What Breathwork Did for Me

By Andrew Mowatt

I had a life changing experience that cracked me wide open.

But before I dive into that, let me explain what breathwork actually is.

What Is Breathwork?

Breathwork is the practice of consciously working with your breath to influence your emotional, mental, physical, or even spiritual state.

It’s been used for thousands of years across cultures - in Buddhism, Shamanism, Taoism, martial arts, and many other traditions. In the last 60 years, and especially the last 5–10, it’s grown in popularity as a therapeutic and spiritual tool.

There are many different types of breathwork, each designed for different outcomes. Some help reduce anxiety and stress. Others help process trauma, shift your nervous system, or explore expanded states of consciousness.

We’ll dive into the different styles in another blog. For now, here’s where it started for me.

Where It All Began

I came across the Wim Hof Method back in 2019. I saw videos of this mad looking Dutch man climbing mountains in shorts, plunging into freezing water, chanting with people in nature… and honestly, he just seemed like a cool guy.

So I gave it a go… and I was hooked.

At the time, I was already swimming through the winters in the Irish Sea. Wim Hof’s breathwork style, a controlled hyperventilation technique involving deep, rhythmic breathing and breath holds - matched the cold exposure lifestyle perfectly.

Over the years, I kept practicing Wim Hof, alongside meditation. But I had this persistent urge to go deeper. I wanted to explore the subconscious. I was reading self help books, learning more about myself, about healing, about the universe… but it all still felt somewhat surface level.

And something kept popping up in those books: more breathwork.

When Life Hit Me Hard

By 2024, life had served me a mix of high highs and deep lows:

• I lost my Dad.

• I opened and then closed a business.

• I fell in love. Fell apart.

• I had intense surgery.

One of those things alone can rattle you - never mind all at once. And on top of it all, childhood wounds were beginning to seep out too, like a pot slowly boiling over.

I had started talk therapy over two years prior, and it helped a lot (I still work with my amazing therapist today). But that urge to go deeper into the subconscious remained. I could feel something buried in my body that words alone couldn’t touch.

The Beginning of the Shift

In early 2024, a good friend of mine Raj began hosting conscious connected breathwork sessions in a local café on Sunday evenings.

This… was it. This was the beginning of something different.

After just a few sessions, I began to feel emotions rising - emotions that had been stored deep in my body. The breathing created a shift in my physiology, and that shift started unlocking memories and sensations.

If you’ve ever done this kind of breathwork, you know what I mean.

Tingling in the hands. Sweating. Dizziness. Hands curling (known as tetany — if you know, you know). Shaking. Emotional waves.

Your body starts to speak in a language beyond words.

And in me, one message kept rising to the surface:

“Let go.”

I could feel the tears stuck in my throat, just beneath the surface… but they wouldn’t come out.

The Breakthrough

Around this time, I heard about another breathwork facilitator in my town: Matthieu Duffy. A few weeks after my sessions with Raj, I joined one of Matt’s longer, deeper breathwork journeys. (Matt and I are now close friends — we’re currently travelling together in Brazil.)

I was nervous. Deep down, I knew this session would crack me open.

And sure enough… it did.

These sessions can go on for up to three hours. You’re lying down in corpse pose, with a blanket over you, eye mask on, and transcendental music guiding the journey.

The breath is continuous - deep inhale through the mouth into the belly and chest, exhale out the mouth, with no pause in between.

About 90 minutes in, I felt everything begin to brighten, like sunlight glaring through a car window. Then a cat like eye appeared in my vision followed by intense shaking.

The light was so powerful and welcoming… until it all suddenly shut off.

Reliving My Father’s Final Breath

And then, I was back in St. Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin…

Watching my Dad take his final breath.

Standing there beside my Mam, my two sisters, and my brother, reliving the night of 13th November 2020.

An experience we had all buried. One we never wanted to revisit. But…

My body said I had to.

It was still holding on.

I was crying. deep, full body sobs - while still breathing. And in that moment, I understood: this was the “letting go” I’d been feeling blocked around.

I hadn’t truly grieved that moment. I had unconsciously suppressed it for years. My body had stored it, and this breathwork session brought it to the surface so it could finally be released.

I remember our voices at my Dad’s bedside:

“It’s okay, Dad. You can go. You’re safe. Let go.”

Now I was saying the same thing… but to myself.

After the Release

The weeks that followed were full of integration. Journaling, sitting in nature, talking to people I trust.

And after that… I felt light. As if I’d moved through something in one session that might’ve taken months in therapy.

This is what breathwork can do.

This is the power we hold in our own bodies.

And It Doesn’t End There

That wasn’t the only breakthrough I’ve had from breathwork. I attended Matt’s breathwork retreat in Spain in April and had more profound experiences… but I’ll save that for another blog.

Thanks for hearing me out. If you’re on a healing journey, or even just curious about what your breath can unlock, I’d love to have you on this path with me.

See you on the next one…

With love,

Andrew.