Initiatives Frontpage 1

CBTR Breathing for Trauma Recovery

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CONSCIOUS BREATHING FOR TRAUMA RECOVERY

The CBTR training has been created by Judee Gee and Brigitte Martin Powell, breathwork trainers based in France and the UK. Brigitte and Judee are former Presidents of the IBF and currently sit on the IBF-UN working group committee where they develop projects in alignment with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The CBTR programme is especially designed for refugees and uses Coherent Breathing as its primary educational tool. The training was conceived in 2017 and piloted in Athens (Greece) in liaison with local NGO’s providing support for refugees (shelter, food, medical aid, community welfare…).

The goal of the programme is two-fold:

  • Provide conscious breathing education that is easy to learn within a short time frame (2-hour workshops). Participants receive practical instruction for increased awareness of their breathing habits, and are taught specific breathing exercises to recalibrate their autonomic nervous system.
  • Educate locally placed facilitators to deliver the 2-hour CBTR workshops (total training time is 10 hours, including 6 hours of specific facilitator training and prior participation in two 2-hour CBTR workshops).

To host a CBTR workshop or facilitator training in your region, please contact Brigitte (brigittemartinpowell@hotmail.co.uk – +44 7962 202901 WhatsApp) or Judee (judee@sfr.fr – +33 685 571977 WhatsApp).

What is coherent breathing?

Coherent Breathing and the Autonomic Nervous System

A major component of the stress response system is the autonomic nervous system, which manages the automatic functions of the body, including the cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, hormonal, glandular and immune systems. The autonomic nervous system has two main branches: the sympathetic nervous system – the fight or flight system – and the parasympathetic nervous system – the rest and digest or feed and breed– system.

Ideally, both systems are required to intervene for specific actions through our daily life, but in the long run a balance between the two is necessary. A body that is constantly under mental, physical or emotional stress (sympathetic system) without time to rest, integrate and replenish (parasympathetic system), will not be able to function optimally and will suffer the consequences.

There is one automatic function of the body that can be voluntarily controlled through our breath and that is the respiratory system. Conscious breathing techniques provide easy access to the autonomic communication network and by changing our breathing patterns, we send specific messages to the brain that have powerful effects on our thoughts, emotions and behaviours. For example, when we feel anxious, just a few minutes of Coherent Breathing can calm our worried mind and foster more rational – rather than impulsive – decision-making.

Coherent Breathing Practice: Breathing at the rhythm of 5 breaths per minutes is the optimal breathing rhythm for rebalancing the body and accessing an inner state of relaxation that is both peaceful and restful. Five breaths per minute corresponds to breathing in for 6 seconds and out for 6 seconds, linking the in-breath and out-breath in a relaxed way.

How to practice: Start progressively, breathing consciously and in a relaxed way for 3 seconds in and 3 seconds out, until it feels comfortable. Then move on to breathing for 4 seconds in and 4 seconds out and progress at your own rhythm up to 6 seconds in and 6 seconds out. Taller people might want to breathe more slowly.

Where to practice: Start by finding a quiet spot where you can be undisturbed for several minutes.
Soft light conditions or darkness will help you to relax. Have a light blanket on hand to be sure you stay warm. Sit or lie down in a comfortable position and start your practice. Once you feel comfortable with the practice you can apply it in a wide range of situations (sitting, walking…).

When to practice: Three times a day for five minutes (365) is a great beginning, and if you can apply the practice daily for a few weeks, you will reap the most benefits. Even one minute of coherent breathing will help rebalance your nervous system.
Stephen Elliot suggests 20 min per day for a period of 21 days in order to recalibrate the nervous system and install the coherent breathing reflex as a default practice.

Coherent Breathing and further reading:

The New Science of Breath, by Stephen Elliott (http://www.coherence.com)

The Healing Power of the Breath, by Dr R. Brown and Dr P. Gerbarg (http://www.breath-body-mind.com)

Coherent Breathing, by Dr W. Ehrmann (http://www.wilfried-ehrmann.com)

Science and Research Workgroup

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SCIENCE AND RESEARCH ADVISORY GROUP

Who is SciReG?

