Nicole Coppi will be teaching a brief movement series to open up the body before guiding a somatic breath session, followed by a short integration.

Somatic breathwork is an active meditation that creates the opportunity for powerful healing to occur. This ancient eastern breathing technique is all done through the mouth in a controlled meditative manner, while laying down. It begins with an exaggerated inhalation into the abdomen, a second inhalation into the chest, and then an effortless exhalation.

Breathing this way brings awareness/energy into the body. Many people experience tightness or discomfort in the usual places they hold stress in the body. The conscious mind tries to stay in control during the first few minutes of the breath by thinking resistant thoughts, trying to distract you, or causing you to yawn. The increased oxygen alkalizes the body by reducing the acidity in the blood. As the oxygen reaches the brain, it stimulates the hypothalamus gland causing it to release endorphins, which in turn activate the other ductless glands in the body. The brain begins to relax and emotions open and move more freely when the endorphins are flowing.

Any places in your body that you are stuck or holding onto anger, fear, or sadness will come to the surface. As awareness is brought into stuck energy, it can begin to move. The breath is the fuel to moving energy in your body. The breath continues to bump up against the block, eventually causing a cathartic release as it pushes through.