THESE ARE HELD ONCE A MONTH - NEXT DATE 19th DECEMBER - 2pm -4pm

PREVIOUS - 21st NOVEMBER

Details about breathwork under Breathwork Tab. Please email me if you have any questions.

These sessions are currently held every fortnight but may become weekly as they book up quickly. The cumulative effects of this work is evident and regular sessions are the most effective ways to delve deeply into patterns and beliefs that govern our behaviours, responses and choices. 

DATES: 12th SEPTEMBER, 10th & 24th OCTOBER

Our Breathing is the only system in the body that is both completely automatic and also under our control. This isn’t an accident of nature, nor a coincidence. It is an opportunity, an invitation, to take part in our own nature – our own evolution. Breath is our medicine - we can control how deeply and how quickly we breathe and in so doing we self regulate. In a session, it is your choice how deeply you wish to go and your breath is your gas pedal.

Breathing is the link between body and mind, between spirit and matter, between the conscious and the subconscious mind. The breath is a force, a bridge, a tool. It connects us to each other, and to our own nature, our source.

Every psychological state, every emotional state, every physiological state has a corresponding or associated breathing pattern. The way we breathe when we are peaceful and calm is different from the way we breathe when we are angry and upset.

When your state changes, your breathing pattern changes. And it’s a two-way street: when you change your breathing pattern, you change your state. We can use the breath to hack into our nervous system, our brain, our immune system. We can use the breath to choose our state.

When we control our breathing, we control our awareness, our focus and our energy, our life force. Breathing is a behaviour. Breath control is self control. Breath awareness is self awareness. When the breath flows fully and freely our natural creative and healing energies flow fully and freely. The breathing we use in sessions is called conscious connected breathing.It is very easy to do and we are lying down throughout the breathing element of the session.

There have been some profound shifts in these sessions and if you wish to see any feedback, please let me know and I can send this to you.

The breath sessions begin with some easy movement and walking exercises followed by an hour of breathing and then an integration period. It is best to take it very gently for the rest of the day as although changes may not be apparent, the benefits will play out over the coming days. There is more information on breathwork in previous posts and under the Tab at the top of the opening page.

Bookings on the website or be email:sarahemarten@gmail.com £25/session

THE TIME OF THIS SESSION HAS MOVED TO 4pm FOR 29th AUGUST

It is one of the bi-monthly breathwork sessions that are available to those that wish to have a regular practice and delve deeper into why they react to situation and events in a certain way. As mentioned in previous postings, we now know that trauma can manifest almost anywhere in the body, and impact almost anyone. It sits within and becomes a physical manifestation to a response both large and small that may have had a major impact upon us without us having any awareness of this process. It is a physical reaction that becomes part of our bodies, a response to situations both large and small. It can be something we would normally consider insignificant such as being started by an aggressive animal or as complex as suddenly losing a loved one.

Regular sessions are very useful in unpacking the cumulative effect of long-term but perhaps less obvious stressors, like relationship difficulties, plans and desires that never happened or just a general anxiety about life, a job, relations, housing or anything that is unknown.

Trauma is a result of an overload on our systems - we are overwhelmed and are unable to process and complete the fight or flight response in our bodies. This may lead to our lives seeming to be very difficult and problems insurmountable. A general feeling of stuckness.

The breathwork sessions support your body’s natural process for releasing chronic tension, self-restricting patterns and emotional trauma. This clears the way for feelings of joy, self-love and deep relaxation.

Breathwork is our own manageable and self controlled medicine and it is something we can all do. Having control means that we can decide how we wish to approach each session and as we begin to feel comfortable and safe, we begin to let go, release and unwind core tensions within our bodies by working through and releasing repressed negative energy stuck. This can then clears our emotional pathways so we can return to feeling happy and hopeful - our natural and healthiest state.

These will be bi-monthly sessions where we learn powerful breath and movement techniques to track the sensations in each area of the body, let go of trauma and blocks— and find the strength and ability to live life in greater happiness, openness and freedom.

Most importantly, the space at the Studio is very safe. It is crucial that every person who is participating feels secure, cared for and knows that they can chose and are in control of how deep they wish to and that you will have all the support you need.

These days, many of us have settled into some version of the “new normal.” The upheaval of recent times remains with us and has impacted our lives and although we may become more accustomed to the uncertainty what has happened will have an effect for years to come.