The Science and Research Advisory Group is a special task force workgroup of the International Breathwork Foundation formed with the specific aim of supporting the IBF community and general public with a deeper understanding of the science of breathwork based on research and a body of evidence.

This forms part of the broader aim of the IBF to be a credible source of information and support for the community of breathwork practitioners and the general public.

The group is comprised of a dynamic group of medical doctors, scientists, psychotherapists and members of the community who are passionate about understanding, researching and sharing the science of breathwork.

Aims:

1. Understanding and describing the physiology involved during Breathwork.

2. Creating a categorisation of the range of Breathwork techniques.

3. Collating existing research already published on the benefits of Breathwork.

4. Communicating this information to IBF members, the broader breathwork community and the general public.

5. Supporting novel research by IBF workgroups, project groups and members.

6. Recommending safety guidelines and adaptations for certain medical conditions and working with groups.

7. Serving as the birthplace for novel concepts, projects and ideas.

Previous Initiatives:

1. Published ‘Breathing – Aligning Mechanics with Chemistry’ by Dr Peter Litchfield (in June 2017 IBF Newsletter). 1_Breathing, aligning mechanics with chemistry 2017

2. Undertook research entitled ‘The Scope of Breathwork’ at GIC 2017.

3. Conducted a pilot ‘Breathing Physiology’ study at GIC 2017.

4. Designed research protocols to collect meaningful IMPACT data from “Conscious Breathing in the Classroom”.

Current Initiatives:

1. Developing an accessible database of Existing Breathwork Research.

2. Creating a Classification of Breathwork Techniques entitled “The ART of Breathwork”.

3. Production and/or dissemination of peer reviewed articles and educational materials aimed at the IBF community.

4. Serving the community with a dynamic communication strategy.

Contact Us

SciReg welcomes questions in relation to the science of breathwork to be sent to the following address: science@ibfbreathwork.org

Current Members:

Dr. Ela Manga, Workgroup Leader

Dr. Philippa Wheble

Dr. Peter M. Litchfield

Dr. Wolfgang Fellner

Dr Nadja Benschop

Heinz Gerd Lange

Dr. Wilfried Ehrmann

Dr. Alicja Heyda

IBF United Nations Workgroup

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IBF UNITED NATIONS WORKGROUP

IBF has been granted the Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) since July 2016

Background

At the GIC in 2013, the IBF saw the possibility of bringing Conscious Breathing to a wider audience through the United Nations and the NGO world by applying for the Special Consultative Status of the ECOSOC.

Brigitte Martin Powell, Judee Gee and Véronique Batter – all past presidents of the IBF – joined forces and met regularly during 12 months to prepare the IBF application. On the 26th of July 2016, the IBF was granted Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC).

We are grateful to Dr Julie Gerland, Chief UN Representative for Noble Institution for Environmental Peace (an NGO in consultative Status with the UN ECOSOC since 2015), who mentored us through this process.

The IBF-UN team

This team co-ordinates activities relating to the IBF and its association to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Brigitte Martin Powell, IBF-UN team leader
Judee Gee
Véronique Batter
Vanessa Dietzel
Marie-Therese Maurice
Pippa Wheble, Coordination with IBF Executive Team

The ECOSOC

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is central to the United Nations operational system and participates in three key levels of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental. The ECOSOC main offices are in New York, Geneva and Vienna.

The Special Consultative Status of the ECOSOC is granted to more than 5000 NGOs around the world to contribute to the UN Mission.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

“Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” : 17 new goals and targets defined by the UN in September 2015 to eradicate poverty, strengthen universal peace and create a sustainable world by 2030. Read more in the official UN site.

IBF Responsibilities and Obligations towards the ECOSOC

a) Make effective contributions for improving the wellbeing of humanity, in line with the UN SDGs
b) Submit a report to the ECOSOC every 4 years on our activities (our first report is due on 1st of June 2020)

Promoting Conscious Breathing

In its first phase of development, the team has chosen Conscious Breathing as its primary educational tool. Conscious Breathing is easy to explain, simple to teach and applicable to a diverse public audience.

