February 2021 update

• Transmute group breathwork, 11.30 am Saturday 27 February 2021 (tickets available here)

• Weekly breathwork, meditation and bioenergetic class, every Tuesday at 7.30pm at Flow Yoga Canberra, starts 16 February 2021 (further information here)

• Soul Seeker Program, registrations close 21 February 2021 (one place remaining) starts Sunday, 28 February 2021 (further information here)

• Private online and in-person breathwork session recommence Friday, 12 February 2021 (book here)

Welcome to Transition Breath's February update.

Many years ago, well before breathwork, I made a very big decision...I would try yoga. This was a huge decision at the time. As someone who had a regular meditation practice, I viewed yoga cynically. Why would I invest in my body when I can transcend it all with meditation (spiritual bypass, right!)?
Of course, this stance was a mechanism to avoid facing a major wound - I hated my body. I hated the idea of yoga because my body and its movements would be witnessed and analyzed, and that made me feel super uncomfortable. Then one day, I saw an advertisement for Flow Yoga Canberra with a practitioner called Odona, and something within me immediately said yes.

That day happened over seven years ago and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. My yoga practice set in motion a change in how I feel in my body and how I view my body. Each session was a celebration of my body, and a deeper understanding of my physical self. Through this practice, I was then able to use breathwork and other transpersonal/meditative practices to evolve my inner narrative about my body. Of course, it's a work in progress, like all our wounds, but I can say with absolute confidence that I am learning to love the vessel that is carrying me through life.

Flow Yoga Canberra, and its creator, Odona Farska, has been a wonderful space for my own healing process. Now in 2021, another shift has occurred. This time as a collaboration with Odona and the Flow Yoga Canberra team at the new, purpose-built Flow Yoga Canberra studio at Dairy Road Fyshwick. Transiton Breath's new part-time home.

Here is what's on offer in February -

• Amber (from Body Being) and I will host our regular Transmute Group Breathwork session at Flow Yoga Canberra on Saturday, 27 February 2021 (register here).

• On Sunday, 28 February 2021 the ultimate deep dive commences with the Soul Seeker Program. This seven month program will take a small group of people through a experiential and contemplative breathwork journey, working with the elements, nature and our Chakras as a tool for self-exploration.

• Starting 16 February, every Tuesday night from 7.30 to 8.30pm I will host a weekly breathwork class, where we'll practise different breathing, meditation and bioenergetic practices to support your emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing (register here).

• Of course, individual session (both in person and online) recommence from Friday, 12 February.

Wow - I'm totally excited for the year ahead.

Vision Quest reflection, September 2020

This September, I completed my second Vision Quest. For those of you who have never heard of a Vision Quest, it's a four-day-four-night solo bush "meditation", originating from Indigenous American practices but found across Indigenous societies throughout the world. Imagine Bear Grylls meets Alice in Wonderland. You're restricted to a designed 4x4 area, alone deep in the bush. Participants are to bring only water, tarpaulin, rope, mozzie net, sleeping gear and a few medical and clothing items. As the name implies, participants receive visions, whether they are personalised visions based on any number of questions brought to the quest space, or a Grand Vision, an image of each person’s purpose and contribution to the greater Web of Life.

When I tell people about Vision Quest, they typically focus on the no food element. For many, the idea of not eating for four days is incomprehensible. What most people don't typically appreciate is the real challenge–turning inwards and facing yourself. The absence of time, distractions and our usual comforts amplify the deep disquiet within, bringing it to the surface. The natural world acts as a mirror to our inner world, providing insights through events, symbols, and visual and auditory experiences.  

For me the breath became a vital tool through my Quest experience. It enhanced my presence through periodic breathwork cycles. I always returned to the breath to find my centre whenever the mental, physical and emotional energy became too much. The breath, in partnership with Nature and dancing, supported me throughout the 94 hours of solo journeying.