Trauma is very real. It’s not just an idea, or a feeling of upset. Left unresolved, it physically takes up residence in our tissues, expressing itself in our everyday lives, for perhaps years.

It is now known that trauma can manifest almost anywhere in the body, and impact almost anyone. It is a physical reaction that becomes part of our bodies, a response to situations both large and small. It does not need to be a major event and could be as simple as being startled by an aggressively barking dog, or as complex as suddenly losing a loved one.

It can also be the cumulative effect of long-term but perhaps less obvious stressors, like interpersonal difficulties, dreams that have fallen by the wayside, or generalised anxiety.

Trauma happens when our systems become overwhelmed. And if we can’t adequately process and clear the traumatic experiences, our lives can slowly become unmanageable or at least difficult.

The breathwork sessions support your body’s natural process for releasing chronic tension, self-restricting patterns and emotional trauma. This clears the way for feelings of joy, self-love and deep relaxation.

In the session you may connect unconscious patterns to past events, gain more clarity to act with awareness and this fosters intimacy and connection with others. You will learn to breathe more effectively, sense your body, and explore feelings unconditionally. You will find your internal resource and this can be returned to for support and comfort whenever needed.

Breathwork is something we can all do. It is under our control and it is, in a sense, our own individual medicine. We begin to heal and let go of core tensions by working through and releasing repressed negative energy stuck within the body and this in turn clears our emotional pathways so we can return to feeling happy and hopeful.

£25/session. Refreshments afterwards.

There will be a follow up e-mail or phone call (your choice) after the sessions and any questions that may arise can be discussed.

This session will explore creativity. Breathwork is as varied as each individual and how we breath can affect us in different ways. There is information under the Breathwork heading and on previous sessions in Whats On. I have trained in both Clarity Breathwork and BBTRS (Biodynamic Trauma Release System) and I blend these techniques with other breath practices.

What to expect: We begin each session with movement to unwind the body and drop into ourselves. There is then a discussion about what you may feel and experience followed by a practice of the technique. We may do some partner exercises depending on how the group feels or we may just lie down and begin.

In this particular session along with conscious breathing we will practice a diaphragmatic breathing technique through the mouth - big deep breaths with some holds before we move to conscious breathing.

The session lasts an hour and you are lying on a foam mattress . There is music throughout. How you react depends on how you feel on the day. Regulars note that each session is completely different. We hold tension in our bodies and you may experience tingling, shaking or the desire to move around. This is energy moving. For those that have not experienced this first hand here is some information from my teacher Given Tonkov who talks about how our bodies react when releasing stress/trauma. We will not be aiming to god deeply into trauma release but you may experience some release so below is a quote from Giten’s book which explains this.

“The easiest confirmation comes from watching the fight-or-flight process dissipate in someone else. And the easiest “someone else” is often found in the animal kingdom, especially in a mammal that is used to life-and-death situations.” Giten describes a video of an impala that appears to have met its doom. A cheetah has caught it and is in the process of suffocating it but by two strokes of good luck, there is a distraction-the first caused by some hyenas and the second by some baboons who presence encourages the cheetah to abandon its prey. Although the impala looks dead and there is no visible movement or breath, the camera stays. Finally one deep breath follows another - until the impala sits up and begins to tremble. After several moments, the impala stops shaking, leaps up and trots away.

As humans we are often in this fight-or-flight mode. It could be a traffic jam, being late for a meeting, having someone verbally or physically attach you, dropping a tray of glasses - anything that causes immediate stress and panic. But unlike animals we don’t shake this out and instead store it in our bodies. We now know that the major cause of illness and disease is stress. Breathwork is a fundament aspect of our health and happiness. If we are not breathing properly, if we don’t breath consciously on occasions, we will continue to hold down a host of emotions, trauma and memories that cannot be released.

Studio is a very safe environment. It is quiet and peaceful. It is in essence a place where you can explore and discover aspects of yourself you may not have been aware - courage, compassion, kindness, laughter, joy and above all a love of life and of yourself. You are in control and initially we will start gently and you can maintain this throughout. If you feel that you wish to breath deeper then this is an option.

After the session there is an integration period. Finally, you will be taught a breathing exercise that you can easily do at home. It can be done for 2 minutes or 10 minutes depending on what time you have and it can be done throughout the day.