Conscious Breathing is also the common denominator of all the breathwork modalities represented within the IBF.

IBF Contribution to the ECOSOC

a) Raise the awareness of Conscious Breathing and its many applications to a wider public
b) Offer our expertise during UN meetings to delegates from other NGOs and other institutions.
c) Contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through specific grassroot projects (see below)
d) Inspire government representatives (ministers, ambassadors) to support Conscious Breathing initiatives in their countries.

IBF Specific Grassroot Projects

At the IBF Annual General Meeting in 2015 the following areas of activity were identified:
1) Conscious Breathing in Schools
2) Conscious Breathing and Health program
3) Burnout prevention
4) Depression prevention
5) Trauma Recovery

How can you contribute?

> Support our grassroot projects through donating to the IBF Breathwork Development Fund
> Become an IBF member and join our team of volunteers
> Follow us on our IBF Facebook page
> Register to receive our newsletter

Meet2Breathe

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MEET2BREATHE ONLINE

IBF Members breathing together OnLine

Wherever you are, whichever your level of experience, whatever the modality of your practice, it is so simple, just Meet 2 Breathe Online. We come together with one same intention,  sharing our passion to practice conscious breathing.

Come and join us in Meet 2 Breathe. You are welcome as a beginner breather or an experienced one.  No matter what modality you have been certified in or where you live in the world… Meet 2 Breathe connects us all.

Practitioners from USA, Canada, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Lebanon, Estonia, Australia and Indonesia have joined Meet 2 Breathe. There have even been breathing practitioners who feel isolated in their own country who have received the benefits of feeling part of the breathing community online.

Breathing from your own home is very practical, simple and comfortable. Even when the meeting ends you can keep on relaxing and expanding the awareness on the breathe.

The session lasts 75 minutes.
Getting ready for the M2B?  You need to upload Zoom on your computer or mobile phone, connect with a headset with microphone, turn your video on and set a comfortable space to lay down.

We start the session by taking a few deep breaths together, then each participant is invited to share their personal intention for the session. On the second phase we lay down, we keep our attention on the breathe while we listen to the music. Some sessions are more guided and others less guided. As an energy healer and meditation guide, I usually I take you to breathe through the chakras so that you balance your energy centers. When the session ends you are encourage to share your experience.

It has been a wonderful experience to work with so many different people, from different languages, different personalities and all of them receiving the benefits of breathing consciously.

Meet 2 Breathe in America & Europe
On the Second Tuesday of the month.
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/3595042de50097b666858a512be5123a

Meet 2 Breathe in America & Asia
On the third week of the month, Tuesday (America) and Wednesday (Asia) 
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/4e5352ecfd7d2f497510d14dfea9e911

Are you an active member of the International Breathwork Foundation ?  Join us!

May we keep on breathing together OnLine until we meet alive.
ALISHA

Alicia Velázquez Berumen
www.alisha.mx
Leader of Meet 2 Breathe, IBF representative for Mexico, Certified Transformational Breath Facilitator, Brennan Energy Healer, Family Constellations Practitioner, Spiritual Guidance.

The Breathing Classroom

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CONSCIOUS BREATHING IN THE CLASSROOM

STAY TUNED for UPCOMING RE-BROADCAST DATES of this WEBINAR TRAINING

The Breathing Classroom Team and International Breathwork Foundation 
  are happy to announce an International Training Workshop for

“Conscious Breathing in the Classroom”
~ a simple programme for teaching conscious breathing to school children, teens and adult students by their teachers, parents and other mentors ~

ANYONE NEW TO THE PROGRAM WILL NEED TO REGISTER on this LINK:

REGISTER HERE

The Breathing Classroom

What if every teacher in every school on the planet was able to bring conscious breathing into the daily lives of the students in their classrooms? Can you imagine how that could change the world?!  Well now it’s possible. Six years in the making,  the ‘IBF Conscious Breathing in the Classroom’ work group offers online and live trainings at the annual Global Inspiration Conference (GIC) for breathwork practitioners and conscious breathers to bring a quick and easy conscious breathing program back to the school teachers in their home countries. For the children ~

