I’m convinced breathwork needs to the next big wellness trend, and while I won’t bore you with why that is right now, but I do want to help myth bust some common challenges people have with the practice.

After facilitating a variety of Hypnobreathwork and Conscious Connected Breathwork sessions for hundreds of clients (both privately and in groups), one of the most common doubts I hear is… “I don’t know if it’s working for me.”

When we dig a little deeper, 9 times out of 10 this doubt is stemming from one thing: perfectionism. But not just any form of perfectionism… let me explain.

When most people join one of my breathwork sessions they do so because there is something they are looking for.

Maybe they are struggling with self sabotage, they want clarity on a situation, they’re creatively blocked, or riddled in stress and anxiety and don’t know how to find their presence.

Regardless of the reason, they come hoping to shift that experience.

Oftentimes, they are drawn to breathwork from hearing other people’s experience in a session and the crazy results they had so they *hope* that maybe the same could happen for them.

When they lie down on the mat and start breathing fear instantly comes over them because they don’t want to mess it up. They want to have an amazing experience, they want to see results, and they don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.

This fear of doing it wrong, creates this need to be “perfect” during the session. If they notice a thought come up… they wonder if they’re doing it wrong. If they have a memory come up… they question if they forced it. If they even start to visualize their future… they question if they are doing it right.

All the normal things that happen during a breathwork session all of a sudden become triggers because they think that’s not how it’s supposed to feel.

They don’t realize that by doing this, they are creating the problem.

Fear is the root of all self sabotage and perfectionism is another form of sabotage. In order to set them free, we have to debunk the fear.

So let me help you debunk the 3 most common breathwork blocks so you can get more from your session.

1. Questioning the experience

This typically shows up when someone is searching for a specific answer or results from the session. They go in thinking it has to look a certain way.

For example, they are seeking clarity on a decision and during the session they find that point of clarity, but then they start to question if that was real… or if they forced it to come up because that’s what they wanted.

Second guessing their experience causes them to devalue it, even though they did find a level of clarity while they we’re in it.

Part of finding clarity is consciously deciding that whatever option you choose, is the one that’s right.

It’s not until they realize that the doubtful thoughts they have, are what is creating the problem and causing them to outsource their power to the breathwork session, that they can let go of the fear and experience the full value of breathwork.

2. Not wanting to deal with what could come up

This often happens when people have deeper trauma and experiences from their past that they don’t want to address or relive.

One of the main benefits of breathwork is that it allows us to heal our trauma, but that often requires us to revisit those past instances and the emotions that go along with them. Breathwork tends to evoke those memories and emotions during a session.

When someone is afraid of dealing with these, it creates a mental block and they experience a heightened level of resistance to actually “surrendering” to the breath during a session.

It’s not until they realize that breathwork isn’t accidental, it gives us what we NEED not what we want, and sometimes what we need is more challenging or painful, that they can finally move past this block.

The most valuable sessions you have happen when you trust your body over your brain. That’s the core of what this fear is about.

3. Wondering it it’s working

This block typically comes up when we are experience a level of victim mindset. We are looking to the breathwork practice to “save us” and when we are in it, we questions if it’s working.

The funny part of this block is that breathwork creates a physiological change in your body simply from following the breathing pattern.

The change in oxygen and carbon dioxide in your body creates a temporary decrease in activity in the prefrontal cortex and increases the amount of alpha and theta wavelengths firing in the brain.

This physiological difference means that regardless of the level of doubt you have, you are in fact in a state where the breath is working it’s magic if you are following the breathing pattern.

The challenge isn’t that it isn’t working for you… it’s that you think it should look, feel, or be a certain way.

You think you should have zero thoughts popping up, or that you should have magical visions, or emotional outbursts… and while all of those things may be true in certain sessions, the truth is that all sessions are very different and most of them include none of those things but are still creating an equally large amount of change.

It’s not until you can let go of the idea that a session has to look a certain way, that you can realize your body is already doing the work. You’re just giving more attention to your doubts and fears and creating a problem while doing so.

I personally know the effect breathwork can have — especially on those of us who are logical and prone to overthinking — which is why I’m such a huge proponent of people consistently starting to experiment with deep conscious connected breathwork journey’s and experiences.

If you’re curious and want to learn more, start out with my free daily breathwork practice here.

If you’re ready to experience the full magic of breathwork, go deep in healing your trauma, and breakthrough your ceiling in every area of your life, I love getting to work with my private breathwork clients. You can learn more about this here or apply here.