Breathwork

BREATHWORK is a an extremely powerful means of facilitating change in your life.

BREATHWORK is an amazing heart opening and clearing process that connects you to the essence of who you are: peaceful, happy and loving. It also renews, invigorates and inspires you.

Change is achieved through the use of a special breathing technique known as ‘Connected Breathing’.

Breathwork Practitioners are also trained in leading edge E.Q. ‘Emotional Intelligence Technology’, Body Centered Awareness, Presencing and John Bradshaw’s ‘Non-shaming Therapy’.

Breathwork can assist you to deepen your understanding of yourself, to take greater control of your life, and to experience more inner love, peace, happiness, freedom, aliveness and well-being.

Emotional Healing

Transformation: Making Changes with Breathwork

Emotional Release As a culture we are ‘emotionally stifled’. We are taught to suppress most of our feelings. We do not know how to express our feelings to enhance our personal power, effectiveness and peaceful interactions. Typically the emotions of sadness, anger, and fear are suppressed. The suppression of feelings, however does not mean the freedom from them. On the contrary, it seems that the harder we suppress them, the harder they pursue us.

Connected breathing gives us an opportunity to develop emotional freedom. In a safe and supportive, environment we can release our feelings gently. This often leads to feelings of lightness and great relief, like dropping a heavy load off our back that we have been carrying around for a long time. People also report experiencing feelings of inner peace, harmony, love, joy for life, and a freedom to be who we truly are.

New Decisions : New Results At the time of releasing the suppressed emotions we gain an opportunity to become aware of the first time that we made limiting decisions about ourselves, others, and life. These decisions are the basis of our beliefs and usually reside in our subconscious. Though we may be unaware of them, they affect virtually everything we do.

By becoming aware of the context in which we first made a negative decision about ourselves and having released the emotional charge on it, we have the power to make new, life enhancing, decisions. New decisions mean new beliefs, thoughts, actions, and results!

Deep Connections The connected breathing process often leads to a deep connection with the very core of our being. This leads to understandings of ourselves, our purpose in life and our place in the universe at a very deep level.

Benefits of breathwork

Breathwork is a techniques which go way beyond ‘positive thinking’ and allow us to gain access to our core issues and give us the opportunity to make positive changes that affect virtually every aspect of our lives:

Self Love

Become a more peaceful, gentle and loving person
Gain energy, enthusiasm and motivation
Release stress, negativity and anxiety
Rediscover the basic innocence, playfulness, and spontaneity at your core
Develop self confidence a deeper, stronger belief in yourself
Improve Self Assertion: Clear blockages that limit your ability to express yourself
Deepen your understanding and acceptance of who you are

Emotional Empowerment

Learn about the difference between feelings and emotions
Develop your understanding of the healthy role of your emotions
Learn to recognise your emotions and what causes them
Develop skills to channel your emotional energy creatively
Master limiting fears, manage destructive anger, release sadness and increase joy
Clear frustration, confusion and unhappiness
Exchange feelings of depression and hopelessness for inner peace and freedom
Develop a Positive attitude to life

Loving Relationships

Create stronger, more loving relationships
Experience heart opening
Reconnection with the wealth of love inside
Enhance your ability to express your feelings
Free yourself from fears of disapproval and rejection.
Release blocks to intimacy
Get more in touch with others feelings

Success Programing

Learn to reshape your limiting beliefs to empower you to create what you want.
Gain direction in life by deepening your connection with your authentic self
Release destructive anger and self-sabotage
Improved performance in career, sport, and everyday life

Health and Wellbeing

Enhance your sense of well being
Bring your body into a state of inner peace, harmony and balance
Heal “stress induced illness”
Heal the underlying, unresolved issues that give rise to addictions.
Take control of personal health, experience relief from stress induced illness.
Self-Mastery: Conquer addictive behaviours.

Sessions

During a session the breath is guided back to its natural state: relaxed, rhythmic, flowing and open. This increases the amount of energy in the body and promotes the integration of physical, mental and emotional states of being.

