Breathwork Self-Assessment
This assessment can be used as a form of self-inquiry and to bring awareness to unconscious patterns.
Intention:
What is the deeper purpose of conscious breathing?
What types of breathing patterns do you regularly practice and why?
Do you view breathwork primarily as a physical practice, emotional practice, spiritual practice, therapeutic practice?
What is your goal most often when you begin a breathwork session (energy, clarity, healing, insight, regulation, etc.)?
Attention and Mechanics:
What distracts you most often during breathwork?
Do you have any difficulty focusing?
How aware are you of your breath throughout the day when you aren’t intentionally practicing?
Can you notice changes in your breathing before you notice changes in your emotions?
What situations tend to constrict your breath?
- Describe, as best you can, the process of how the air fills your core:
- Does your chest fill first and then your abdomen, or vice versa?
- Can you feel the side expansion of the ribs? If yes, in what order does that happen?
- Does it feel like everything is happening all at once and there isn’t really any differentiation?
- Does it require conscious effort to include your pelvic floor, or does it happen naturally?
Where do you feel the breath initiate: nose, throat, chest, diaphragm, abdomen, pelvis, or elsewhere?
Which feels easier: inhalation, exhalation, or breath retention?
Is there any area of the torso that feels disconnected from the breathing process?
What changes about the quality of your breathing when standing, sitting, lying down, or walking? Are there positions in which your breath feels significantly more free or restricted?
Are there any muscle or fascial restrictions or tensions you notice during conscious breathing? If yes, where?
Emotional Patterns:
What emotional states most commonly come up during breathwork?
When discomfort appears (physical, mental, or emotional), do you tend to move toward it, observe it, or avoid it?
Have you ever experienced spontaneous laughter or crying during breathwork?
Deeper States:
Have you experienced states of heightened clarity, insight, or intuition during breathing practices?
Have you had the sense of being moved by your breath, rather than directing it?
Do you experience sensations of flow, vibration, warmth, tingling, pressure, or expansion?
Are there areas of the body that seem energetically numb or disconnected?
From a seated position, can you reach a place where your whole body sways or rhythmically rocks with your breath?
Does any spontaneous movement arise during breathwork?
Where do you notice yourself controlling the process versus allowing it? What remains when you stop trying to control the breath?
What does your breath reveal about your habitual way of relating to life?
Have you had the experience of feeling like your pelvic bowl, heart, and head were moving and breathing in synchronization on their own?
Have you ever had the experience of time feeling altered during breathwork?
Have you reached a place where it felt like you didn’t have to breathe?
Have you experienced moments where your awareness extended beyond the body?
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