Returning to the Breath
Somatic Breathwork and the art of remembrance.
Breath is the bridge that guides you home.
Somatic Breathwork: An invitation to step out of the noise of the mind.
So many of us have learned to override our bodily instincts and push past sensation. We live at a distance from the body and continuously abandon ourselves as we find ourselves playing roles that we never knowingly chose. We learn to contain, to perform, and to keep pushing through. In life’s challenging moments, our breath becomes shallow, tight, fast, held, and we often feel like we cannot, or do not have the space, to breathe.
And in that same breath, the body doesn’t forget. It holds the shape of what we couldn’t process at the time, until it begins to mirror everything we’ve been carrying but could never put down.
The breath asks us to expand into the belly, to let the ribs move, and to allow the exhale to fully complete itself. When we allow the breath to drop, something in the nervous system notices and begins, slowly, to allow itself to take up space again.
Breath is woven into our physical, emotional, and energetic life. It carries what we haven’t had the room to feel :: the nervous system’s history, old grief and our unexpressed aliveness. As most of us were never taught to listen, the breath continues to carry the weight of this, waiting for the space to be heard.
When we give ourselves permission to breathe into the places that feel numb, tight, or guarded, something deeper becomes available. The body speaks, and in that conversation, a spaciousness arises. A sense of being held, and a return to the self that you may not have felt in a long time. When we trust the breath and follow where it leads, it becomes the bridge back into presence, and into the body itself.
I know this from experience. Breath was how I first made contact with what I couldn't feel, noticing where I was holding, where I was bracing, and the situations I simply couldn’t breathe into. When I began to sit with my breath in practice, I was able to attune to the rhythm of my own life. This breath practice has allowed me to touch the deepest parts of myself that were hidden and simply longing to be met and held.
Somatic & Concious Connected Breathwork
Somatic Breathwork invites us to move beyond the body’s mechanics and into its intelligence. It means paying attention not only to how you breathe, but to what you notice in the body while breathing: sensation, emotion, impulse, tension, movement and choice. Where functional breathing is often about regulation, somatic breathwork is about exploration. We aren't here to manage or override the body; we are here to listen to what the breath carries within the stored tension, the unfelt emotion, and the patterns your nervous system often holds in silence.
This practice gives you the space to move through what feels like it has been stuck. It creates doorways into the parts of yourself that have been waiting to be met.
The primary practice we move through is Conscious Connected Breathwork—a continuous, circular rhythm with no pause between the inhale and exhale. In these sessions, you are always welcome to slow down, change the rhythm or return to your natural breath. This rhythm acts as a bridge, carrying us beneath the noise of the thinking mind and into the deeper layers of the body, where the truth of your history, your grief, and your aliveness often reside.
As the rhythm establishes itself, something begins to soften. Spaciousness opens, and there is a sense of being held that you may not have felt in a long time. The body finds its own way because, for the first time, it has the room to speak. It is a way of coming home.
These journeys are not about achieving a specific outcome, pushing for a big cathartic release or finding nervous system regulation. Every breathwork, like every breath, is different. Some sessions invite stillness; others bring a sudden sense of aliveness. Some are about things settling into place; others are about the gentle release of what was never yours to carry.
What happens when we breathe?
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Breathwork isn't a fix, and it doesn't move through everyone the same way. But when the breath is returned to, again and again, something in the body starts to reorganise around it and it remembers how to come out of bracing, how to soften, how to rest. This isn't mysticism.
Conscious breathing is one of the most researched doorways we have into the nervous system, and what shifts is measurable, not just felt.Some of what people notice, physically, over time:
Sleep that comes easier and holds longer, especially if your body has been staying half-alert through the night.
Nervous system capacity that stretches: slower breathing directly activates the vagus nerve and increases heart rate variability, a real marker of how well your body can move between activation and rest.
A quieter stress-hormone response, as cortisol comes down and the body's baseline settles.
Tension that's been held for a long time finally has somewhere to go, as the body comes out of bracing and into rest.
More spacious, efficient breathing. The research on lung capacity itself is still thin, most of us aren't actually oxygen-starved, but the ease in the breath is real.
Digestion and immune function supported, not because the breath repairs anything, but because a regulated nervous system is what lets those systems do their work properly in the first place.