Within a gentle and supportive environment there is an opportunity to access repressed emotions, release emotional and mental stress, to reopen the heart and gain valuable insights.

After a session people often describe feeling lightness, freedom and relief, like dropping a heavy load, a load that they have been carrying for a long time.

Breathwork Program

A full life transforming Come Alive and Thrive Breathwork Program consists of ten one-on-one sessions at weekly or fortnightly intervals.

Session Duration – 2 hours

Session Fees – Nicholas and Susan’s fees are $500 per 2 hr session

We also can refer you to trained Breathwork Practitioners who charge a variety of rates depending on their experience.

Book a Session

The only way to really understand the extraordinary power of connected breathing is to experience it personally.

We invite you to come along and experience a ‘breathe’ and take it from there.

Contact the Institute of Heart Intelligence

Ph: 03 9739 8889

Click Here to Send us an Email

Testimonies

“I’d like to recommend the work of Nicholas de Castella to you:

I work as a GP in rural Victoria, and the nature of my practice is such that my patient population includes a high proportion of GP Psychiatry cases- anxiety, depression, relationship problems, stress/burnout etc. I’ve been interested then, in developing ways to help these patients.

I have known and worked with Nicholas de Castella for 7 years. We have worked together at workshops (now called “E.Q.”) designed to promote the mental and emotional health of participants during this time, at both country locations (near Horsham) and city locations. I myself have participated in 4 Seminars, as well as assisting at a number of others.

To date, in excess of 100 patients of mine have participated in these events. These have frequently been people who have tried all sorts of help in the past without receiving the benefit that they have hoped for, and this had left many feeling a sort of helplessness. This is where the workshops facilitated by Nicholas and Susan de Castella fit in.

Patients have reported more energy; lessening of physical pain; increased understanding of their life situation; a range of skills that can be used in all sorts of situations to alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression; improved mood; improved coping skills with life stressors; more passion in their lives, and hence, improved relationships; finding a network of genuine friends from whom they feel support. Some of my patients attending Seminars have been particularly ill, either physically or mentally, and these patients, too, have been able to make great gains during a short time. It seems to me that the possibilities are only limited by our imagination and willingness to try something new.

These gains occur as there is a combination of the work done in the Seminars combined with ongoing support from GP’s and fellow travelers on Life’s journey. I am impressed that Nicholas runs an ongoing group to ensure the availability of continuing group support as well as opportunities for one to one counseling, so that patients can continue to work with him on matters that might arise and require more time than a Seminar provides. This continuity of care demonstrates his commitment to being available for patients in the longer term, and I feel is an important ingredient in the overall healing process.

With the epidemic of depression currently in full swing, I’ve personally found that what’s usually needed is a combination of medication (usually SSRI’s) and “therapy”. Psychologists/counselors usually focus on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) type approaches, which, whilst they have the research backing, don’t usually lead, in my experience, to deep seated change- it’s as though it’s more about learning some mental trickery whilst underneath the heart is still aching. If it’s accepted that we have a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual realm, it’s been my experience that it’s a lack of emotional skills that determines the outcome rather than lack of mental (CBT) skills. With Nicholas’ approach to “therapy”, the seminars that he runs are designed around a series of emotional exercises, so that participants build up a store of experience about what their bodies are actually FEELING, rather than what their minds are THINKING that they are/should be feeling. There is frequently quite a difference. With this knowledge, it’s possible to then learn some ways to release the feeling and move on. As one of my mentors said, “it’s insultingly simple”, yet so rare to find people with emotional mastery skills.

I’m finding that not only are patients more empowered, deeply empowered, but they support each other, and in so doing, a new quality of “old fashioned community” is starting to emerge again. This is really impressive to me, as it seems to me that much of the dis-ease I see as a GP is born of a sense of lack of acceptance/identity within one’s own community- “I don’t belong”. With the growing numbers of participants in this part of Victoria, there’s really a change in this sense, so previously lonely/unsupported folk can feel supported and valued for who they are.

