Breathwork Magic

Amanda Russo's Journey to Emotional Liberation through Breathwork

• Amanda Russo • Episode 1

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In this episode of Breathwork Magic, host Amanda Russo delves into her transformative journey with breathwork, revealing how this powerful practice has brought profound healing and personal revelations. She shares a life-changing experience during a plant medicine ceremony where breathwork surfaced hidden emotions that therapy couldn’t fully uncover, allowing her to confront and release subconscious burdens tied to past relationships. Amanda’s story highlights the potential of breathwork to reach deep-seated emotions and pave the way for forgiveness and emotional liberation.

Listeners will also hear about a particularly poignant breathwork session on the anniversary of Amanda’s grandmother’s passing. Immersed in grief, Amanda discovered a powerful mindset shift that allowed her to view past experiences through a new, positive lens. This episode explores how breathwork can unlock emotional insights and help reshape one’s narrative, offering listeners a compelling look at the healing potential of simply breathing.

Episode Highlights:

[3:12] - Amanda’s first breathwork session in a plant medicine ceremony and its profound impact

[7:45] - Confronting and releasing long-buried emotions tied to past relationships

[12:30] - Using holotropic breathwork to access forgiveness and redefine personal narratives

[17:55] - A powerful breathwork session on the anniversary of her grandmother’s passing

[21:18] - Discovering a mindset shift to reframe painful memories into positive growth

[26:02] - Why breathwork is an essential tool for emotional healing and self-discovery

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Breathwork Magic, where we explore the life-changing power of breathwork. I'm your host, amanda Russo, breathwork Facilitator, and I am going to share with you how I discovered breathwork. I first discovered breathwork at a plant medicine ceremony. There was a holotropic breathwork session and it was very deep and challenging because the thoughts that came up for me. Now we call it breathwork for a reason, because it is work and a lot of people don't necessarily realize that. Now I heard traumatizing things that were said to me in a past relationship and it was really difficult. But I was able to bring those thoughts, that whole conversation to the surface process. It feel all the thoughts and the pain and I bawled my eyes out and I deeply let it go and I was able to forgive myself for things throughout that relationship. But I was also able to forgive him and let that go Because I didn't even realize I was holding onto comments that were said to me. This man had made the comment about how I wasn't able to show him love because I never received it from my father and I didn't even realize subconsciously that was weighing me down and bothering me until I re-heard the conversation and I was able to let it go and things like that will happen during breathwork. I relived a different conversation, with that same relationship in that breathwork session and, honestly, it was really challenging for me. So, post this plant medicine ceremony, I went really inward. I took a break from all plant medicines. I went really inward. I took a break from all plant medicines. I took a break from breathwork because I really needed to just reflect on what had come up for me. I took a few months off from a lot of that.

Speaker 1:

Then a good friend of mine was hosting a breathwork session. It was the anniversary of my grandma's passing and I just did not want to sit home. I just didn't want to sit home by myself. I decided to go to this breathwork session and I went into it in a pretty melancholy state. I was thinking about all of the small areas of how I wished situations within my life with my grandma was different. I wished Mimi got to see me graduate high school. I wished all these different things.

Speaker 1:

Then I did this conscious, connected breathwork session and at the end of it I reframed every single negative aspect of the situation with my Mimi in a different light, from small things like she didn't see you graduate high school to, but she saw you graduate eighth grade. You have pictures of her and you at your eighth grade graduation and then I thought about how I wished I got more time with her. She passed when I was 15, but for those 15 years it lived with her. My mom worked a lot as I was growing up and I spent a lot of time with my Mimi, so I did get a lot of quality time. Could it have been more Sure?

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But my mindset has shifted to then see okay, wow, here's the positive aspect of this negative situation that I can't change because it's a fact of life. I can't bring my deceased Mimi back from the dead. I can't get more time back with her. It's not something we're able to do. Yet it was so mind-blowing to me that situations that were factual and could not be changed my mindset suddenly shifted and I looked at them differently and I was like all I did was breathe.

