The Breath Circle Conni Biesalski + Phil Kohn

Dr. Ela Manga is a medical doctor, author and speaker committed to conscious living and bringing heart back into the art of medicine. Her training as a medical doctor was just the first step towards her true vocation as a co-creator of health and a catalyst for change.

Her focus is not just on treating symptoms but diving deeper to uncover the root causes of illness and to work together with people to create a new mind-body system in context of the big picture of your life. Balance and energy are restored through lifestyle changes, natural medicines, healing therapies, mindfulness, breathwork -all working to activate the body’s ability to heal itself.

Through individual consultations, talks, the facilitation of workshops, training, retreats and through writing, Ela creates a fascinating framework of uncovering the basis of energy management, blending neuroscience with ancient wisdom and study of human behaviour, leaving people more inspired and committed to living with more authentic energy and open heartedness.

Ela lives in the vibrant African city of Johannesburg and her practice is based at The Sanctuary in Houghton Estate, Johannesburg.

In this episode, we spoke about:
- How Ela evolved into becoming an integrative doctor and then a breathworker
- How she discovered the breath and that "aha" moment
- What it means for Ela to bring mindfulness back into medicine
- Ela's ideas around how chronic illness starts in the body, ie the "root causes" of illness
- Her book on burnout and energy management
- Breathwork Africa and BreathCafe©
- The ART framework (classifying breathing techniques) and the actual art around this
- Ela's incredible initiatives around bringing breathwork to African children and into the African school systems

Connect with Dr. Ela Manga: FB & IG @elamanga | drelamanga.com
Connect with Breathwork Africa: FB & EG @breathwork_africa | breathworkafrica.co.za

Connect with us: IG @thebreathcircle | thebreathcircle.com

Carmen Ganne is an internationally trained breathwork facilitator and human connection specialist. She has a degree in social work and is a certified yoga teacher. She offers a trauma-sensitive approach with a specialization in where science and spirit meet human.

Her personal exploration of the breath began early in her youth and continued professionally within the western clinical setting, through pranayama and the teachings of yoga, as well as with various forms of breathwork. As a catalyst for change, her professional practice teaches people to live fully embodied, take responsibility, and move forward with empowered action. She guides people through profound transformation within themselves and their relationships.

As a conscious relationship expert, she explores connection and communication with couples and moms and daughters. She offers relationship blueprints that translate and inform the unique purpose of each relationship.

Her offerings include individual, couples and group breathwork as well as date nights for couples and mom and daughter ritual building. She travels to host workshops and retreats. Her offerings are available online and in-person.

In this episode, we spoke about:
-The idea of "flow" and letting things be easy (a core element of breathwork!)
-Carmen's journey into the breath starting as a young, curious child
-What it means to be a human connection specialist
-Carmen's various trainings including social work, yoga, and various styles of breathwork
-Breath patterns and how they relate to our lived experiences
-Trauma sensitive approaches to breathwork
-Mother daughter ritual work with the breath
-Couples breathwork and "date night"

Connect with Carmen: FB & IG @carmenganne | connect@carmenganne.com | carmenganne.com

Connect with us: IG @thebreathcircle | thebreathcircle.com

Jonny Miller is the co-founder of Maptia, a Techstars backed startup and living archive of inspiring and impactful stories from around the world. He has mentored 250+ early-stage founders, and has also written for Forbes, The Mission, and Huffington Post. Jonny is disproportionately proud of once crossing the English Channel on an inflatable standup paddleboard. Currently, he’s based in Mexico and focusing on building an online academy for Curious Leaders while also studying Neurodynamic Online Breathwork (with us!).

In this virtual fireside chat with our friend Jonny, we went back to where breathwork began for him, which was through learning to freedive. Jonny's freediving coach introduced him to holotropic breathwork, and this was the beginning of a powerful, intimate and life-long relationship with the breath. In this episode, we chatted about the different flavors of breathwork, the breath recipes and the stacking of breath exercises that Jonny explores with curiosity and creativity. Through Jonny's lived experiences - particularly facing deep trauma through the suicide of his partner nearly 3 years ago - he has been unearthing deep layers of emotions and inner healing, on a path to consciousness that is truly inspiring. Jonny shared with us some visions for how he hopes to teach and practice breathwork - and some parallels to the Vipassana meditation world where inmates are given a taste of mindfulness. Can this be done with breathwork?

You are your own guru, the breath is your guide and your teacher, and this episode will hopefully inspire you to continue to find your own unique flavor of breathwork. Tune in, and let us know what you think!

Jonny's website (with over a dozen links to his various creations): http://www.jonnymiller.co/

Connect with us:
@thebreathcircle on Instagram
https://www.thebreathcircle.com

This podcast is about the art and science of breathwork. We speak to experts in the field and share personal experiences from others as well as ourselves.

In this episode, Conni and Phil unpack the different types of breathwork experiences - they discuss:
(1) the framework they came up with after many conversations
(2) what breathwork microdosing is and when it's a good option to practice
(3) different types of breath meditations and how they differ from deeper, longer breath journeys
(4) the most popular breathing patterns for transformational breathwork
(5) the classifications used by some of the world's most experienced breathwork practitioners such as Dr. Ela Manga and Dan Brule

Connect with us:
@thebreathcircle on Instagram
https://www.thebreathcircle.com
Connect with us:
@thebreathcircle on Instagram
https://www.thebreathcircle.com

Michael Stone is the inventor of a new type of breathwork modality called Neurodynamic Breathwork. He is also the co-founder of the “Train Your Brain, Master Your Life” Workshop, a certified Holotropic Breathwork Facilitator and founder of Holotropic Breathwork LA.

Neurodynamic Breathwork is his own creation and is completely different from Holotropic Breathwork which must be done in-person with a facilitator present and must follow the specific structure developed by Dr. Stan Grof.

In this episode, Michael took us through his fascinating journey into breathwork that came after spending the first 35 years of his life following a path that had been imprinted on him through cultural and family conditioning. We got into some of the geeky science of breathwork, dissecting how the ego-mind and default mode networks work. Tune in and hear from Michael how he is working to bring breathwork to 10 million people worldwide.

Michael's website for Neurodynamic Online Breathwork: http://www.breathworkonline.com
Michael's website for In-Person Holotropic Breathwork: https://www.holotropicbreathworkla.com

Connect with us:
@thebreathcircle on Instagram
https://www.thebreathcircle.com

This podcast is about the art and science of breathwork. We speak to experts in the field and share personal experiences from others as well as ourselves.

Sara Silverstein is a breathwork practitioner from New York City, currently based in Bali. She went from being a corporate professional to helping people on their healing journeys. This is her story!

Sara on Instagram: @sarasilverstein
Sara's website: http://www.sarasil.com

Connect with us:
@thebreathcircle on Instagram
https://www.thebreathcircle.com

This podcast is about the art and science of breathwork. We speak to experts in the field and share personal experiences from others as well as ourselves.