The Training Workshop

This comprehensive simple training is offered to conscious breath practitioners who will train school teachers, or school teachers and any others who can take it directly. It will be offered in person as a live streamed workshop at each GIC, and through post-GIC online trainings.  Participants will receive:

  • the scope of classroom situations and the challenges today’s schoolchildren face
  • a Quick Reference Guide for teachers to move from challenging situations into simple effective breathing exercises
  • hands on experience of numerous age-specific breathing exercises for introducing to the children
  • how conscious breathing is easily introduced into the school day, every day
  • related research and resources for school teachers and trainers of this program
  • tips for trainers on how and where to offer this program to school teachers in your home country
    Teachers, parents and mentors who take the brief 2.5-hour training will receive the ‘Conscious Breathing in the Classroom’ program manual and will be able to integrate it into their teaching day right away. Breathwork practitioners and conscious breathing trainers will be able to train school teachers in their home countries upon completion. Every registrant will be connected to ongoing mutual support of an international community of schoolteachers and conscious breath practitioners who teach this simple program around the world. Join us on our Facebook group page The Breathing Classroom.

LANGUAGES: We have a full team of 26 amazing volunteer translators who are diligently translating the 60-page manual from English into 14 more languages: Spanish, French, German, Estonian, Arabic, Mandarin, Dutch, Turkish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Romanian, Norwegian and Swedish. Stay tuned!

Benefits of Conscious Breathing

It is not difficult or complicated to teach kids of any age self-management skills. And the benefits of just a few minutes of conscious breathing each day are proven and unarguable:

  • Provides stress management tools for teachers, parents and students
  • Clears and focuses the mind
  • Improves self-regulation and self-containment
  • Reduces need for ADHD medication
  • Raises self-esteem
  • Helps foster class cohesion
  • Reduces bullying
  • Reduces stress, worry and anxiety
  • Raises reading and performance scores

Widespread Innovative Uses of the Program

The ‘Conscious Breathing in the Classroom” program spread to 54 countries around the world in it’s first year!  The program manual and training becomes a rich ‘jumping off’ point for breathwork practitioners, parents, teachers and mentors to help spread conscious breathing in a variety of settings.

Here are a few of the ingenious ways that the program is being adapted and expanded:

  • NYPD and youth co-ordinators – use the program to help with ‘youth at risk’, some who are living on the streets
  • conscious breathing exercises are adapted from the program to gently assist the dying and their loved ones
  • doctors and therapists learn conscious breathing exercises to use with their patients
  • cancer patients learn breathing exercises from the program to ease their pain and anxiety; family members of patients with Alzheimers learn breathing exercises for assisting their loved ones and for self care
  • Electronic Music Festivals – conscious breathing workshops are facilitated for youth at risk – helping them choose conscious breathing over drugs
  • Refugees adapting to new lives learn breathing exercises from the program for relaxation, and to manage Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and anxiety
  • Midwives and first responders on the ground after earthquakes, volcano eruptions, tsunamis learn breathing exercises for birthing mothers, Climate Change refugees, for managing their patient’s anxiety/ PTSD, as well as for their own self care

The Breathing Classroom: Background

Our work group received a mandate from the IBF membership in India at the GIC 2013 to delve into how to bring conscious breathing to children. Our mandate was clarified and deepened in 2015 when the UN-ECOSOC bid for IBF asked for concrete ways for us to make this happen.  Over these years, with help from numerous others, we have researched and experimented with many programs which effectively bring mindfulness into children’s lives and into the school classroom. We discovered the most effective delivery is daily through the school teachers to their students.  Yet, even though these science-backed programs had conscious breathing as their core practice  – they all somehow managed to marginalize it.  We came to the conclusion that it was time for the world to have a comprehensive conscious breathing program for the classroom. And who better to deliver this simple training to the school teachers and parents around the world than us: Breathwork Practitioners, Conscious Breathers and the International Breathwork Foundation. Six years in the making …we are honored to offer this to you!!

