Breathwork: Healing the Nervous System, Healing Ourselves

Life has a way of throwing us off course.

Moments of trauma, grief, or stress leave their imprint in the body. Sometimes, those imprints get stuck. We find ourselves living in a body that feels unrecognisable, carrying health symptoms that no one can quite explain - fatigue, anxiety, pain, or a sense of being cut off from ourselves.

Too often, women are told to just “manage it.” Women’s health is underfunded, under-researched, and overlooked. So we look for other ways to support ourselves like diet, exercise, talking with friends, sharing stories. These things matter. But sometimes, we need something deeper. Something that works directly with the nervous system, the mind, and the energy that runs through us.

This is where breathwork comes in.

Breath as Medicine

Breath is the only system in the body we can control both consciously and unconsciously. When we deepen or shift the way we breathe, we directly influence the nervous system. Long, slow exhalations calm the fight-or-flight response. Dynamic breathing, like in Kundalini practice, shakes loose stuck energy. Paired with meditation, breath creates space to reset the mind and rewire our thought patterns. Breathwork isn’t just about relaxation - it’s about regulation. It gives us a way to move from hyper-vigilance or shutdown back into balance.

Breathwork and Trauma

Trauma leaves the body on high alert. The nervous system gets trapped in cycles of overreaction or numbness. Kundalini breathwork through rhythmic patterns, rapid exhalations, and deep meditative states helps break those cycles.

The practice moves energy through the body, clearing what has been stuck. Brings awareness back into the body when dissociation has pulled us away. Creates a safe release for emotions we’ve been holding in silence. Resets thought patterns that keep us locked in fear or self-doubt. It’s not about forgetting the past. It’s about loosening its grip and reclaiming our life force.

Women, Breath, and the Wise Woman Path

For women especially, this work is vital. We are taught to carry and carry children, households, work, grief, change until our bodies cry out. Many of the “mystery symptoms” women experience are connected to a dysregulated nervous system: insomnia, fatigue, hormonal imbalance, chronic pain. When we work with the breath, we take back the steering wheel. We don’t wait for systems to fix us. We tap into the wisdom of the body, into the ancient practices women have carried for generations, and into our own power.

My Work at The Alternative Midwife

At The Alternative Midwife, I weave Kundalini breathwork and guided meditation into my healing programmes. Whether you are navigating a difficult birth story, stepping into menopause, or carrying life events that feel too heavy, breath is a way back to yourself. It is not therapy that fixes. It is space that heals. With each breath, you soften what feels heavy, release what no longer serves, and step into the next chapter of your life, fully in your power, fully in your body.

If life has left you carrying a body that feels unfamiliar or a story that feels too heavy, there is a way through.

Come breathe with me. Come reset your nervous system. Come remember your strength.