I encourage you to look at the other entries to get a fuller picture of breath work and please email if you have questions.

£25/session

This is the start of the regular breathwork sessions that ran last year and there is more information under the Breathwork tab at the top.

This workshop will be held by Sarah Marten and Claudia Schrick who has come over from Geneva to assist. We will begin the session with movement in order to have a sense of how our body releases areas of tightness or stress. 

A brief outline of how this technique works: Breathwork increases the oxygen supply in our system which activates more brain activity, increases energy levels, and expands awareness and concentration. It can facilitate a powerful detoxification process as 70% of toxins are released through breath. If we are not breathing at full capacity it is safe to say that we are not functioning at full capacity. Most importantly breathwork allows us to restore our connection to our life force – without the breath we cannot live and by consciously re-connecting to it we are increasing our attention and awareness and therefore our capacity to live a fuller and healthier life. Long held trauma can often be released in a guided breathwork session, creating more space for us to feel 'whole' with an expanded awareness and this can help with making choices in a more considered way.  

Maximum 10 people. Booking essential. £25

Refreshments and mineral water available.  

This workshop will go deeper into the body as it will incorporate BBTRS - Bio-dynamic Trauma release system which is a modality I began training in last year and will complete my studies by the end of the year. In addition to this it will be a gentler version and I will use my Clarity Breathwork training which I qulaified in last year (levels 1-5). Details of both modalities are under the Breathwork explanation tab. £20

The image is of me having treatment in the second belt - the jaw where we hold a great deal of tension and this mirrors our hips.

The following extract gives a detailed description of the practice and is from my teacher Giten Tonkov’s book Feel to Heal: Releasing Trauma Through Body Awareness and Breathwork Practice.

EXTRACT: BioDynamic Breathwork & Trauma Release System (BBTRS) is a somatic modality that relies on a suite of elements, which, when applied together, maximize the potential of trauma release, along with the return of balance and the “juice” of life. It draws from the best-researched modalities in the field—including various aspects of somatic approaches; scientifically proven mindfulness and meditation applications; anatomy, massage, and physical therapy; breathwork; sound vibrations; emotional release; and energy.

The six elements of BBTRS function naturally in our bodies, utilising the autonomic processes of the sympathetic nervous system, physics, and energetic connections between people. In order of importance, they are:

Breath 

Deep, connected breathing is done through an open mouth, which requires the use of the diaphragm. As “belly breathing” continues—with long, connected breaths, with a focus on the self—relaxation settles in, and the body becomes oxygenated. With this oxygen comes energy. It might seem counterintuitive that with more energy, the mind actually quiets, but it does. If this technique is practiced in day-to-day life, outside a session—inhale to the count of eight, exhale to the count of eight—breathing alone can have a tremendous impact on the body, the emotions, and the ability to manage stress. In the moment. At any time.

Movement 

Involuntary physical movements are the most direct and fastest route for tension to escape the body. Various somatic approaches focus specifically on stimulating the tremor response—the body’s natural method of releasing tension—which is described in detail in the book. However, tremoring is not the only involuntary movement common to somatic work. Another is best described as “unwinding,” in which movement originates in the core of the body and spreads toward the limbs. Where tremoring is often fast, unwinding can be slow and measured, sometimes more like a rhythmic dance. Tremoring and unwinding movements can each trigger the other, and both release arrested energy.

Touch 

Conscious touch, bodywork, and soft-tissue manipulation—directed toward pressure points, connective tissue, muscles, joints, or nerves—add a dimension to somatic work that allows a practitioner to assist another person in the physical aspects of trauma release. When we apply touch to contracted muscles in the body, we support a flow of energy to areas cut off from their own physical and energetic circulation. A supporting facilitator acts as an external, safe, and knowledgeable resource for a person, ensuring that he or she is not alone. Through loving kindness and a caring touch, the facilitator helps the person to shift attention from one area of the body to another, so energy can dissipate.

Emotional Expression

Emotion is held along with body tension, and both come to the surface during somatic work. In BBTRS, we find that a short emotional expression can be very useful, especially for people who have experienced a long period of trauma. However, somatic trauma release approaches are structured to avoid reactivating and overstimulating people, so emotional expression during a BBTRS session is carefully managed. Therefore, when emotional expression appears—sadness, happiness, anger—we support people in staying with the feeling for a moment, and then moving to the next step relatively quickly. This process usually works very efficiently. By honouring what is coming out, and at the same time remaining connected to the breath, people become masters of their expression.

