Matt Freer

What activist burnout taught me about rest, the inner life and asking what is actually mine to do. In my early life I worked in campaigning and advocacy around international development. It was great work. I felt like we made a difference. It connected me with real people from around the world, and it was meaningful to work alongside others towards a more just and sustainable world. It didn’t take long, though, before I experienced ill health and activist burnout. I’d been overworking and...

In my earlier posts on breathwork, we looked at how the simple act of noticing your breath can help you discover the Divine right under your nose. We also explored how coherent breathing offers a simple reset for calm and resilience by soothing the nervous system. Once we know how to use the breath to slow down and create a sense of internal safety, we can explore more active breathwork. While gentle practices like coherent breathing focus on balancing the autonomic nervous system, Conscious...

Building on from my previous post on the breath I want to share a breathing practice that you can use day to day to help bring, and build, calm. Coherent Breathing, sometimes called resonance breathing, is where you intentionally regulate your breathing rate to about five to six breaths per minute, which is achieved by slowing your breath cycle down to around 12 seconds per breath. The fundamental practice of slow, rhythmic breathing has roots in ancient traditions like Yogic pranayama, but...