Today we’d like to introduce you to Bonnie Biagioli.
Hi Bonnie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been a breathwork practitioner for about 3 years. But I’ve had a personal breathwork practice since 2019. I began to use breathwork when I’d have anxiety attacks. I tried medication but it didn’t touch it. A friend told me about breathwork and how it could help me. Then I remembered a good friend years ago would do specific breathing techniques when she would get panic attacks. I remember it helping her so much. So I decided I had nothing to lose and tried it.
I started with an 11 minute Wim Hof video on YouTube. There were times I was paralyzed with anxiety, not being able to move off the sofa. I would do this video and felt 2% better. So I’d do it again, and again, and again. Until I could manage. Other times when the anxiety wasn’t so bad, but definitely present I would do this video and it would completely go away (in 11 minutes!). Sometimes as I was breathing, I would get this awareness of what exactly was causing it in the first place. I was amazed how well it worked for me. Sometimes it wouldn’t go away completely but I was at least not paralyzed with the sensation, not being able to move and could go about my day.
Then in 2021 I started working with the plant medicine ayahuasca. This retreat I attended offered breathwork. It was a longer session, about an hour. I remember hating at first, thinking breathwork was so dumb and not doing anything for me. I attended this retreat a few different times over the years, getting so mad that “nothing was happening”, while people around me were having these euphoric experiences. As time went on, I was doing different healing modalities (like yoga, therapy, journaling, and still that 11 min. Wim Hof video), I started to figure out I was resistant to it because I didn’t feel safe in my body. A longer session like that felt unknown to my nervous system. So through lots of nervous system regulation tools, I began to feel safe in my body. Then during one breathwork session, I had a breakthrough. It was such a beautiful, cathartic release. I continued to have these really powerful experiences in breathwork, just like I was having in plant medicine ceremonies. I knew then I needed to share this with people. One thing that was clear is ayahuasca and other plant medicines aren’t for everyone. But we all breathe and our breath is with us everyday and can serve us in really beautiful ways. Breathwork is the only other modality that can have the same healing effect as psychedelics.
In the beginning of 2023 I did my first certification. It was really incredible and humbling to witness people during their sessions release so much and find peace.
I quickly realized something was missing with these sessions. Clients would feel great for a day or 3 and then right back to that stressful state. Breathwork has been sort of a buzz word over the past few years. But there’s so much more to it than just what you see online with people having these wild releases.
I began to dig deeper and learn how our breath connects the body and the brain. How the nervous system uses the breath to communicate with the brain. How most of us are breathing in very dysfunctional ways that are keeping us in stressful states. Really having a detrimental effect on our health.
My practice has evolved over the years to teach people breath awareness and how they can really harness the power of the breath in their favor. Whether it be for anxiety, pain, stress or performance – if we can befriend the breath, it can become our super power. Finding our breath gives us space. In that space we can respond vs. react. When we can respond instead of reacting, we find growth and freedom.
We have more control over our own mind and body than we’ve been taught. I love this quote by Jon Kabat Zinn, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” Our breath allows us to handle what’s coming at us. It doesn’t mean the stress and noise stops but at least we can handle it on our terms.
The breath is a way we learn to surf.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not! The whole reason I got into any of this healing work was because for the first time in my life I struggled with anxiety (which I already mentioned ) and also depression. It all began 8 years ago after a big life event turned me upside down. I didn’t understand what was happening to me or why seemingly out of the blue, I was experiencing mental health struggles. At the time my only tools were avoiding and alcohol. So needless to say, that didn’t get me anywhere and the depression was getting worse. I wasn’t depressed 24/7 but each time an episode would come, it was worse than the last one. And it really began to scare me with the road I was heading down. For 2 years this went on and then I did something about it. It was so confusing to me. Before this event happened, I felt great and was thriving. Then I wasn’t. I decided I need help. Me asking for help and finding it is when things started to not look so bad. I didn’t feel like I was drowning anymore. It took a lot of work and determination to crawl myself up. And there were set backs along the way. The first few years of doing the work, I felt like I was taking 1 step forward, 2 back or 1 steps forward and 4 back. But I knew what I was doing was helping and it motivated me to keep walking forward. Using my tools like breathwork and going therapy were life savors (plus others). They kept me from drowning. They allowed me to see the light at the end of the tunnel and understand what was happening. Of course, life isn’t totally perfect and have my times when I don’t feel so great but with the tools I’ve learned (because I learned to surf the waves of life) I’m able to handle what comes at me and thrive.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My focus is on breath awareness and nervous system regulation. We live in our heads so much of the time and we must get in the body. Learn to hear how the body is communicating with us. Our body has so much wisdom for us, we just have to learn to listen.
Along with 1 on 1 clients and group sessions guiding breathwork, I host corporate events, workshops, and women’s retreats (my next retreat is in May!). A lot of the time I incorporate sound healing in my sessions. I’ve found that using sound is a great addition when guiding breathing sessions and a great regulating tool at the end. I love working with communities of people! It’s so nice when everyone is on the same page at the work place or within families. When we have that support with pears or partners, we are more likely to keep going, remember our tools, and use them.
What sets me apart is the deep dive I do with clients how they’re breathing and nervous system. No one has the same nervous system or capacity. I meet the client where they’re at. This isn’t cookie cutter and each person is so unique in their needs.
What I want readers to know is they have choice in how they are feeling and the breath is the bridge. Anxiety and stress isn’t a life sentence and they have the ability to take their power back. It does take some dedication but once you gain awareness, it’s a tool you always have with you.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
As I reflect on this question, I feel a lot of gratitude for what I’ve gone through the last 8 years. It’s completely shifted what matters in my life. Maybe age has something to do it with it as well. But life is short and goes really, really fast. I want to enjoy life as much as possible – have fun, be silly, laugh, and love. Love myself and be as authentic as I can, unapologetically me. So I can show up as the best version of me, and hopefully it gives others permission to do the same. My friends and family matter and I want to spend as much time with them as I can. They bring me so much joy. As do my 2 sweet dogs, Speedy & Cora. Like I said, life is short and tomorrow isn’t a guarantee. As I get older my health matters more and more too. I want to be healthy and strong as I age. It’s a privilege and I don’t want to take it for granted. Health is the ability to choose. These are some of the things that matter to me and add value to my life each day!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.withbonnie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bonniebiagioli/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bonnie.blankenship.908
Image Credits
Samantha Hobbs/Your Inner Wisdom
