Do You Need to Have a Big Release in Breathwork?

If you’ve ever watched a breathwork video online, you may have seen some pretty big experiences.

Crying. Shaking. Yelling. Movement. Laughter. Deep emotional release.

And if you’re new to breathwork, you might look at that and wonder: Is that what’s supposed to happen?

Or maybe even: Is someone going to try to make me do that?

The answer to that second question, at least when you’re breathing with me, is no.

I don’t push for release.

I don’t try to make someone cry.

I don’t encourage a bigger emotional response because I think it means someone is going deeper.

And I don’t believe a dramatic experience is proof that breathwork is “working.”

Release can happen. But it isn’t the goal.

Conscious Connected Breathwork can bring things to the surface.

Sometimes there are tears.

Sometimes anger comes up.

Sometimes there’s movement or sound.

Sometimes there’s laughter.

And sometimes the experience is incredibly quiet.

You may spend an entire session simply breathing, noticing sensations in your body, becoming aware of something you hadn’t noticed before, or feeling deeply relaxed.

All of those experiences are welcome.

There isn’t one way breathwork is supposed to look.

And there’s a big difference between creating a space where release is allowed and creating a space where release is expected.

That distinction is incredibly important to me.

You always have choices

When I facilitate breathwork, I want you to know that your body is still yours.

You can slow your breath.

You can return to your natural breath.

You can move.

You can make sound.

You can rest.

You can open your eyes.

You can stop.

Everything we do begins with choice.

You don’t have to push through something because you think you’re “almost there.”

You don’t have to make yourself uncomfortable to prove you’re doing the work.

And you definitely don’t have to perform your healing for me.

Your experience gets to be your experience.

Your job is to listen to your body.

My job is to support you while you do.

What if something big does come up?

This is the other side of the conversation, and I think it’s just as important.

Because while I will never try to create a release, sometimes emotions do naturally rise to the surface during breathwork.

And if that happens?

I’m not afraid of it.

I can sit with tears without needing to stop them.

I can stay grounded when an emotion feels big.

I can pay attention to what’s happening for you without assuming I know what your body needs.

I can remind you that you have choices.

And I can support what is naturally unfolding without trying to make it bigger or make it go away.

I don’t push for release. But I know how to hold space for it when it comes.

Training is important to me

I don’t usually talk a lot about the number of hours I’ve trained, but I think it belongs in this conversation.

I’ve completed over 2,000 hours of training in breathwork, trauma-responsive breathwork, somatic coaching, and women’s circle facilitation, including 750 hours specifically in trauma-responsive breathwork.

Why does that feel important to share here?

Because breathwork can bring things up.

And if you’re trusting someone enough to close your eyes, breathe, and allow yourself to be vulnerable, I think you should know that the person sitting beside you has spent a lot of time learning how to be there.

How to stay grounded.

When to invite and when to wait.

When to slow things down.

When to offer support.

And when to simply be there.

For me, facilitating breathwork isn’t about getting someone somewhere.

It’s about creating enough space, choice, and support for you to listen to what’s happening inside of you.

What if nothing happens?

This might be one of my favorite questions.

Because sometimes people finish a breathwork session and think they were supposed to have some huge breakthrough.

You weren’t.

Sometimes breathwork is subtle.

Sometimes you notice your body in a different way.

Sometimes something becomes a little clearer.

Sometimes you feel emotion.

Sometimes you feel peaceful.

And sometimes you don’t quite know what happened until later.

A quiet session is not a failed session.

There is nothing you need to manufacture.

The breathwork isn’t the whole experience

What happens afterward is important too.

The slowing down.

The noticing.

The rest.

The integration.

Instead of only asking:

What did I release?

I like questions such as:

What did I notice?

What did my body show me?

What feels different?

What do I need now?

What do I want to carry with me from this experience?

Because the goal isn’t to collect bigger and bigger breathwork experiences.

It’s to become more connected to yourself.

Curious about Conscious Connected Breathwork?

If you’ve been interested in breathwork but the idea of having a huge emotional release has made you hesitant, I hope this takes away some of that uncertainty.

I will never push you toward release.

But if release naturally comes, you don’t have to be afraid of it.

And you don’t have to go through it alone.

Listening to your body is never doing it wrong.

I offer private 1:1 Conscious Connected Breathwork sessions in person in Olympia, Washington, and online.

You can also experience Conscious Connected Breathwork as part of Rooted & Rising, my one-day women’s retreat in Olympia on September 19.

Notice. Breathe. Begin again.