Speaker 1:

I experienced mindset shifts immediately, in a way that nothing else has shifted my mindset, and it blew me away, honestly, and I knew I had to keep doing this. I didn't understand the power of the full magic or even how it worked, but I knew I needed to do this again because something that I knew consciously was weighing me down was the loss of my grandmother. It helped me reframe that when nothing else happened, from therapy to journaling, to meditation, to plant medicine, you name it. I've done it. It didn't help. It did a little, but it was just the surface level. It didn't peel back all the deep layers. Then I did conscious, connected breath work and my life. Might sound crazy saying my life changed, but I looked at something that had bothered me for over 10 years in a different light. I felt like I lost so much weight, but it wasn't physical weight. That's the thing. Sometimes the weight we need to lose is not on our body. And those are just some of the huge transformations I have had from breathwork. It helps me think of different ways to figure out things that come up in life. It has helped me become so much more of a mindful person.

Speaker 1:

Prior to discovering breathwork and developing a consistent breathwork practice, I was someone who just went with the flow so much more. I didn't have a plan. I didn't take time to actually figure out what I was gonna do. How am I gonna structure my day? How am I going to structure my day? How do I want to show up in the world and it's really helped me take that step back, take that step outside of myself and see who is Manders, who is Manders at the core. How does Manders want to show up in the world? And I encourage you to reflect on that as well.

Speaker 1:

Breathwork is not for everyone. Nothing is. I say that all the time. But you won't know if you will get benefits out of something if you don't try it. That is with everything in life.

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I used to be this type of person that had the mindset of I'm not going to do that because I have this title or this identity. Plant medicine was one of them. I held myself to this egotistical standard of being a paralegal, and paralegals don't do plant medicine, says who Me. Something I say all the time is that breath work is different for every single person and you will have a different experience every single time. But the biggest thing I emphasize is that you will not know if something is for you, if you will enjoy something, if something will benefit you if you never experience it. Something, if something will benefit you if you never experience it. Don't put yourself in a box because you have this identity or this ego of you're not going to try xyz. Something I say all the time as well is we're here, then we're not, and it's true.

Speaker 1:

What do you have to lose by trying conscious, connected breathwork? It might seem a little woo-woo, it might seem out there, but there are so many scientific benefits of this and I'm not going to get into all the science of breathwork. There is plenty of it. But it reduces cortisol levels, helping people manage stress and anxiety, and we all have stress in some area of our lives. Breathwork can also help process and release stored traumas. It activates areas in the brain associated with emotional regulation. This is why people are able to let go of things that have been weighing them down, because they are tapping into their subconscious.

Speaker 1:

All of this being said, I wanted to provide a space for people to hear more about the magical power in life-changing transformations of breathwork. And if you're ready to experience the benefits for yourself of breathwork, you can join me every Monday night for Mindful Mindset Mondays with Mandos, a virtual breathwork session. It's pay what you can, because everyone deserves access to this magical experience if they're ready to step into that experience. I don't want location, finances, any of the above to be a barrier for someone experiencing breathwork if they are ready to have that experience. Again, I encourage y'all to lean into the unknown. You never know what you will enjoy. Maybe you'll hate breathwork. Maybe you'll have a huge transformation. Maybe it will be just something that gives you some calmness in your life. Regardless, you will not know the benefits or the drawbacks of anything until you experience it. Every single thing in life is different for each unique person. How I experience breathwork is not how you will experience breathwork. How someone experiences weightlifting is not how you will experience weightlifting. Our bodies are different, our minds are different, but why not give yourself the opportunity to try something new and see what transformations you could have?

Speaker 1:

For so long, I hindered myself from doing certain things because of the words I was saying. You may have heard me talk on Mander's Mindset about how I wanted to run a 5k. So I challenged myself to run a mile every single day because I was then calling myself and identifying myself as a runner. I don't love running now, but it's something I do on and off. You won't know if you enjoy something or if you hate something if you don't do it. For the longest time. I said I hated running, but I hadn't ran in years. How did I know I hated running. It's time to shift your mindset and explore new possibilities, to see how you can step into the highest and greatest versions of yourselves. I encourage you to breathe into new possibilities and new experiences and see what life can unfold for you. Thank you, guys for tuning in to Breathwork Magic.