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CONSCIOUS BREATHING FOR TRAUMA RECOVERY (CBTR)
Free online conscious breathing education that is both simple and effective
The CBTR training has been created by Brigitte Martin Powell and Judee Gee, breath specialists and breathwork trainers based in the UK and in France. Judee and Brigitte are former Presidents of the IBF. At the time of developing this programme they were sitting on the IBF-UN working group committee which develops Conscious Breathing projects in alignment with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The CBTR programme was originally designed for refugees, migrants and victims of natural disasters as well as health care workers, staff and volunteers of relief organisations.
It has been now extended to include anyone suffering from trauma, anxiety, burnout and depression.
The goal of the CBTR programme is to provide free online conscious breathing education that is both simple and effective through:
- Giving practical instructions for developing an awareness of current breathing habits
- Teaching specific breathing exercises to recalibrate the autonomic nervous system
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.
The CBTR training has been created by Brigitte Martin Powell and Judee Gee, breath specialists and breathwork trainers based in the UK and in France. Judee and Brigitte are former Presidents of the IBF. At the time of developing this programme they were sitting on the IBF-UN working group committee which develops Conscious Breathing projects in alignment with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
CBTR VIDEOS
Watch the trailer:
Watch the Presentation:
Watch the Demonstration:
Credits
Many thanks to Rossana Salso, Fred and Malou for their participation in the production of the CBTR video series, and to Hridaya France for their permission to film on-site at the Chateau de Longeval: www.hridaya-yoga.com.
Thanks to the IBF Development Fund for funding the development of the CBTR training programme in Athens, Greece.
THE CBTR MANUALS
THE IBF BREATHING APP
This free app is the perfect tool to practice the CBTR Program – and much more.
It is now available for free for iPhones on the Apple Store and for Androids on the Google Play Store. The name of the app is IBF Breathing App.
If you want to get more detailed information about the IBF Breathing app, click here:
For more information about Coherent Breathing
Keywords for Internet search
Conscious Breathing
Breathwork
Coherent Breathing
Stephen Elliott
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous System
Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Disclaimer
This presentation is designed to provide helpful guidance for recovering from trauma and reinforcing natural resiliency, but should not be used to diagnose or treat any health or medical conditions requiring medical supervision.
The publisher and authors are not liable for any consequences from the application by any person using the information provided in the presentation. Even though conscious breathing is simple and safe, some may find this method challenging, and are encouraged to consult a conscious breathing specialist in order to progress in the practice.
Professionalism Workgroup
Introduction
A new Professionalism Workgroup was formed in 2023 to help IBF develop and strengthen professionalism, training standards, and ethical conduct in breathwork. Working alongside the IBF Integrity Committee, this group of IBF professionals aims to promote professional standards and support IBF members in improving their practice.
Background
Following significant breaches of ethics by Breathwork professionals (IBF Members and non-members) over the recent years, the IBF community went through a crucial period of reflection. A new forum for discussion and advocacy of professionalism was needed. This group was created to address professional misconduct issues and strengthen and develop professionalism in our practice.
This working group is not an ethics committee:
- The group will not handle complaints or incidents; this is the role of the Integrity Committee.
- Instead, the group acts as a resource to the IBF, helping to plan and create policies, liaising with the GPBA, and generating meaningful actions and responses to issues raised by significant events.
Community Consensus:
- We support a zero-tolerance approach to sexual misconduct in our work.
- We recognise that other breaches of professionalism must also be addressed.
- We desire that breathwork schools and associations align with international standards of training and conduct for professional breathwork practitioners.
- IBF aligns with the Global Professional Breathwork Alliance (GPBA) Training and Ethical Standards and requires all members to agree to these guidelines.
- We encourage professional members to apply for certification with GPBA or their national breathwork association or accrediting body.
The IBF Professionalism team
• Pippa Wheble, IBF Professionalism Workgroup Leader
• Liisa Halme, Constellation Leader Internal Communications
• Griet Verstrate, Constellation Leader Ethical Procedures
• Matoula Piscopani, Constellation Co-Leader Training Standards
• Indalecia Rohita Ziritt, Constellation Co-Leader Training Standards
• Kateryna Kotenko, Constellation Leader Ukraine Project
• Jim Morningstar, GPBA Liaison
• Tilke Plateer-Deur, IBF Elder
• John Stamoulos, IBF Integrity Committee
• Adela Barcia, IBF Integrity Committee
• Alakh Analda, IBF Elder
• Lauren Chelec Cafritz, IBF Executive Support Team
• Vanessa Dietzel, IBF Executive Team
• Nilgül Tavsel, IBF Executive Team
• Mario Domig, IBF Executive Team
• Steph Magenta, IBF Professional Member
• Ana Berengeur, IBF Ambassador
Aims
1. Our Workgroup’s primary Mission is as follows:
Promote ethical, professional, and training standards and raise awareness of their importance.
