Have you heard of Embryonic Breathing? Neither had I 'til I really needed it.
- onenaturaltherapie
- Oct 28
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 2
Abundant blessings to Body-Mind-Centering Founder, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, for this gentlest of pranayma.
Relax panic.
Soften constriction and fear.
Loosen adhesions and habits.
Far from "instructional", Embryonic Breathing is Experiential.
Read more to visualise where, identify how, and hear how embryonic breathing affected me and my feline companion.
Sometimes, when I really trust my body to do what she needs to do, she returns to a way of moving that I had "forgotten" how to do.
Embryonic breathing is one of these practices, and I'd love to remember it with you.
Today's practice is dedicated to my dear friend and fellow learner, Rachel.
May this practice soothe, comfort and nourish at the deepest level, softening into space where if felt there was none.
While embryonic breathing may refer to a Taoist practice, this post is an adjunctive anatomy reference to Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen's Video for those who love clear visuals. As a new (old) student of BMC, I hope to facilitate the spread of these gifted teachings.
In this image, the stomach has been removed from the top of the small intestine (pink) to show the space "behind the stomach".
Applying the anatomical visuals with felt experience (aka "embodied anatomy") I notice the value of this practice for:
Learning to be with "emptiness". The feeling of being hollow in the belly, which I've noticed when resting on the abdomen of long-time dancers, feels to me like my organs have dropped away from my diaphragm. My stomach feels empty. A strong association with hunger, enables me to be with the sensation of openness and uncertainty, without needing to "fill the void".
Accepting the longing to feel at one with another, as I imagine I experienced in embryo, I feel "plugged in" to another source, in which I'm able to be that source to another (my sweet feline companion).
Anxiety, stomach ulceration, loneliness, fear.
Fear of abandonment. Preoccupied anxiety.
History of trauma, especially related to loss of a parent / significant other.
Relational pattern of dependence / co-dependence.
Spiritual emptiness.
"Never enough-ness"
Never feeling full
A Personal Somatic Experience of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen's Embryonic Breathing:
In my first (return) experience, the sensations of Bonnie's "rivulette's" opening through the right side, initiating a more embodied listening with my liver, which held some fear before now.
In my second practice, I focus on "effortlessness" and enter into a deep relaxation which lasts the fullness of the day.
In the third practice, this morning, I use it to respond to a rising panic, a long-held pattern of preoccupied anxiety in relation to the "feeling of being left / abandoned". It meets my need for comfort, ease and focus, opening me up to new ways of "being seen". My feline companion notices the difference and she opens her soft belly to comfort with me.
A Mammal's Experience of Co-Regulation in response to a close companion's Embryonic Breathing:
Usually, she kicks her legs to push me away from her belly. I imagine this to be a response to her experience of having her womb removed at the rescue shelter before we brought her home.
Today she lies in a way she never has before. Her legs resting in the cradle of mine. She stays for a long time.
After deep stillness, with only a subtle vibration in her legs (as also through mine), her feet twitch almost impercebly, as does her little face. Her hips release a little, and she completes the cycle by sitting her pelvis in mine.
We groom her fur together for some time.
There's a sweetness about her at this point. Her face gets extra long and she seems to have relaxed back into herself.
It's only on reflecting the data I've captured, that I notice the video when she FIRST joins me on the couch. Hard to know if I'm reading to much into it, but given the closeness we inevitably shared through the whole day, it sums up my experience of the attunement
....I'm interested to hear your thoughts.
Finally, this image sums up the sensation I feel after practicing embryonic breathing. Like a cool, clear, opening where the diagram is blue.
My hot tea flows straight down this newly opened track. Confirming. Clarifying. Refreshing.
My shoulders no longer move as I breathe. I no longer feel "puffed up" in my chest. I hear gentle and regular gurgling like thanks from my upper gastric region. Each gurgle both satisfying and stimulating.
Like a ravenous hunger. An efficient furnace. Agni at her best.
If you give it a try, please leave a comment. There's nothing like sharing words around our innermost experiences for making sense of life's awe-inspriredness.
I'm Alexis Dennehy, Trauma-Informed Practitioner with 20+ years of Somatic- & Integrative- Health Care. My feline friend and I are custodians of "Dhamma Gamil" (Place of Safety) in the folds of Maiwar River. Join us here for an Experience Labs & other emerging adventures.
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