath, when guided by the inner intelligence of our innermost being, becomes a tool for living more fully. The process of exploring breath variations fosters a deeper relationship with our whole self, inviting greater awareness, adaptability, and harmony into everyday life.
Breathing as an Evolutionary Process
Somatic Breathing invites us to rethink the way we approach breathing practices. Rather than viewing them as external techniques to be applied and become better at doing, we can see them as opportunities to engage with the living intelligence of the body. The goal is not to achieve a specific result but to stimulate an ongoing evolutionary process, one in which the body and mind learn to work together productively in harmony.
As we develop enhanced variability in our breathing patterns, we open ourselves up to new possibilities for movement, sensation, and growth. The harmonisation of signals between our brain and our body creates a more cohesive, integrated experience of being alive, where each breath serves as a step towards greater aliveness, creativity, and well-being.
Learn More About Somatic Breathing
If you’d like to immerse yourself into exploring breathing in these new and different ways we have a variety of options to get you started ranging from our free taster course which you can access by clicking on the image below.
Beyond that introduction –
We have two mini-courses with 20-30min sessions and finally we have four longer 75 min session courses which address the Lungs, Ribs, Diaphragm and Pelvic Floor, all of which can be found on our Online courses page by using this link here.
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