Why I love my Moonbird and Breathwork as a Highly Sensitive Person - A Review
When Stefanie from Moonbird, reached out and asked me if I would be interested in being an ambassador for Moonbird, I was very excited. Not only had I recently put one on my Wish List, but for the past two weeks I had been hearing my spirit guide team whispering, okay shouting, daily ‘breath!…breath!’. I thought - I am breathing! But I was obviously missing the point. I felt so knocked over the head with the message that I had booked a breathwork session with a coach. So when she emailed, I smiled as it felt like a perfect synchronicity and I thought okay universe, I am listening!
My path to breathwork
I've been interested in Breathwork since my early days practising yoga then more recently exploring it with the Wim Hof method. My curiosity in the breath was a constant within my meditation practice (within my Buddhist practice and Neigong) as I began to feel as though I was ‘being breathed’ at times and noticed the connection between the breath and the movement of my energy body or aura. I could sense the connection between the prana, or life force energy, the energy body and the mind.
During a recently completed ‘Integrating Somatic Techniques in Therapy’ course with Life Architect, Bio-Dynamic Breathwork was shared with the group which felt inspiring. But one of the biggest takeaways of the course for me was the reminder of the simplicity of working with the breath to soothe the vagal nerve to support the self regulation of our nervous system which helps to:
Supports us to rest and our digest system
Reduces stress and anxiety levels
Increases calm and focus
Alleviates insomnia and sleep problems
Supports mood regulation, lifting your mood
Helps regulate emotions (for those with autism and ADHD)
Increases energy and resilience (helps with burnout recovery)
Perfect for Highly Sensitive People (Neurodiversity and trauma symptoms)
Breathwork therefore is really a wonderfully simple but effective tool for highly sensitive people (HSP) who have highly sensitive nervous systems which can be easily triggered or overstimulated by day-to-day tasks as well as the stresses of daily life - relationships, finances, work and so on. Staying self regulated with the breath, soothing the vagus nerve and thus activating the parasympathetic nervous system can be a simple but very effective, grounding tonic. It's certainly one of my regular, go to practices. Learn more about the vagal nerve and breathing or learn more about the science of breathing.
Breathwork and my hatred of counting
These days, it can feel to me as if I am in the midst of a Breathwork revolution which is exciting. With new Breathwork courses popping up as well as local classes. But with everything that's going on in my life personally, I'm just needing to keep it nice and simple. My starting point with the breath has been the mindfulness breathing practice, which quite honestly I always disliked because I hated the counting and I mean loath! I was told by teachers the counting is an anchor for the mind - I actually found it distracting and irritating, not calming. I would always end up doing an open sit, and just focusing on stillness - which is what I still do.
So I had the same problem when it came to Breathwork, the counting of breaths was the opposite of calming to me. So I tried listening to someone else, counting on YouTube, for example, but again, I didn't really like listening to someone else's voice, the rhythm they set often didn’t work for me, I didn’t want to make time for a class… and all the micro annoyances that basically meant I ended up not doing it.
So for me, this personal bugbear of counting but desire to do breathwork is the key reason I really did fall in love with the Moonbird as it does ‘the counting of the breath’ for you… but there are no numbers said out loud you simply follow the rise and fall of the device in your hand - it is a breath coach in your palm! I think it is such an intuitive invention by Stefanie.
The Moonbird
So why do I like the Moonbird so much?...
Like the name suggests it feels like a baby bird in the palm of your hand, it is incredibly tactile, has a lovely design and I enjoy holding it which encourages me to practise, I find it a comfort
The Moonbird is simple and easy to set up, sync up and use (I don’t like complicated tech!)
It is a visual reminder to practise if I get busy and my routine slips
It measures your Heart Rate Variability and coherence, you can track your progress
Key breathwork practices are programmed into the app - you just select which one you want and how long you want to practice for
The app has video series that share the science behind it all
You can use the moonbird without turning on your phone
My daughter and husband have started using it! You can share it with others in the family, they just need to download the app
Having a regular breathwork practice has given me a deep sense of calm, grounding and focus which is hugely addictive.
So is there a downside to a Moonbird? Well I would say for many it will be the cost as a moonbird is £159. However, as I have been using mine twice a day for 10 mins a time, first thing as part of my morning routine and evening as I watch the telly (!) therefore to me it has easily paid for itself already with regular use.
So a great investment for a beautiful piece of kit or one for your wish list. Moonbird also do offers periodically, which I will share on my mailing list, or you will learn about via their website
Give breathwork a go
If you're in the same boat as me and hate counting your breath in your head, but want to do breathwork, then you're likely to fall in love with the Moonbird like me. If not, you can still get started with breathwork now as it can be well worth adding to your daily routine for all the benefits you’ll reap particularly as a HSP.
Free resources for the curious
If you are interested but want some support, here are some Breathwork schools with different approaches that do free classes to help you experiment:
Alchemy of breath - weekly breaths
Steph Magenta - weekly breaths
Reconnected breath - often do free 21 day resets
Wim hof - free mini class
Biodynamic breath - self study, youtube
The breath space - free breath download
Learn more about Moonbird:
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