Introducing the Breathing Classroom Team

Jo Ann Lowell (Breathwork Trainer, Workgroup Leader: The Breathing Classroom Team/ Canada), Luc Maertens (Retired Teacher/ Belgium), Dan Brule (International Breathwork Trainer/ USA), Anil Altas Brug (Children’s Breathwork Book Author/ Germany), Tilsim Demirdoken (Breathwork Trainer/Turkey) and Sergio Castro (Spain-UK) are all Certified Breathwork Practitioners and volunteers from the IBF “Conscious Breathing in the Classroom” work group. Between them they collectively have 105 years experience as teachers and 107 years experience as breathworkers, and they are delighted to offer this training program to participants around the world!

Registration:

Please complete the Conscious Breathing in The Classroom Registration form by clicking below. Please read the waiver and sign the declaration. Once registered, shortly afterwards you will receive an email confirmation with the manual. You will be enrolled for any upcoming livestream trainings and webinars. If you have questions please contact us at:   thebreathingclassroom@ibfnetwork.com

REGISTER HERE

Your Investment:

The IBF encourages everyone who registers for this course to become a Friend or Member of our community.  Join the IBF

No one will be turned away for lack of funds/ pay as you can. If you find value in this course please pay it forward, through your donations to the Breathwork Development Fund.





Breathing Circles

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BREATHING CIRCLES

Breathing Circle, est. 2007,  is a worldwide initiative to connect practitioners and people interested in joining, or starting, a conscious breathing group in their community. We organise and promote meetings and workshops related to breathwork.

Breathing Circle groups meet on the last Tuesday of the month, every month. The groups are facilitated by different practitioners, in different places with a range of breathing modalities. At this time, there are over 100 groups in over 25 countries meeting for the monthly breathe. The groups are introductory and often operate on a donations basis. Please check the website on how to join or start a group in your area.

Breathing Circle is a network of people who are committed to:

  • Health and healing through breathing practice
  • Self-healing through transformational energy states
  • Conscious community meetings and workshops

Most of all, Breathing Circle people are into breathing with awareness. Since this simple practice has affected positive change in our lives we meet once a month to celebrate the breath and introduce other people to this transformational tool.

To find out more

World Breathing Day – April 11

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WORLD BREATHING DAY APRIL 11

“One Breath, One World”

World Breathing Day is an annual global event that invites everyone to remember, experience and celebrate the healing and unifying power of breath.

We all breathe, and we all breathe the same air ; yet rarely do we stop to acknowledge how fundamentally important our breath is,  or how it connects us to our planet and to each other beyond our differences. An international day dedicated to breath will help reconnect us to this reality, and by doing so, will enhance, inspire and promote peace, health and wellbeing worldwide, for humanity and the Earth.

World Breathing Day will expand our understanding – amongst individuals, professionals and institutions – of what optimal and conscious breathing is so that everyone can benefit from it. It will also serve to remind us of the basic, vital importance of clean air and of a clean and healthy environment for present and future generations.

This annual celebration invites all healing professionals who work with conscious breathing in their practice to host an event in their community on World Breathing Day.

Please join us in making World Breathing Day a resounding, inspirational global success.

Official text and logo designs:

The text and logos images are available in different languages –  click on this link: World Breathing Day – text and logo design templates

How you can participate

Any other contribution?  contact us at:  worldbreathingday@ibfbreathwork.org

History

The World Breathing Day is a world awareness day celebrated since 2004 under the initiative of the IBF.  The vision was first conceived during the GIC 2004 and then officially launched at the GIC 2006. From 2004 until 2018, the event was called Global Day of the Breath and was celebrated on 22 January. In 2018 – via the IBF electronic voting system – the name and date of the event was changed to 11 April. The change was instigated by the desire to find a time of the year where outside breathing activities would be feasible all around the world, and resulted from a survey conducted amongst diverse worldwide organisations celebrating the breath.

IBF World Breathing Day team

Under the auspices of the IBF-UN project, a team was formed in September 2018 with the goal of gaining recognition from the UN for World Breathing Day to be officially listed as one of their International Days.

Veronique Batter
Rabia Hayek
Nevsah Karamehmet
Marie-Thérèse Maurice
Manal Al-Musallam
Brigitte Martin Powell
Geert De Vleminck

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