Experience A Shower Inside the Body - Irish Independent article


Article author:

Brenda Doherty

Brenda trained as a Rebirthing Therapist and extensively in bodywork, specialising in Aromatherapy and Body Harmony and is an accredited healer with the Annwn Institute.

As a morning addict of that elixir called coffee, one day last week was different. At sunrise, I awoke to a new dawn, feeling totally refreshed, as if I had a shower on the inside, and gone was my interest in meeting my former-caffeinated best friend or in rushing around first thing as I normally would first thing. No, I haven't won the Lotto (I wish !).

The reason for the change, I suspect, is this week's therapy, one I have to admit to being a tad sceptical of beforehand.

To be honest, rebirthing sounded a bit new-age hippyish for me, but my experience has surprisingly proved otherwise.Developed in the US in the 1970s, rebirthing is a simple technique used to release suppressed emotions, which is practised worldwide and is supported by the governments of Sweden, the US, the UK and Australia , to name a few.

Contrary to popular belief, rebirthing does not necessarily involve re-experiencing your birth. It often does, but each client is different. Brenda Doherty, based in Wicklow Street in Dublin city centre, has been a rebirthing breath therapist for 20 years. "As Erich Fromm said, 'Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is.' Rebirthing is a gentle breathing process that facilitates this to happen from the inside out", says Brenda. "It allows what is already there for a person - acknowledged and unacknowledged - to gently emerge, so the associated emotions can be released."

Just how this is to be achieved seems as though it couldn't be simpler and is comprised of engaging in a breathing technique and developing an awareness of the 'felt' sense of the body. "When you breathe in  a consciously-connected way, you energise the body, which results in the movement and release of energy and emotions that may be stagnant or held in the body. Holding on to emotions has an adverse effect on the body and creates tension. After rebirthing, people often feel they have less baggage and are free-flowing in the present moment," explains Brenda. As a form of psychotherapy, a trusting and safe relationship between client and therapist is essential. In this session I see lifestyle patterns that I've fallen into and why I'd excelled at sleep deprivation and why I'd neglected my body nutritionally and exercise-wise. Not that those days weren't fun. They were. In the next session, while seated, she introduced me to the basic breathing technique, or as it is otherwise known, conscious-connected breathing, which, in essence, is a constant flow from exhale to to inhale without pausing in between.

As I lie on the plinth we get started with the breathwork. When worries, and the energy with which they resonate, come to the surface, Brenda guides me with how to release thm through varying the depth and speeed of my breathing. As the energy begins to flow, my mind races. She intuitively knows when I'm drifting off (a technique to avoid unwanted feelings) and places her hand gently on  my chest to encourage me to come back to mindful awareness of my body. After 75 minutes of breathing, in accordance with whatever comes up, she helps me to begin integrating the experience. I leave, feeling a sense of stillness within and enjoying being present, which has stayed with me since. Over a few years, Susan, from Dun Laoghaire, has experienced profound changes in her life from rebirthing breathwork. " I went to rebirthing when I realised I was playing a role in life based on what I thought others expected of me and was not being true to my self," says the 39-year- old.  "I feel so much happier now - grounded, present and decisive and totally true to myself and, interestingly, people relate differently to me."

Verdict ; A gentle, practical and powerful technique that allows tension and emotions to be released from the body, leaving, in their wake, a real stillness and contentedness. A refreshing shower inside.

A two-hour session with Brenda Doherty costs €120. To make an appointment call 087 4111542.                Click here for more information on Brenda Doherty                    

copyright   Irish Independent 30th June 2008

More articles by Brenda Doherty:

Rebirthing; How Does It Work