Warm Welcome!

You are launching on a 30 day breath journey beginning January 2, 2023! Centering the breath will reap many things. The breath, after all, is both a portal to our habit energy and a tool to shift into another way of being. 

We will breathe:

• 7:30 - 8 AM EST (Live and Recorded on Zoom)
• 12 - 12:15 PM EST (Live on IG)
• 4 - 4:15 PM EST (Live on Zoom)
• Monday thru Friday (no Saturdays for January)
• On Thursdays there will be an opportunity to stay and connect after practice

There will be days when you won’t want to show up...commit to a rhythm (all 5 days, every other, etc) and COME anyway. Even if you curl up on the mat tucked into a blanket and notice the breath, that counts. It’s the showing up that matters in daily practice. The intimacy with self that grows from daily practice is profound. One of the benefits of practicing in the community is accountability. I will notice and care that you didn’t come. This is more for you than for me. It’s to hold you accountable to your practice. Showing up to daily practice is hard. Doing it together makes it easier. Come in your pajamas and bed head. Come groggy, hungover, sore, and sick. Just come.   

That being said, it is YOUR practice. Take care of yourself. If a breath is painful-stop. If you get- dizzy, pause, orient, and ground. If it’s uncomfortable or you hate it, consider working that edge.  

Please read this information before you join the practice.

Pre-practice ritual: I  recommend scraping your tongue and having a warm mug of water with organic lemon or lime squeezed in with a pinch of sea salt to stabilize your electrolytes. Hopefully, you will be able to have a bowel movement pre-practice. If not, no worries. The practice will get stuff moving. Just be sure to leave your eyes open for rigorous breaths like Kapala Bhati if you haven't.  

Also, It’s important to do breathwork on an empty stomach. Water and black coffee are fine. Oh, and Kleenex. You’ll need Kleenex to blow your nose.   

Please be mindful not to practice deep breathing around artificial fragrances. It’s been found that perfumes are the new secondhand smoke.

CAMERA: I strongly encourage folks to keep their cameras on (with audio off). Seeing each other’s faces has a powerful co-regulating effect that impacts accountability, sense of community, and amplifies the practices and their impact on us and the larger community. Certainly, you can always move out of view if you decide to move into a Shavasana (deep rest) or into some tears. Or not, bring your tears and share your rest.  

YOUR PRACTICE: A reminder that this is your practice. Please honor your limits. Nobody is in your body but you. Only you know what you need. If you are menstruating, pregnant, or feeling exhausted, injured, etc - modify the practices accordingly.

Below is a list of some contraindications for particular breaths.

Please review them so you are familiar. I won’t be able to take the time to review contraindications so if you have a condition, take good care of you and listen to your body.

*If you have contraindications but they are managed, you can try the breaths on mindfully and see how they feel.  

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Here is a list of breaths that we will be practicing with contraindications.

You are welcome to try them on, but if you have any of the following conditions, do so with a lot of care and listen to your body.

All coffee and whiskey breaths have contraindications. If you choose not to do a certain breath, I invite you to sit and breathe, notice what arises as you listen to the coffee breath being practiced. You can get the energetic signature of a breath just being in its field.   

Kapala Bhati (coffee breath) is contraindicated for those menstruating and pregnant. It is also contraindicated for individuals with high or low blood pressure, heart disease, hernia, gastric ulcer, epilepsy, vertigo, migraine headaches, significant nosebleeds, detached retina, glaucoma, history of stroke, and for anyone who has undergone recent abdominal surgery. That being said, I generally guide a very gentle version of this breath if you have any of the above and want to explore it in your body.   

Bhastrika/Windshield Wiper (coffee breath) should not be practiced by those pregnant or menstruating. It is also contraindicated for individuals with high blood pressure, heart disease, hernia, gastric ulcer, epilepsy, vertigo, significant nosebleeds, detached retina, glaucoma, recent abdominal surgery, and anyone at risk for stroke. 

Surya Bheda (coffee breath) should be avoided if you have high blood pressure or heart disease.  

Whiskey Breaths: Breaths that down regulate by extending the exhale or use left nostril dominance might be contraindicated for systems that have low blood pressure or POTS. 

Breath retentions: holding the breath after an inhale is contraindicated If you have high blood pressure, lung, heart, eye, or ear problems. If you have low blood pressure, it's advised not to hold your breath after the exhale. I suggest gently exploring breath holds and listening to your body. Over time you will build capacity for longer holds.   

Working with the locks: is contraindicated for those menstruating and pregnant. It is also contraindicated for individuals with high or low blood pressure, heart disease, hernia, gastric ulcer, epilepsy, vertigo, migraine headaches, significant nosebleeds, detached retina, glaucoma, history of stroke, and for anyone who has undergone recent abdominal surgery.

That being said, I will guide a very gentle version of the locks if you have any of the above and want to explore it in your body. 

Reach out with any questions. I am looking forward to breathing with you and liberating our diaphragms together!  

*Clicking on this ZOOM LINK attests that you have read the contraindications and watched the video above.

You can find more information about Alicia's background and her offerings below:

Daily Breathwork Practice Membership 

Breathwork Apprenticeship: The Therapeutic Applications of the Breath beginning Spring 2023.

Somatic Psychotherapy

Couples Breathwork