I conclude by thoroughly recommending the range of Seminars facilitated by Nicholas & Susan de Castella. These are high quality events with the potential for changing people’s lives forever”

I’d like to propose that you meet Nicholas yourself and talk about this approach.

Dr Jo Horwood MB BS Hons) (Melb) FRACGP FAMAS FACNEM

“I became aware of what Being Alive with Passion feels like for me & how out of touch with that I have been. I felt energy coursing through my body as I have not felt for my many years of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. My experience of myself has changed – I feel myself as a person with my own power. I breath more fully and it is so satisfying and enlivening. I thank you from the bottom of my deeply felt heart Nicholas for giving so much with such care & effectiveness”. Susan Domopoulos, Casemix Analyst

“Revelations about the internal me that are amazing, astounding & revealing. I can’t think of a better way of ‘finding heart’. Stephen Ware, Farmer

“Amazing revelations in discovering myself and recognising and releasing blockages. I am loving myself, respecting myself and refuse to sabotage myself from achieving what I want”. Sandra Worsley, Radiographer

“I gained insight into an unknown for me. Now I know the first steps to feeling and expressing and experiencing my emotions. I learnt new ways to live.

Andrew Binns, Tax Advisor

“Nicholas has empathy and provides a safe nurturing environment to explore issues which may be keeping us from being passionately alive.

“I’d like to recommend the work of Nicholas de Castella to you:

I conclude by thoroughly recommending the range of Seminars facilitated by Nicholas & Susan de Castella. These are high quality events with the potential for changing people’s lives forever”

I’d like to propose that you meet Nicholas yourself and talk about this approach.

Dr Jo Horwood MB BS Hons) (Melb) FRACGP FAMAS FACNEM

“Revelations about the internal me that are amazing, astounding & revealing. I can’t think of a better way of ‘finding heart’.

Stephen Ware, Farmer

“Amazing revelations in discovering myself and recognising and releasing blockages. I am loving myself, respecting myself and refuse to sabotage myself from achieving what I want”.

Sandra Worsley, Radiographer

“I gained insight into an unknown for me. Now I know the first steps to feeling and expressing and experiencing my emotions. I learnt new ways to live.

Andrew Binns, Tax Advisor

“Nicholas has empathy and provides a safe nurturing environment to explore issues which may be keeping us from being passionately alive.

Marlana McCarthy, Teacher

“I have been able to release emotional blockages from the past which used to control the way I lived my life. Prior to this seminar I was not living in the present and as a consequence I lived in stress and fear and hurt the people I love. Now I feel free from these past emotional blockages & am more willing to love and nurture myself & others. I recommend this workshop to anyone who wants to release blockages from the past & let go.”

Jean Thomas, Teacher

“I have a better understanding of who I am as a person and how I fit into the “Big Picture”. The weekend was fantastic. I liked how the workshop had experiential learning interspersed with theory, allowing me to enjoy a weekend of different emotions including happiness, sadness, anger & love”

Andrea Winzer, Trainer

Jean Thomas, Teacher

Andrea Winzer, Trainer

“Learning to breathe properly has made me feel less stressed out. The process was very stimulating and it has given me great confidence in myself.”

Bill Lack, West Preston.

“I am now in charge of my life, I have taken my power back, I feel stronger and understand more clearly my relationship with others.”

Ray Hasegawa Clifton Hill.

“I am able to take my own power and tell people how I feel and be able to say no when I feel it is necessary. I feel a lot clearer in my thinking and where I am heading. Thank you Nick for the support you gave me, you were there when I needed to cry, laugh and be angry. You knew when to be strong and when to be gentle and I honour you for that.

Sue Lawrence Mt. Eliza.

“Nicholas helped me experience a depth of love and wisdom only glimpsed before. I discovered that the magic of these realities has been hidden behind an array of unacknowledged and suppressed feelings. Now the power of my being is beginning to come through more fully.”

Michael Cecil, Canada

“What a gift to spread my wings and fly with you. I profoundly appreciate your support, encouragement and guidance to help me get free. Your ability to model risk taking with love and tenderness and blessed truth. I thank you with all my heart.”

Molly Doty, USA