Breathwork: The Medicine of Our Time

Do you remember your first breath? That startled gasp… the rush of air announcing your arrival into the world, threading life through your body. One day there will be a final breath – quiet, perhaps unnoticed – carrying the weight of all that you have lived. Between these two edges of existence, you are here, breathing. Breathwork facilitator and curator of transformational events Talitha Kotzé  writes why breathwork is the medicine of our time.

Medicine Made by You

Pause for a moment. How is your breath right now? Is it shallow, fleeting, almost forgotten – or steady and soft, a quiet river moving through you? Notice where it lands. Your chest rising and falling. Your ribs widening like a gate. Your belly, that tender garden where the breath comes to rest.

Each inhalation holds a promise, a thread pulling you back into your body. Each exhalation, a surrender into the Mystery. This simple act – humble and constant – is the most ordinary miracle.

We can go weeks without food, days without water, but only minutes without air. And yet we often treat the breath as background noise, as something that happens to us, not through us.

When we pause long enough to feel it… Cool and generous as it enters, warm with the story of our body as it leaves. We remember: the breath is our tether to life itself. It is how the world enters us, and how we enter the world.

Our Breath Calls Us Home

We live in a time of relentless speed, constant stimulation, frayed nerves, and hearts carrying more than they were ever meant to hold. Amidst this overwhelm, the breath calls us home.

I’ve been developing my own breathwork practice for more than a decade and have felt the results first hand.

Breathwork is not a modern invention. It’s as ancient as the winds that shaped the earth, as timeless as the tides. Across every lineage and tradition, the breath has always been understood as the bridge between body and spirit, the human and the Divine.

What feels new today is not the practice itself, but our remembering of it.  A collective exhale, returning to the medicine our time is most in need of.

When we breathe consciously, we re-enter the intelligence of nature. The inhale is the seed unfurling; the exhale, the autumn leaf returning to the earth. Breath mirrors the cycles of the seasons, the tides, the eternal dance of expansion and release.

Our breathing pattern holds the imprint of where life has led us. Like rivers carving valleys, the breath finds its own way through us… softening what has grown rigid, nourishing what has been starved, and washing away what no longer belongs.

The Science of Transformation

In Conscious Connected Breathwork (CCB), we use a circular pattern of breathing. No pause between inhale and exhale, to bypass the thinking mind and access the deeper intelligence of the body.

This rhythmic breathing influences the autonomic nervous system and shifts the brain into a theta-dominant state (4–8 Hz). Theta brainwaves are associated with deep relaxation, meditation, and creativity.

In this state, the mind becomes more open and receptive, allowing us to access stored emotions, memories, and intuition.

People often experience vivid imagery, emotional release, and moments of profound clarity. The body drops into the parasympathetic “rest and digest” mode, reducing stress hormones and supporting physical repair. It is the same neural state we enter during REM sleep – a place of integration and restoration.

Breathwork doesn’t force healing. It simply creates the conditions for the body to do what it already knows how to do. It is a return to coherence, a natural recalibration of body, mind, and spirit.

Why it matters now

The beauty of breathwork lies in its simplicity. It is low-cost, accessible, and requires no equipment. It can be practised individually or in community settings, offering an immediate way to regulate the nervous system and restore balance.

In a world where disconnection has become the norm, breathwork reconnects us… To ourselves, to one another. And to life. It restores our sense of belonging.

The breath doesn’t fix us; it reveals us. It peels back the noise so that we can hear the quiet truth beneath, that we are held, that we belong, that we are already enough.

Breathwork is the medicine of remembering

Breathwork is not a technique to master but a homecoming… The river returning to the sea, the forest welcoming us back to stillness, the wind carrying us into remembrance.

In a time of great forgetting, breathwork is the medicine of remembering. You are the master of your breath and you are the master of your own healing.

So, inhale… and feel the world arrive in you.
Exhale… and feel yourself offered back.
Over and over, this simple, ancient miracle… 

This is how we remember who we are.

About the author

Breathwork facilitator and curator of transformational events  Talitha Kotzé seamlessly weaves somatic practices, intuitive guidance, and ancient wisdom into her work. Her approach honours the breath as a gateway to emotional, physical, and energetic healing, offering a space where profound shifts can unfold with gentleness and grace.

With years of experience in both the wellness and creative industries, Talitha’s work is deeply attuned to the rhythms of nature, the intelligence of the body, and the sacred threads that connect us – to ourselves, to one another, and to the earth.

At the heart of her work is trust – creating a space where individuals feel safe enough to surrender, explore, and heal. Talitha believes that breathwork is not just a practice but a profound reclamation of self, and her greatest mission is to empower others to take the reins of their own lives.

Her facilitation is known for its subtle yet potent depth, creating a safe and expansive space where participants can release, realign, and reclaim their innate vitality. A sought-after leader for wellness events and retreats, Talitha invites those she works with to step into a life of greater clarity, resilience, and embodied presence – one breath at a time.

Visit www.talithakotze.com for more information

Main photo credit: Photo by cottonbro studio