This isn't about quick fixes or cathartic release. It's about tuning in, slowing down, and letting the body lead the way back to itself. One breath at a time.
Disclaimer
Breathwork is a supportive, complementary practice — not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. It is not recommended without direct guidance for anyone who is pregnant, has a cardiovascular condition, epilepsy or a seizure disorder, or a severe psychiatric condition such as psychosis or unmanaged PTSD. If you have any underlying physical or mental health condition, please consult your healthcare provider before beginning. Sessions here are offered as a space for self-exploration, healing, and integration — not as clinical therapy.
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When we start working with the breath on purpose, it becomes a way back to feeling, not around it. Grief, anger, shame, sadness, joy, all of it lives somewhere in the body whether we've made room for it or not. Breath doesn't manufacture these feelings. It meets what's already there and gives it enough space to finally soften, to shift, to move through rather than staying lodged.
This isn't about fixing anything, or forcing a release before you're ready for it. What we're building, together, is space. Space to feel what's real, in your own timing, without needing to explain it, justify it, or understand it first. What would it mean to let a feeling simply be felt, without a story attached to it?
Practised regularly, this tends to leave people more open. More present. More available, not just to life, but to themselves inside of it.
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Breathwork doesn't only open the door to feeling. It quiets the mind too, though rarely through logic. For most of us the mental noise is constant, overthinking, self-judgement, the same loop running again and again, anxiety that seems to have no edges. Breath offers a different way in, through presence rather than reasoning.
As the breath deepens, the mind begins to slow on its own. We move from thinking about our life to actually being inside it. Insight tends to arrive this way too, not chased down but felt, arriving almost sideways while we're not looking for it. Old patterns of thought loosen their grip, and in the space that opens there's room for clarity, for focus, for a kind of knowing that doesn't come from the intellect at all.
With regular practice, people often describe a clearer head, less reactivity, more room to think, and more room simply to be
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For some, breathwork opens a door toward something larger than the personal self, spirit, source, soul, or simply a deeper sense of belonging to something that holds you.
In many traditions, breath was never just air. It is named as sacred life force: prana in the yogic tradition, qi in Chinese medicine, spiritus and pneuma in the Latin and Greek, the wind of the soul in language after language across the world. In Kashmir Shaivism Non-Dual tantra, this pulse is called spanda, the vibration underneath all things, the throb of consciousness itself moving as breath, as heartbeat, as the world unfolding. They all have different names, yet underneath them, something incredibly similar being pointed at again and again: breath as the thread that connects body and spirit, the seen and the unseen, the personal and the collective.
Across these lineages, breath has long been used to journey, to shift consciousness, to release what has gone stagnant, to open toward what some call the spirit world and others simply call the More. Rhythmic, intentional breathing is woven through ceremony, prayer, song, and healing rites, not to escape the body, but to deepen presence inside it and open the heart to a guidance that sits beneath the logical mind.
Breath becomes a bridge. Between the physical body and the energetic one. Between what the body has carried and the soul's own capacity to heal. Between the wisdom held in the Earth and the wisdom already living inside you. Between however you name it, spirit, soul, source, or simply your own inner truth, and the ordinary act of breathing that keeps making space for all of it, one inhale at a time.
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So many of us were taught to override the body's messages: to live from the neck up, to treat instinct as something to manage rather than something to trust. And the override works, for a while. That's exactly why we keep doing it. But the body goes on holding what never had room to be felt, memory, emotion, a quieter kind of knowing that was never given the chance to speak.
Breathwork is an invitation back into relationship with the body, as something to listen to rather than something to control. Through conscious, connected breathing, the layers that have kept us at a distance from ourselves begin, slowly, to soften. As the breath opens, so does the heart, and we come into contact with what has been waiting there this whole time, some of it tender, some of it long overdue.
Not to escape the body, or rise above it. To be with it, as it actually is.
What might it feel like to finally trust what your body has been trying to tell you?
The sacred arrives with the inhale and the exhale becomes the prayer.
The Sacred Dimension: Breathing the Sacred.