2. Support IBF in reflection on conscious or unconscious breaches of these standards, as well as learning and evolving in response to them, to improve the professionalism and safety of our practice.
3. Help establish breathwork as a widely respected, legitimate, safe healing modality.
Agenda
• IBF aligns with the GPBA’s Training and Ethical Standards (currently stated in our bylaws) and requires all members to agree to these guidelines.
Read more
• IBF encourages professional members to apply for certification with GPBA or their national breathwork association/accrediting body.
• The GPBA is updating its training and ethical standards to align with international standards. These will be presented to the IBF community at the AGM for a vote before inclusion in the IBF bylaws.
• Champion ethical practice and uphold the training standards set by the GPBA by:
• Ensuring that our ethical & training standards are visible on our website.
• Creating IBF statements and guidelines on essential topics.
• Offering training and workshops about ethics and training standards for IBF members.
• Educating the public about breathwork ethics and training standards through our website, social media, and the press.
• Raising public awareness of the dangers of unaccredited schools and inadequately trained practitioners.
• Offering guidance on assessing suitability for professional training.
• Support the alignment of international breathwork schools and associations on ethics and training standards by:
• Building partnerships and collaboration with relevant associations.
• Promoting accreditation of breathwork schools and IBF professional members with relevant associations.
Professionalism
Raise the public consciousness of professionalism in breathwork by:
Read more
• Creating information about professionalism for the IBF website
• Championing professionalism through social media, newsletters & press releases
• Study and gain a more profound understanding of professionalism by:
• Reflecting and learning from breaches of standards.
• Fostering conversation about professionalism in breathwork
future breaches, for example:
• Create guidelines and educational opportunities to prevent future breaches, for example:
• Choosing a breathwork practitioner or modality,
• Client and Practitioner responsibility before, during and after a breathing session.
• Intimacy and Relationships with clients and students
• Consent and power dynamics
• Trauma-informed breathwork
• Promote professionalism in the IBF by:
• Reviewing the IBF Professional Membership process and privileges
• Promoting that professionalism requires deeply knowing oneself, one’s inner strengths and weaknesses, and an absolute willingness to be supervised
• Creating a process for the provision of peer support within & between IBF members.
IBF Ethical Procedures
• Clarify IBF procedures and actions that can be taken in response to conscious or unconscious breaches of ethical and training standards by its members as well as non-members.
Read more
• Clarify IBF procedures for information sharing with accrediting organizations regarding breaches of ethical and training standards.
• Clarify IBF policy and procedures to address unaccredited schools or breathwork professionals.
• Clarify procedures and create resources for individuals affected by misconduct in breathwork.
• Promote the duty of IBF members to report and address misconduct in breathwork.
• Communicate IBF complaints procedures on the IBF website.
UN Group Member Requirements:
1. Be a professional member of the IBF
2. Hold a current Breathwork Practitioner, Group Facilitator or Breathwork Trainer certification.
3. Hold a commitment to engage with monthly meetings online.
Contact
Please contact the Workgroup Leader to express your interest or raise a topic for discussion in the workgroup.
Other Ways to Contribute
Support IBF initiatives by 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
The IBF Breathing App Tutorial Video
TO DOWNLOAD THE APP, CLICK ON A STORE
VIDEO CREDITS
Concept, guitar, photos: Mario Domig
Camera: Mark Siegert
Editing:Richard Siegert
Demonstration: Monika Domig & Jane Siegert
On April 11th, the World Breathing Day will focus on an aspect of human living with this year’s theme: “Time for Healing”
It has become vital to our health and well-being, as conscious creators of our own lives, to know what tools we have in our bodies to assist in the process of healing. To make the choice to take the time and to take the time to make great choices around healing.
This led the International Breathwork Foundation (IBF) to choose to spotlight this year’s World Breathing Day (WBD) theme as a timely reminder to us all that it is time for healing and to make time to do so. It may save our lives or at least enhance them to do exactly that.
One of the huge values of having an annual World Breathing Day (WBD) is to get to hear from people that have accumulated a wealth of knowledge and wisdom in the healing arts and to hear what they have to say about the current state of human beings. For us, to listen deeply so as to find solutions that fulfill the call that is, in fact, our “Time for Healing”.
