Breathwork for Mental Health

Breathwork is now a commonly used modality in mental health counseling, therapy, and other healing practices. Popularized by its sister practices yoga and meditation, breathwork is a natural way to reduce anxiety, stress, depression, panic, and even grief. More and more individuals are giving daily breathwork practices a try before attempting to manage these symptoms with medication therapies.

What is breathwork?

Breathwork is not just simple breathing- breathwork is a focused, intentional breath that is repeated several times depending on the targeted goal. Although you are physically using your body while participating in breathwork, this is also a mental exercise.

How does breathwork improve emotional symptoms I may be experiencing?

Breathwork gently pushes you toward tapping into your parasympathetic nervous system, or the “rest and digest” function of the body. In our modern world, we are constantly on the go, stimulated, and on guard. Living in this state keeps us in “fight, flight, or freeze” mode, disconnecting from our bodies and focusing on survival. Living in a constant vigilant or hypervigilant state can create havoc on the body, leading to burnout. Breathwork brings us back to our bodies, helping us get in touch with what we are truly feeling, mentally, emotionally, and even physically.

How do I know if breathwork would be helpful for me?

Before participating in a breathwork session, talk to your primary care doctor. Certain breathwork practices are contraindicated for specific physical ailments such as COPD, individuals with pacemakers, or individuals who are being treated for serious cardiac diseases. The effects of breathwork on mental health have the green light from your doctor, connect with a breathwork practitioner to explore which types of breathwork may be a good fit for you.

Are you interested in exploring breathwork as a part of your therapy journey? We are here to help. We have therapists that are trained in breathwork practices that can incorporate breathwork into your talk therapy sessions. Email us at hello@serenemindpsych.com or give us a call at 813.321.8280 to set up an intake appointment to see if one of our therapists can aid you in your healing journey.

Our Mindful Therapist Contributes: How Can Yoga and Mindfulness Help My Child

Yoga and mindfulness have become increasingly popular in enhancing not only health and wellness in adults, but also children. Many people are unaware that yoga is not just an exercise: It is a five- thousand-year-old system of living that has evolved over time. In our western world, the primary focus of the yoga lifestyle is on the physical exercise practice, or what is traditionally called “asana”. The benefits of asana extend to children as well as adults.

The physical practice of yoga is incredibly therapeutic for children in many areas, such as:

 Helping children learn about the connection between their mind and body

 Increasing physical awareness

 Increasing hand eye coordination

 Increase muscle strength, flexibility, & balance

 Teaches discipline & reduces impulsivity

 Enhances concentration, focus, attention span, & memory

 Encourages self-control

 Regulates breathing

The practice of mindfulness derives from the practice of meditation, which is a branch of the traditional yoga lifestyle. Often times meditation and mindfulness are coupled as the same thing, but they are in fact different. Meditation is a practice, while mindfulness is a skill. When mindfulness is incorporated into a child’s daily life, they grow to be able to meditate, or take time for themselves to reflect on their thoughts and feelings.

Teaching children techniques or mindfulness can:

 Reduce symptoms of depression & anxiety

 Improved self-awareness

 Improved academic performance

 Enhances problem-solving abilities

 Improves management of stress

 Encourages calmness & relieves emotional pressure

 Can help develop positive outlooks & perspectives

 Enhances cognitive skills

 Increases compassion & empathy

Yoga and meditation are powerful tools in enhancing your child’s physical and mental health. Pairing these healing modalities into your child’s daily life can spark peace, wellness, and good health into not only their live, but also everyone in your home.

How can I teach my child yoga for mindfulness?

There are endless resources for children’s yoga. Research local yoga studios in your area that have child or teen yoga classes. (If you are in Tampa or Jacksonville, we can offer studio recommendations!) You can also find private children’s yoga teachers through these studios, or even through parenting and local activities Facebook groups. Some schools also offer yoga as an elective class or as an added enhancement through their physical education or guidance programs. Inquire about these options to your child’s school counselor. If an in-person yoga class option is not accessible or affordable to you, there are many free yoga classes on online platforms such as YouTube that offer a fantastic variety of classes ranging in categories such as age, style of yoga, class length, etc.

How can I teach my child mindfulness and focus?

Through in-person yoga classes, mindfulness techniques are typically weaved throughout the class and are curated to the class size and age group. You can also find fantastic resources on Google or YouTube. For younger children, using feeling charts are incredibly helpful. For older children, feeling wheels are very useful. A great start to instilling mindfulness into your child’s daily routine would be asking them self-reflecting questions depending on their age.

A few self-reflecting mindfulness questions we recommend are:

 How does your body feel today?

 If you could describe how you feel using weather words, what would you say? (sunny, rainy, cloudy, cold, etc.)

 How can you tackle any challenges that you may face today?

 How can you spread love/positivity/kindness today?

 What are the pros & cons in this situation?

 When you have a feeling in your mind, can you also feel it in your body?

At Serene Mind, we offer yoga therapy for children and adults. Yoga in combination with talk therapy on a consistent basis creates an intense focus on the beneficial areas of yoga and mindfulness and how it can create a life of balance and peace.

If you are interested in yoga therapy for your child (or yourself!), email us at hello@serenemindpsych.com or give us a call at 813.321.8280

Mindfulness for Everybody - A Therapy Approach

Participating in “Mindfulness” is probably something the internet has told you to do a thousand times.

But, it is often hard to participate when we either don’t understand or don’t know how. So, what exactly is it?

The answer to that question can come in many forms. Being mindful about a situation is the process of entering the state of consciousness or awareness of something. Learning to be mindful means we can first focus on that awareness and direct it toward our present moment and simultaneously acknowledge and accept one’s own thoughts and feelings in a therapeutic way. 

Mindfulness comes in many forms the most common one being meditation.

The misconception of meditation is that it has to be something you do alone, in a quiet place, where you have to be still and have zero thoughts. I don't know about you but that just may not be an option.

The good news is, there are so many other options for us to utilize being mindful without the absence of all internal thought. 

Movement meditation is the first idea that may come to mind. Understanding our bodies' physical limitations can help us determine our mental limitations as well. This can look like yoga, running, mindful walking, or even dancing. Anything that allows us to be in the present moment, giving our bodies’ the love, appreciation, and attention it needs, can be a form of meditation. 

Mindfulness meditation is the form of meditation mentioned above. You can use this by finding a place where you can remain sitting, alone, in a quiet place, listening to your breath and pushing away intrusive thoughts. Mindfulness meditation will take hours of practice and you may not be able to do this on your first try. Being forgiving toward your thoughts and being patient with yourself are going to be common themes while practicing this type of meditation. 

Guided meditation may be a better fit for you if mindful meditation sounds too difficult or daunting. This type of meditation takes some of the pressure off of you, allowing you to relax and find peace and calm within someone else’s words or guidance. These practices can be short or long, they can aid in sleep, self-esteem, or even alertness for the day ahead. 

Visualization is the process of picturing your thoughts and intentions under a positive light in your mind's eye. Visualization can help you project the things you want to accomplish into the universe, similar to an affirmation. Sometimes, taking the time to visualize a phrase, goal, or intention can help you identify the goals you are truly working towards more clearly. 

Mantra meditation works to occupy your mind with repetition of sounds and phrases, often an affirmation or intention, clearing your mind of its typical internal dialogue. This works by picking a daily mantra, short or long, and either silently or aloud repeating it to yourself for a set period of time. An example of a mantra could be “I am present.” 

Building positive mindfulness skills can increase our situational awareness, help regulate our emotions, and learn to accept our thoughts and feelings more accurately.