Breathwork Safety & Practice Waiver
Please read this in full before attending any SOULBODY BREATH® session, group or private. Informed consent is the foundation of ethical practice.
Breathwork is a powerful practice. When it is held well and entered into with awareness, it can open real pathways of healing, clarity, and self-connection. It can also bring up sensations, emotions, and energy you didn’t expect.
01.
What Can Arise In A Session
During a SOULBODY BREATH® session you may experience some or all of the following. These are normal responses to conscious, dynamic breathing and are not cause for alarm.
✓ Physical sensations including tingling, warmth, vibration, or waves of energy moving through the body.
✓ Temporary changes in muscle tone, including tetany, a harmless cramping or stiffening in the hands, feet, or face that passes once the breath returns to normal.
✓ Emotional release, which could look like tears, laughter, grief, or feelings rising to the surface that may have been held for a long time.
✓ Altered states of awareness, meaning a sense of expanded perception, vivid imagery, or a feeling of being deeply present in a way that feels unfamiliar.
✓ Profound stillness, peace, or a feeling of deep connection.
✓ Temporary lightheadedness or dizziness during the active breathing phase.
Not every session is intense. Many are quiet, internal, and deeply restful. Whatever arises is what is ready, and all of it is welcome.
02.
Health Considerations & Contraindications
SOULBODY BREATH® and conscious connected breathing are experiential practices built around conscious breath and breath retention. This is not a substitute for medical advice, and it is not aimed at treating a physical disease or mental health condition.
Speak with your GP or primary healthcare provider before practising if any of the following apply to you:
- Pregnancy
- Cardiovascular disease
- History of stroke
- Epilepsy or seizures
- High or low blood pressure (uncontrolled)
- High inner eye pressure
- Detached retina or glaucoma
- Psychosis, bi-polar, schizophrenia
- Untreated/severe PTSD
- Clinical anxiety
- Lung disease including severe asthma (have your inhaler)
- Recent surgery/broken bone that’s still healing
- Active use of recreation drugs, stimulants or hallucinogens.
In cases where any of these are applicable, the participant will be offered a more appropriate breathing method. By participating you agree to take personal responsibility for your process and health. Breathwork can bring up intense physical or emotional experiences, including altered states of consciousness, memories or suppressed feelings, dizziness, tingling sensations and energy release.
The Facilitator cannot be held responsible for any mental, physical or emotional challenges which may arise from this practice, or liable for any injury, loss, or damage of property suffered by the participant. This does not apply to damages caused by intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty.
In spite of all of the contraindications and health and safety info (which is very important), breathwork can be a liberating, heart-opening and spiritually enlightening experience.
Email your questions to jenni@soulbodybreath.com.
03.
Your Rights & Responsibilities
✓ You are always in control. You can slow your breath, pause, or stop at any time during a session. Your facilitator will always support that choice, without question and without pressure.
✓ Before the session begins, please share any relevant health information with your facilitator. If you have any of the conditions listed above, or anything else you think your facilitator should know, please tell them before the session begins. This is not about gatekeeping — it is about making sure the space can hold you safely.
✓ You are responsible for your own experience. SOULBODY BREATH® facilitators are trained spaceholders, not medical or mental health professionals. The practice supports wellbeing. It does not diagnose, treat, or cure any medical or psychological condition. If you are working with a mental health professional, we encourage you to let them know you are exploring breathwork.
✓ Your facilitator honours complete confidentiality. What you share and experience in a session is held in complete confidence by your facilitator. This is non-negotiable.
✓ Every SOULBODY BREATH® facilitator is trained in trauma-informed facilitation. They are skilled in recognising when additional support is needed, and in guiding you back to regulation if the session brings up something unexpected.
04.
Scope Of Practice
Breathwork safety begins with clarity about what this practice is and is not.
SOULBODY BREATH® is a somatic, energetic, and spiritual practice. It is not therapy, counselling, or medical treatment. It does not replace professional mental health support, medical advice, or psychiatric care.
If you are currently working through significant trauma, mental health challenges, or a medical condition, we strongly encourage you to continue that support alongside your breathwork practice — and to inform both your healthcare provider and your facilitator.
Breathwork works best as part of an integrated approach to wellbeing. We are one part of that picture, not all of it.
05.
Consent & Liability
Breathwork safety and informed consent are the foundation of everything we do. Participation is voluntary.
By booking and attending a SOULBODY BREATH® session, group or private, you confirm that:
✓ You have read and understood this waiver in full.
✓ You have disclosed any relevant health information to your facilitator.
✓ You understand that breathwork carries the experiences described above and you are choosing to participate willingly and with informed consent.
✓ You understand that SOULBODY BREATH® and its facilitators are not liable for any physical, emotional, or psychological experiences that arise during or after a session, provided that all reasonable duty of care has been exercised.
We share all of this not to frighten you, but because we believe you deserve to arrive informed, prepared, and genuinely consenting to the experience ahead.
If anything here raises a question, please reach out to your facilitator before your session. There is no question too small, and we would always rather talk it through.
We look forward to breathing with you.
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