A Vision Quest is a rite of passage, and a crucial part of that passage is a death; the death of a part of yourself that shrouds the soul and blocks you from your wholeness. Without this death, your soul is unable to manifest into its entirety, and you are unable to embody the full potential made available through your unique gift or Genius. In traditional Indigenous communities, it is considered vital that each person undergoes this rite of passage because of the dangers of having a ‘half-person’ (someone who has not encountered their soul) live within the community.

During my Quest, it was hard not to draw the connection between the individual’s rite of passage and the passage being experienced by humanity at this point in time. Collectively, we’ve been separated from our ordinary or mundane reality and have transitioned into a liminal space. Our egoic minds are jolted out of their modus operandi, bringing forth waves of personal and collective reactions and discomforts. Subsequently people are seeking purpose and meaning.

Although our egoic minds are disoriented, our souls know what journey lies ahead–they’ve been here before. As the foundations of the known world shake and crumble, our souls will call upon us to face our shadows, allow what is not in resonance to die and to embody the deeper wisdom of our soul. To allow this to happen, we must simply trust, be active participants in our healing process, commune with Nature, find support through communitas and most importantly, breathe.  

Transition Breath - June 2020 update

Hi there,
Welcome to Transition Breath's June 2020 update.

Offerings:

• Beyond the Mind: Group Breathwork Circle, 3pm to 5.30pm, Sunday, 28 June 2020. Subsdance Dance Studio, Kingston ACT. Exchange $55, limited places, register here.

• Breathing Club - a four-week online conscious breathing program starting Tuesday, 14 July (6pm to 7pm). Limited spaces and by donation, register here.

• Breathing Club (Advanced) - drop-in session, online, 16 and 23 June 2020. Exchange $15 per session, register here. This class is available to people who have participated in the four-week Breathing Club program.

• deepen your practice with personalised breathwork sessions in-person and online. Wednesday and Thursday evenings (from 6pm), Friday (9am to 6pm), Saturday by appointment. Book your two-hour session here.

What a few months it has been. I started writing this update back in late April and the words failed to manifest. Nothing seemed appropriate, and attempts re-open client work seemed premature. I never hit send and instead continued to use this time to process my own material and wait for the energy to give me that nudge needed to leave iso-land.

There is no need to rehash what has and is transpiring in our world right now, but I do want to extend my support and love to anyone who has lost their job or is under a cloud of job insecurity, feeling fearful of their physical and emotional health, isolated from family and loved ones and concerned about the future.

Transition Breath has re-opened, with personal breathwork sessions (both in-person and online), group breathwork, corporate breathing and well-being programs and Breathing Club. Please contact me if you wish to recommence or start your breathwork practice. Please note that special COVID-19 measures are in place, with a renewed cancellation policy, hygiene rules and social distancing.

In recognition of my ongoing development, investment and experience, the exchange for a two-hour personalised breathwork session is now $155, and $230 for a three-hour session. Further information about Transition Breath's fees and session times is available here.

Listen, watch and read:

• Very few people come close to the intellect and deep understanding of consciousness as Deepak Chopra, and if you have the intellectual capacity to keep up with this conversation (they lost me at the existence of 200 trillion galaxies in the Universe) then I recommend listening to Russell Brand and Deepak's conversation about science and spirituality (extract available here), full version via Luminary.

• My breathwork lineage originates in part from the work of psychedelic therapist and creator of Holotropic Breathwork, Stanislav Grof. He's now in his 90s, and in recognition of the generational change occurring in the field of consciousness research, the second wave of psychedelic research and the growth in breathwork, he has published an encyclopedia of inner journeys called The Way of the Psychonaut. The publication of these books is accompanied by a soon to be released documentary and an online course via the Shift Network. These resources are an invaluable contribution to the field of Transpersonal Psychotherapy, psychedelic therapy and breathwork (available here).

Breathe well, everyone.  

Joshua Alexander

Breathwork Practitioner , Transition Breath