Please read earier post about breath work. The session is in the morning from 10am -1pm in the afternoon.

DATES: 29th JUNE & 14th JULY

The Clarity Breathwork sessions run twice a month but not always on the same day - usually a Friday or Saturday.

Clarity Breathwork is a conscious, circular breathing technique that has influence over mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. It works towards a fundamental shift in our being, towards integration.
The sessions are a maximum of 10 people and begin with some movement in the form of dance -this is optional and you can walk around the room instead. After this there we work in pairs for a process. We  then lie down on individual foam mattresses for the one hour breathwork session. There is a integration period afterwards. Studio Britford offers a supportive and safe environment.

Breath is life and in many languages the word for breath is the same as the word for spirit. This is our connection to our fundamental and spirit nature. During our birth, many of us suffered medical intervention and hence were disconnected from our natural breath right. Umbilical cords were cut straight away, pain relief and in particular epidurals were given that also affected us and being taken by the feet and hung upside down was the first experience many of us had of breath and it was a terrifying ordeal.

As a result, it is common to have had some interference to our natural breathing and to hold things in and hence stultify our natural way of living. With breathwork, we begin to breath into every cell in the body and thus fire ourselves fully alive. Blockages in all aspects of our body- mind, spirit and emotions start to ease out and the flow of energy becomes even and continuous again.

Our breath is unique to each of us and is our own in-house pharmacy. It is under-utilised and yet has the most miraculous power to heal. It is our birthright but as we now know, many of us were robbed of this particularly people born post war.

Clarity Breathwork is gentler than many other breath modalities. Healing doesn’t have to be cathartic and intense. In fact the body responds better there is a gentler approach and the integration is at a deeper somatic level. The focus is to encourage a shift in the way our body and mind function - we want to return to a natural state where we no longer cling onto past trauma and memories and they do not influence our lives now - a full embodiment into our Selves. The desire to be fully present in our bodies and meet all the emotional material that has been incomplete in our systems is the first step to self love. To begin to allow, accept and understand why we are as we are allows us to become complete so we can come into wholeness. Our perceptions and beliefs begin to be formed in the womb, our first experience of life outside the womb and everything after that has led to many places in our lives becoming stuck, frozen, disconnected and disassociated. We often are unaware of this so we cannot be fully present and may try way to find ways escape or disconnect without knowing why.
With Clarity Breathwork, we are looking at how we can unravel and release those places, come fully alive and aligned with our higher purpose of being and find and explore our true potential.

Sharing Clarity Breathwork in a group provides a safe and nurturing dynamic, and the field is amplified so we transform together.

Clarity Breathwork sessions can lead to deepened awareness, insight, intuition and breakthroughs. The process allows access to increased vitality and a sense of great wellbeing.  

 £20/session. 

INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS: These offer one on one support and the undivided attention that allows the unravelling of patterns and limitations at a deeper level. The session which last 2 hours involves sharing, intuitive counselling and coaching, as well as approximately one hour of circular, connected breathing. The emphasis is on increasing awareness of the present moment and allowing what is most important to reveal itself.

This is a free session and is for a maximum of 10 people so booking is essential and is on a first come basis.

It is an opportunity to try a group Clarity Breathwork session to see if you would like to come to the regular twice monthly sessions held on a Sunday morning.

There is more information on Clarity Breathwork under a separate page. The term "Breathwork" refers to the technique of "consciously connected breath." There are many different schools of breathwork and I was drawn to Clarity Breathwork  because it applies this connected way of breathing in a gentle way which encourages the release of stress and toxins from the body and helps us remove limitations from our energy and mind.

A practitioner will often be taken back to his or her first breath and this can bring great insight and bring about profound physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual healing. Connected breath is conscious breathing because it is continuous and it can stimulate an altered state of consciousness that then aids healing through the experience of feeling immense peace, joy, emotional release, insight, and expanded awareness.

The energy of a group session is powerful. Each group session is different as is each person experience. We begin with some questions, followed by a clear intention and then the breath is our guide. There ill be skilful support and throughout there is kindness and encouragement to help navigate whatever arises. It should be noted that healing is not always obvious but there will be insight and this is the key to changing patterns of thought and behaviour.