In many traditions, from the Vedic to the Taoist to the Tibetan, and across Indigenous lineages around the world, the breath has never been understood as simple air. It is life force, known as Prana, known as Qi. For thousands of years, rhythmic, intentional breathing has been woven into ceremony, healing, and rites of passage, as a way of deepening presence in the body and opening the heart beyond the logical mind.
Breath has always been a bridge :: between the physical and the energetic :: between what the body has been holding and the capacity to meet it :: between forgetting and the remembering that was never really gone.
To breathe the sacred is to recognise that the sacred is already moving through you, roughly twenty thousand times a day, whether you're aware of it or not, alive in every breath, in every moment, in everything you meet. When we bring deeper presence into the breath and the body, breath becomes a meeting place. The body can finally begin to soften, and what once felt out of reach can be met with gentle contact, at the pace your own system sets.
You don't need a spiritual framework, prior experience, or any particular beliefs to meet the sacred within the breath. You don't need to look for it, because the breath meets you exactly where you are. And with each breath, we return home.
Every session is intuitively held and grounded in conscious connected breathing. We begin with a check-in to see how you're arriving, what's present and what you're ready to meet. From there you'll be guided through a breath journey with music, verbal support and where appropriate, gentle somatic touch.
There is nothing to do right. Just bring your breath and an open heart.
Ways to Breathe
Private Breath Journey - £75
A 90-minute personalised session. We use the breath to move through what the nervous system has been holding, clearing the way for regulation, release, and a return to your own center.
Breath & Soma Series – £333
Over 5 sessions, we build a steady, trusting relationship between breath, body, and feeling. This series is for those ready to move through deeper patterns—whether that is long-held tension, emotional blocks, or simply wanting to remember what it feels like to be at home in your own skin. Includes dedicated space for reflection and practices tailored to support your integration between sessions.
These sessions are online or in person, in Berkshire/Oxfordshire/London
Online Breath Community
For upcoming group online sessions please join my online breath community .
Upcoming In-Person Breathes
For upcoming in person events in the UK and abroad, please see my offerings page or sign up to my newsletter to find out more information.
If you are looking for slower, ongoing support that includes conversation, somatic enquiry and breath where appropriate, explore Online Somatic Therapy & Mentorship.
***If you’re feeling called to this work but finances are a barrier, please reach out. Together we can find a way to make this offering accessible for you.***
To book your appointment, please email me at hello@lilyisobel.com or schedule a free 15-minute call to discuss the best options for you.
FAQs
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Each session begins with a short check-in to see how you’re arriving—emotionally, physically, energetically.
We begin through a grounding or connecting exercise that could be the other forms of breath, tuning into the felt sense, somatic movement or embodied exercises.
From there, we move into a guided conscious connected breath journey guided usually with sound. You'll lie down, breathe through an open mouth (or nose in some cases), and be gently guided through the session using music, verbal cues, and intuitive support. If appropriate and always with consent, gentle bodywork designed to support the body through the process may also be introduced.
There’s time to integrate, ground and share at the end. You don’t need to "do" anything right. Just bring your breath and an open heart.
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Everyone's journey is different. You might feel emotions arise, have physical sensations (like tingling or temperature shifts), or access old memories and insights. You might also feel calm, clear, or simply connected to your breath. All experiences are welcome, and you’ll be supported throughout.
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It is important to give yourself space before and after your session. Breathwork can stir up deep emotions, memories, or energy—so it’s important to allow time afterwards to rest, reflect, and integrate.
If possible, avoid rushing back into busy-ness or stimulation. Take a walk, journal, sip tea, take a bath or shower, lie on the ground or simply be in stillness. Let your system settle and catch up with the shifts that have taken place.
Stay hydrated. Eat grounding and nourishing food. Be gentle with yourself.
This work continues beyond the session and your body will keep unfolding. The benefits of the work will continue to unfold throughout the rest of the day and into the next few days. Trust the process, and honour the pace of your own integration.
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You don’t need to do much—just arrive as you are. But there are a few simple things you can do to support your body and make the most of your breathwork experience:
Before your session:
Avoid heavy meals, caffeine, or alcohol for at least 2–3 hours beforehand. A juice or light snack is okay.
Wear comfortable clothing that allows you to relax and breathe freely.
Set up a quiet, private space if you're joining online—somewhere you feel safe to lie down and let go.
