What if breathwork is the portal?

In the therapy room, breath is not simply calming. It’s revelatory. Each inhalation and exhalation carries embedded information—about shame, about rupture, about the body’s memory of overwhelm. The way a client breathes—tight in the chest, collapsed in the belly, or held altogether—offers a somatic map of their attachment style and trauma history. Before a word is spoken, the breath tells the story.

And our own breath? It is more than a tool for self-soothing. It is a clinical intervention. Tracking shifts in our own respiratory rhythm—tightening, shallowing, holding—can reveal countertransference, flag unconscious activation, and serve as a moment-to-moment compass for therapeutic attunement. Even across a screen, breath becomes a medium of co-regulation and embodied presence.

This training invites us to use breath as inquiry—a way of listening to the body without demanding words. For clients who struggle to articulate emotion, breath becomes the language. For those who dissociate or over-function, breath is a safe and accessible bridge into the here-and-now. Inviting a client to stay with the sensation of breath—without changing or fixing it—can open doors to affective material that might otherwise remain unreachable.

At the heart of this approach is a rare synthesis: ancient pranayama practices, once developed to cultivate inner stillness and expanded awareness, are translated here into trauma-sensitive, precision-oriented interventions.

In this advanced training, Stacy Ruse – master practitioner who integrates cutting-edge somatic and neurobiological approaches with the wisdom of yogic practices – takes us into this intersection with depth and clinical clarity. You’ll leave not only knowing what to do—but how to breathe, feel, and listen differently in the therapeutic space.

An Embodied Laboratory, Not Just Another Webinar

This dual-evening immersion creates a living laboratory—where each breath technique is not only taught, but directly experienced, transforming learning from the abstract to the embodied.

You’ll discover how your own breathing pattern subtly orchestrates the therapeutic field, and how to navigate the closely orchestrated dance of co-regulation through breath, even across digital space. This is hands-on mastery that transcends the limitations of virtual learning—proving that the most powerful therapeutic tool requires no special equipment, only refined awareness.

The Breath Arsenal: Eight Precision Techniques

1. Box Breathing

The Architecture of Containment

• For fragmented attention, trauma-induced overwhelm, or pre-session anxiety
• Beyond simple calming—creates neural coherence for deeper processing
• Based on elite performance research (Porges, Huberman)

2. Physiological Sigh

The Neurobiological Reset

• For panic, emotional flooding, or nervous system recalibration
• A double-inhale pattern that instantly shifts autonomic dominance
• Backed by Stanford research on stress recovery and vagal resilience

3. Straw Breathing

The Paradoxical Surrender

• For high-anxiety states, especially in clients who “over-effort” containment
• Creates parasympathetic dominance through conscious restriction
• Bridges traditional Ujjayi pranayama with modern trauma physiology

4. Extended Exhale Breathing

The Relational Safety Signal

• For rupture, avoidance, or clients struggling with therapeutic proximity
• Softens shame-based withdrawal by signalling internal acceptance
• Aligned with polyvagal-informed practice (Dana, Porges)

5. Co-Regulatory Breath Tracking

The Invisible Attunement

• For trauma clients with relational mistrust or hypervigilance
• Creates nervous system synchrony beneath verbal exchange
• Grounded in attachment neurobiology (Siegel, Schore)

6. Pendulated Breathwork

The Titration Art

• For clients oscillating between collapse and hyperarousal
• Mirrors somatic rhythm for processing without overwhelm
• Draws on Somatic Experiencing principles (Levine)

7. Alternate Nostril Breathing (Nadi Shodhana)

The Hemispheric Harmoniser

• For rumination, insomnia, or creating session closure
• Balances sympathetic/parasympathetic activation through alternating pathways
• Evidence-backed for stress reduction, cortisol modulation, and HRV enhancement

8. Breath as Inquiry

The Somatic Dialogue

• For emotional numbness, dissociation, or limited interoceptive awareness
• Accesses pre-verbal, implicit material through breath-centred curiosity
• Synthesizes mindfulness traditions with Sensorimotor Psychotherapy insights

Professional Development Outcomes

By the conclusion of this immersion, you will not merely understand breathwork intellectually, but will have integrated it as an embodied clinical skill. You’ll be able to:

1. Distinguish eight distinct breath techniques and match each to specific trauma presentations
2. Read the breath as a diagnostic narrative—revealing freeze, collapse, and shame patterns before they become verbalized
3. Translate ancient pranayama practices into trauma-sensitive, evidence-informed interventions
4. Deploy co-regulatory breathing to deepen therapeutic attunement across both in-person and virtual settings
5. Apply pendulated breathing methods that honour the body’s rhythm during trauma processing
6. Utilize breath awareness to manage countertransference and physiological reactivity
7. Track subtle respiratory cues to prevent escalation before verbal interventions become necessary
8. Facilitate breath-centred inquiry for clients with limited access to emotional language

The Guide: Stacy Ruse

Stacy Ruse, LPC embodies the rare integration of rigorous clinical expertise and intuitive presence. With mastery spanning somatic therapies, EMDR, polyvagal theory, and yogic psychology, she brings an alchemical synthesis to her teaching. Known for her warmth, depth, and experiential approach, Stacy teaches clinicians to work not just with narrative and cognition—but with the nervous system, the subtle body, and the intelligence of breath itself.

A Sacred Technology in Clinical Form

This goes far beyond wellness breathwork or simplistic grounding cues – this is for the trauma therapist in the crucible of a session—holding a shutdown client, navigating a rupture, or sitting at the edge of dissociative silence. It’s for clinicians who seek both scientific precision and sacred presence in their work. It’s for those who intuit that something profound—something transformative—happens when we learn to breathe with our clients in a wholly new way.

Secure your place in this intimate learning experience and discover how the oldest healing technology on earth becomes the most revolutionary tool in contemporary trauma therapy.

© nscience 2025 / 26