Where To Find Low Cost Breathwork Sessions
Breathwork has become a very popular healing and integration modality, and while there are plenty of options available for online and in-person sessions with facilitators, it can take a bit of digging to find accessible options with competent, trained facilitators, if you're on a tight budget - and let's be real, that's most of us these days.
We're here to help ease the process of finding a breathwork facilitator that suits your budget; from low cost, to by-donation and free, we've got you covered.
It's important to remember that just because you can't afford to work with a breathwork facilitator who may be charging a higher rate, that doesn't mean that you have to settle for sub-par, unskilled and improperly trained facilitators.
We are committed to doing our best to ensure that our community, and anyone who needs it, has access to facilitators that are trained at the highest levels, taking into consideration whether a facilitator has education in trauma recovery, counselling skills, anti-racist practice and ethical frameworks.
It's a high bar to set, but the breathwork "scene" is unfortunately ripe with training programs that do not take into account inter-generational trauma healing, and the reality of living in oppressive systems of racial capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy.
Things To Take Into Consideration
Are you seeking online or in-person breathwork sessions?
Online breathwork sessions offer ease of access for folks managing disabilities, in addition to allowing you to be in the comfort of your home or wherever life may find you. Given that we're still living through an on-going pandemic, it is very important to consider your personal health safety as well as the safety of others.
In-person sessions may not be as easy to access as they were pre-pandemic, but if you're healthy (not sick with Covid, or other infectious diseases), masking in public spaces and testing regularly as needed, you may find it beneficial to seek out a facilitator who offers low cost in-person breathwork sessions.
Keeping in mind to clarify with the facilitator if they are also willing to test prior to the session, and that they are operating in their day to day life through a disability justice lens (ie: masking, distancing and being mindful of who they are in contact with). This may be an uncomfortable conversation to engage in, but part of collective care in times of crisis is practising embracing discomfort and vocalising boundaries.
2. One - on - One Breathing Sessions vs. Group Breathing Sessions
Both of these options offer varying benefits, depending on what you're seeking. A one-on-one session can allow you to tailor your experience to a specific intention that you set in collaboration with your facilitator, giving you the opportunity to work through long held patterns that you're seeking to address and move through, or simply to experience the session within a more intimate framework or environment.
Group sessions can provide a powerful space to both be witnessed in your process and to witness others in theirs, as well as an opportunity to find healing and integration within a dynamic that reflects the reality of living in relationship with other people.
It's essential to consider that so much of the trauma we all hold is within relationship to each other, and group sessions can offer a unique opportunity to work through these realities in a facilitated, safe(r) environment.
You can benefit greatly from being open to oscillating between both individual and group sessions.
Collective Care in Times of Economic Multi-Crisis
As we move through an increasingly volatile economic and political world landscape, it's important to take the time to reflect on the intersections of racial capitalism and class dynamics and how these realities play out in our everyday lives.
With more and more people struggling to meet their basic needs, accessing healthcare, wellness modalities and tools to help maintain mental and physical health can take a back-seat. In addition, the widespread acceptance of "spiritual capitalism" has placed many of these tools and practices well beyond the scope of basic financial access, often only allowing the wealthy to benefit from practices that were traditionally meant to be accessible and open to everyone, regardless of social class.
Facilitators offering sliding scale and low-cost options are actively disrupting this dynamic, creating spaces where everyone's healing is prioritised and considered important to the well-being of the wider, collective ecosystem.
There is no shame in seeking sliding scale and low cost options. We want to be clear that it is not your fault that you are managing poverty and living in survival mode. You deserve access to skilled and competent support, no matter where you land on the spectrum of financial need.
List of Skilled Breathwork Facilitators Offering Sliding Scale & Low Cost Options
Chauna offers virtual breathwork circles, and in-person sessions on a sliding scale, in addition to scholarship spots and reduced rates for BIPOC and Disabled folks.
The Breathing Space offers free, online sessions with different, trauma-informed teachers nearly each day of the week, operating from a variety of time zones.
Jennifer Patterson - Corpus Ritual
Jennifer offers virtual, sliding scale, one-on-one and group breathwork sessions.
Since 2019, founder and breathwork practitioner Jasmine Marie has "provided a space for Black women to heal through breathwork and community", through their accessible online platform. Scholarships are available to join their monthly subscription service + free access to guided meditations.
BFR offers a low-cost monthly, online breathwork session, in addition to a by-donation/free weekly, online breathwork space for people in recovery - to note, "recovery" as defined by us includes anyone recovering from trauma, substance use disorders, mental illness or any other symptom of living in systemic oppression.
BFR's Trauma-Focused Breathwork Facilitator Training Program // Apprenticeship Offerings
Students in our current cohort of trauma-focused breathwork facilitator training are moving into apprenticing and working with the public. Please stay tuned, as we will be announcing a new site where you can connect with our skilled trainees for one-on-one sessions!
In the meantime, here is the current listing of BFR apprentices that you can connect to, with links to their respective websites and contact information:
Amy offers sliding-scale online individual sessions, and in-person groups in Tohono O'odham Nation land (Tucson, Arizona)
Jackie offers a sliding scale, individual, and group sessions online and in-person in Munsee Lenape land (New York City, New York)
Jenn Acuna
Jenn offers sliding scale, individual, and group sessions online and in-person in Puyallup Land (Tacoma, Washington)(website in progress) contact: jenn.acuna77@gmail.com
Diyanat offers sliding scale, individual and group sessions in-person in Hyderabad, India, and online.
Meredith offers sliding scale, by-donation (and payment plan options) for individual and group sessions, online and in person, in Syilx Nation, Okanagan Indian Band, (Vernon, BC, Canada)
Kelsey offers online, sliding scale, individual, and group sessions.
Abi offers a sliding scale, individual, and group sessions online.