Bring water, a blanket, and anything else that brings you comfort (eye mask, crystals, journal, etc.).
If you’re in your cycle or feeling emotionally tender, you’re still welcome. Just let me know—we’ll work gently.
Optional, but supportive:
Take a few moments to connect with your intention. What are you calling in? What are you ready to release?
Ground in nature or stillness before we begin, even just for a few breaths.
This is your time. There is no right or wrong way to arrive—only the way that honours where you are now.
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Both offer powerful experiences, but the space and intention can feel quite different.
1:1 sessions are completely tailored to you. We work with your specific needs, intentions, and patterns. There’s more space for verbal check-ins, emotional processing, and somatic guidance. It’s intimate, deep, and designed to meet you exactly where you are.
Group sessions are shared spaces of breath and energy. There’s something potent about breathing in community and feeling the collective rhythm, being witnessed, and knowing you’re not alone. While they’re less personalised, the shared field can be deeply moving, supportive, and expansive.
Some people prefer one or the other. Some find both equally nourishing in different ways.
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Conscious Connected Breathwork is an active breathing pattern that bypasses the thinking mind and drops you into the body. Unlike simple deep breathing, it involves a continuous circular breath with no pause between inhale and exhale. This can bring up emotional releases, shifts in energy, and a deeper connection to the unconscious. It’s not always "relaxing"—but it’s deeply revealing and transformative.
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That depends on your intention. One session can offer clarity and release; ongoing sessions allow for deeper integration, trust-building, and transformation. We can discuss what feels right for you after your first session.
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While breathwork is a deeply supportive practice for many, it can also stir strong emotional or physical responses. For this reason, it’s important we approach it with care and attunement—especially if you're working with certain health conditions.
Breathwork may not be suitable in its full form if you are currently experiencing glaucoma, uncontrolled high blood pressure, cardiovascular issues such as angina, detached retina, previous heart attack or stroke, severe PTSD or trauma, diagnosed aneurysms in the brain or abdomen, uncontrolled thyroid conditions or diabetes, asthma, epilepsy, stomach ulcers, history of bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, or any psychiatric hospitalisation or emotional crisis within the past 10 years.
Asthma does not necessarily rule breathwork out, but if you experience it, especially without an inhaler, we’ll need to discuss this in advance.
If you are pregnant, please see the pregnancy FAQ section.
If you’re working with anything else that affects your physical, emotional, or mental wellbeing—and you're unsure if breathwork is right for you—please reach out. Many situations simply call for a gentler, more adapted approach or different form of breathing exercises. You're welcome to ask. We’ll find what feels safe and right for your body.
Each participant will be asked to complete a brief health questionnaire and sign a consent & waiver form
This is a space for honesty, sovereignty, and care. There is no pressure to perform—only an invitation to honour your own capacity, and to be met in it with compassion.
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If you're pregnant, please reach out before booking. Some forms of conscious connected breathing can be too activating during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester. That said, I offer gentler breath-based sessions that are supportive and deeply calming. Together, we can find an approach that feels safe and aligned.
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Please refer to the contraindications FAQ section.
If you are suffering from any other condition, please consult your healthcare provider before booking if you have any serious medical conditions (including cardiovascular issues, epilepsy, or severe psychiatric diagnoses). Breathwork can be powerful, so it’s important to ensure it’s appropriate for your body. I offer adaptations and slower-paced sessions as needed—please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’re unsure. -
Not at all. This space is open to beginners and experienced breathers alike. Every session is guided and adapted to your pace and comfort level. All you need is curiosity and a willingness to show up as you are.
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Each participant booking a 1:1 breathwork session will be asked to complete a brief health questionnaire and sign a consent & waiver form.
This ensures the space we create is safe, trauma-aware, and attuned to your unique body and experience.
We’ll also have a short call before your session to explore your intentions, any specific needs, and how you’re arriving. This helps me tailor the session to support you fully—whether you're seeking release, clarity, grounding, or reconnection.
This helps me understand your needs, honour your boundaries, and ensure the session is held as safely and supportively as possible.
You’ll receive the forms via email after booking. If you have any questions or concerns before then, I’m always happy to connect.
This is about creating a container where your body, your breath, and your experience are met with care.