Care and Safety
About Breathwork
Breathwork is a term used to describe a variety of breathing techniques that help people improve their mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. It involves consciously changing the way you breathe to calm the mind, reduce stress, boost energy, and support overall health. While breathing is something we do every day without thinking, breathwork invites us to take control of our breath to influence how we feel. Because it’s adaptable and easy to practice, breathwork is a tool that anyone can use, no matter their age or fitness level.
In essence, breathwork is about using the power of the breath to bring about positive changes—from feeling more grounded and balanced to experiencing deeper levels of self-awareness and healing.
It could be said that breathwork begins whenever we are consciously aware of our breath, and apply some effort to maintain or alter it.
In the 21st century, large numbers of people are becoming aware of the various modes of breathwork, finding the possibility to improve their experience of life and wellbeing without external or chemical intervention. States of being are always subjective, yet almost everyone experiences increased mental clarity, release of tension, greater depth of perception, ability to move toward goals more directly and more vivid sense impressions.
These practices are now taking a bigger place in the fields of therapy, stress release and personal development.
‘Breathwork’ refers to a spectrum of techniques that have in common the awareness of breath, with a view to creating a different experience or perception.
Breathwork techniques vary from the virtually still and silent to the loud and highly energised. Different styles may seek to manifest different shades of experience, even where there may be a similar desired outcome.
Breathwork has no single origin or history. Some may say that breathwork is fundamental in every indigenous community, though these have been lost. Some methods are known and documented from long-established practices of the East, some have been adapted by modern physiological and behavioural study from the west. Some methods reflect patterns we instinctively move into in times of need.
Although, there are many modalities of Breathwork, the Breathe Festival and the UK Breathwork Association understands three functional objectives of breathwork:
Breath Hygiene (pranayama, daily practices, breath count and timings etc)
Capacity Building and Performance (functional breathing, free diving, lung capacity building, breath holding, buteyko etc)
Deeper Exploration (conscious connected breathwork, exploring consciousness, trauma, emotion and spirit with the breath)
These practices can invite individuals into a space of altered consciousness and potential vulnerability as they explore their consciousness, often tapping into personal historical experiences or inherited traumas. Due to this powerful consequence of strong therapeutic benefits to people, the field and industry has evolved to provide in-depth training of practitioners to hold these transformational experiences.
The growth and popularity of breathwork in the last decade has been significant. The Breathe Festival and the UKBA hopes to steward the evolution of breathwork in the UK to offer safe care to all.
There are a few contraindications for breathwork that all participants must be aware of. All participants will receive this information as you sign-up and waivers for understanding will be required before attending the festival.
To read the full list please click here.
Professional Standards and Ethical Considerations
The Breathe Festival works alongside the UK Breathwork Association to ensure that all facilitators meet our training standards and work from our professional ethical framework.
All facilitators are encouraged to be members of the UKBA to work together in the holding of the festival.
To read our Professional Standards click here.
To read our Ethical Framework click here.
The eligibility requirements for professional members can be seen here.
Care on-site
Coming into community and working on ourselves can be deeply vulnerable and challenging. We do not take this responsibility lightly. We are honoured to have so many skilled professionals on-site to support breathers and participants in their journeys. Care can look like many things, and though we respect that each individual is responsible for their own care, we do offer a few structural systems to support.
Designated Integration Sessions
These are sessions worked into the program to give options to integrate some of the things that may have moved in a breathwork session. This can include journaling, talking, movement or silence. These are guided sessions hosted by one of our facilitators.
Whole Festival Gatherings each morning
We meet every morning for a festival gathering, this gives you an opportunity to see what workshops are available during the day, feel into the practitioner offering and choose which one would suit you best. This is also an opportunity to be reminded who is here for you on the team and to become familiar with our faces.
Optional Daily Festival ‘Cluster’ Check-ins
In our opening ceremony, we will work together to create your festival ‘cluster’. These are small groups that will remain your participant-support group throughout the festival. Each day, there is an allocated cluster meeting to help support what is moving for each person. Clusters vary is size from 5-10 people depending. These are optional sessions however, it has been found to be very helpful. For those attending the festival alone, these can be great to support connection with other participants.
Breather Welfare Team
We also have a Breather Welfare Team of around 5 professional breathwork practitioners. This team is available throughout the festival to support you if you need. This team is deeply experienced in what may come up in a breathwork session ranging from attending to trauma release, somatic release, anxiety, panic attacks and triggers. The facilitators of each session will care for you during the breathwork session, but if further support is needed outside of a session, this team is here to support you.
Facilitator Welfare Team
Facilitators are people too. This team is responsible for the care and wellbeing for our facilitators. Breathwork can be really powerful and the role of the facilitator is important for our journeys, however it is also a big responsibility. We have put a team in place to take care of our facilitators, be a listening and holding space for anything that may come up for our facilitator team.
On-site First Aider
There are a few contraindications for breathwork. Each breathe is responsible for their own participation in accordance to what their bodies can handle. However, there may be cases where a external medical support is needed. We have an on-site first aider, should anything arise.