In past years, the IBF and its family of changemakers around the planet have prepared Zoom presentations on three continents. This year again, we will host multiple Zoom schedules all day long on April 11th.
Healing involves repair and recovery in multiple dimensions—mind, body, and spirit. We have all been through moments in our lives that have created a need for healing. The healing process engages the individual’s innate ability to repair damage and recover function.
On April 11th, take part in a global celebration of the practice of conscious breathing and the power of breathing together. Take this moment to ponder, that conscious breathing is a very local medicine and unifying power that is available to everyone no matter what their race, religion, social status or how many followers they have on social media.
For more than a quarter of a century, the IBF has been representing and working with breathing experts and gathering expertise and knowledge on the arts, science, history, and practices of conscious breathing. IBF programs and activities improve the lives and well-being of people of all ages and backgrounds.
One of the global projects from within the IBF that is seeking to bring healing into classrooms all over the world is the Conscious Breathing in the Classroom (CBC) initiative. IBF professional member and breathworker of many years, Joann Lowell, and her team of highly respected breathworkers, have been training teachers with a particular curriculum all around the world.
Share! Participate in the Fun and BREATHE!:
● World Breathing Day 2024 offers interactive and experiential, FREE online global Zoom events in two different time zones for your convenience (USA & Europe) and to celebrate with friends around the world throughout the day. During this event, qualified, prominent and experienced breathwork practitioners will share evidence-based breathing techniques to realize that this is TIME FOR HEALING!
See detailed information below.
● If you have the possibility, go outside into nature or a favorite meditation spot and breathe. Take time for healing with others around you by breathing together in a simple flow and feel what you add to the collective celebration on April 11th this year and each year on April 11.
On April 11th celebrate and take time for healing with the world!
Please share and hold events in your part of the world, raising consciousness around this great and FREE power! The more people who consciously breathe together, the more that contributes to a healthier world.
Join our FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/worldbreathingday/
Contact us at: WorldBreathingDay@ibfbreathwork.org
A Fun WBD Social Media Activity to join in: Post the word “BREATHE ” on any and all social media platforms all day on World Breathing Day and help us make an impact and raise social awareness of the simple gift of taking a conscious breath!
Important Note: If you register for either Zoom event you are automatically registered for the other event as well.
You only need to register one time.
The day before the event you will receive a reminder email with links and the schedule.
Here is a useful app to calculate the times of events in your time zone:
September 2024
October 2024
November 2024
December 2024
January 2025
No event found!
Integrity Committee’s statement to breach of ethics
Last year, a situation arose that brought to light the critical importance of ethical standards for breathworkers being carefully and consciously addressed. In the Spring of 2022, both the International Breathwork Foundation leadership team and that of the Global Professional Breathwork Alliance were made aware of allegations of ethical misconduct regarding a practicing member of both organizations. We all took the allegations very seriously. Careful interviews were conducted with those that came forward and the possible history of previous similar incidents was explored. In the IBF, the Integrity Committee took a lot of time to consider what had taken place and the correct response to it in discussion with the Executive Team. We were in ongoing dialogue with the correlate people in the GBPA. As a result, the individual’s membership in both organizations was immediately suspended. There is an ongoing process going on to address what took place both for those who felt injured as well with the individual whose behavior was a clear and serious breach of ethics. As a commitment to healing is a cornerstone of both organizations, this process is taking place within a Restorative Justice model.
Being a qualified practitioner of any healing modality requires competent systematic training. This should also include a clear understanding of the ethical standards of practice that serve to protect the intrinsic vulnerability of the clients seeking help. As Breathwork is a somatic modality that involves altered states of consciousness, adherence to these standards through impeccable conduct by the practitioner is especially important.
Both the IBF and the GBPA have written ethical standards that are available on our websites. The IC is still in the process of reviewing and updating the IBF standards to be both comprehensive and crystal clear. From now on, it will be required that all IBF members officially indicate that they have read and understood what these are. Through awareness and greater consciousness comes right action. A signature will represent entering an agreement to adhere to the code of ethics.
This has been an extremely painful situation for many; certainly, for those who felt harmed, for the person facing the harm they did, but also for those who witnessed, and for those who cared and continue to care for both. We ask that each of us from our higher selves, find our way to hold them all in the light.
IBF Integrity Committee
Krista Gilda Kerner, John Stamoulos, Adela Barcia
