Breathwork is the practice of consciously taking control of our breath to alter our nervous system state. Breathwork is broadly split into two categories (although you'll find many different descriptions online): functional breathwork, and conscious connected breathwork. The former focuses on developing efficient and effective day-to-day breathing patterns, mostly for down-regulating the nervous system. Functional breathwork can be used to retrain old habits, reduce anxiety, improve sleep, overcome fears, and boost physical and mental performance.  

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Conscious connected breathwork is a practice used to achieve altered states of consciousness. Although it can be approached in many ways, one of the main aims of CCB is to bypass the conscious mind and tap into deeper layers of the subconscious, helping people process past traumas, uncompleted stress cycles, and address areas of our lives that may be stuck behind the conscious layer of the mind. 

It's a good idea to start with functional breathwork to increase the nervous system's baseline capacity to handle complex material before moving on to any other types of breathwork. Many of us are carrying a lot of tension and weight from our past, and exposing the body to CCB without first expanding our capacity and nervous system flexibility can result in more dysregulation.  

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What's wonderful about breathwork is that the practice isn't limited to solely adjusting the breath. Because the practice relies on a deeper connection to self, it encourages inner exploration, helps develop interoceptive capacity, and increases our ability for emotional processing and connection to soul.