When I discovered breathwork at age 19, I had no idea that this practice would not only transform my struggles with anxiety and disordered eating, but would eventually become the cornerstone of my approach to healing generational trauma. After 24 years as a breathwork practitioner and trauma specialist, I’ve witnessed how the patterns that shape our lives often began long before we were born.
Most healing modalities focus solely on individual experiences. But what if the anxiety, money blocks or relationship patterns you’re struggling with aren’t entirely yours? What if they’re echoes of trauma experienced by parents, grandparents or ancestors you’ve never met?
3 ways trauma passes through generations
Generational trauma isn’t just a psychological concept—it’s a lived reality that manifests in observable patterns. Throughout my work with hundreds of clients, I’ve identified three primary ways trauma transmits across generations.
Observed behaviours and conditioning
We learn how to navigate the world by watching our caregivers. For instance, a mother who constantly fears not having enough passes on a scarcity mindset to her children, even when there’s objective abundance in the family’s life.
Unconscious beliefs and emotional imprints
During our formative years, we absorb the unspoken emotional patterns in our environment. As an example, a child raised by a parent carrying deep shame will often internalize that emotion without understanding its origin.
Energetic and in utero experiences
Our earliest imprinting happens before birth. Environmental stressors and a mother’s emotional state during pregnancy create blueprints that shape our nervous system responses and baseline feeling states.
These transmission mechanisms explain why traditional talk therapy often reaches its limits. We can intellectually understand our life’s patterns while feeling powerless to change them, because part of their programming lies outside conscious awareness.
Breathwork unlocks generational healing
Unlike cognitive approaches that address only the thinking mind, breathwork creates a bridge to the body and the energy field where ancestral patterns are stored. This is why it’s uniquely powerful for generational healing purposes, and it provides four specific benefits.
Direct access to the subconscious
Specific breathwork patterns temporarily bypass the logical mind, allowing access to deeper layers of stored information and emotion.
The release of stored trauma
Trauma doesn’t just live in our memories—it’s held in our tissues, fascia and cellular memory. Breathwork creates ideal conditions for the physical release of these imprints.
A connection to the present moment
When we fully inhabit our breath, we enter the quantum field of possibility where transformation happens. From this space, we can witness ancestral patterns without being bound by them.
The creation of new energetic patterns
Breathwork doesn’t just clear old energy—it generates new energy patterns that replace outdated survival responses with authentic expression.
In my work, I’ve observed how breathwork can reveal unexpected connections between present struggles and ancestral experiences. One person discovered, during a breathwork session, that her relationship with alcohol wasn’t about the substance itself—it was connected to anxiety patterns inherited from a grandmother who had lived through severe economic hardship.
This insight dramatically shifted her perspective, and instead of seeing addiction as a personal failing, she was able to understand it as a coping mechanism for much older pain, which opened a new pathway towards healing.
An 5-step ancestral breath release practice
If you’re ready to begin addressing your ancestral patterns, here’s a simple breathwork practice you can try. These five steps will take you approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
Create sacred space
Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. You might light a candle to represent ancestral presence and support.
Set an intention
Before beginning, state your intention to release patterns that no longer serve you and your lineage. For example, “I intend to release the pattern of scarcity that has moved through my maternal line.”
Begin your breath pattern
Begin with deep belly breaths for one to two minutes to ground yourself. Then transition to a two-part breath: Inhale fully through the mouth, filling first the belly and then the chest in one continuous breath. Next, exhale through the mouth, releasing completely. Continue this pattern at a moderate pace.
Experience the release phase
After five to seven minutes, you may notice sensations arising—perhaps tingling, temperature changes or emotional waves. This is normal. Allow whatever emerges to do so without resistance, all the while knowing you’re releasing old energy patterns.
Finish with integration
Return to normal breathing when you feel complete (usually after 15 to 20 minutes). Place one hand on your heart and one on your belly. Thank your ancestors for their resilience and the opportunity to transform these patterns.
The combination of conscious intention with somatic release makes this practice particularly effective. You’re not trying to think your way out of generational patterns—you’re creating the best energetic conditions for transformation.
Ripple effects beyond the individual
The most remarkable aspect of generational healing work is its ripple effect. When one person in a family system transforms a pattern, it doesn’t just affect their life—it reverberates backward and forward through time.
The ripple effects can manifest in surprising ways. In another case I dealt with, breathwork helped reveal how an abandonment wound that had been inherited through a maternal line was affecting business confidence and mother-daughter dynamics. As this energetic pattern shifted through regular practice, financial blocks and family relationships simultaneously began to transform—a beautiful illustration of how inner work creates outer change.
This is the natural outcome of energy transformation. When you heal a pattern within yourself, you’re also healing it within the collective field of your family system.
Beginning your healing journey
As you consider your life patterns, I invite you to approach them with curiosity rather than judgment. The anxiety, perfectionism or relationship difficulties you’ve labelled as “just how I am” might be ancestral patterns awaiting transformation.
Start by asking yourself:
- What patterns do I see repeating across generations in my family?
- Where do I feel these patterns in my body?
- What might change in my life if these patterns were released?
Following that, commit to regular breathwork practice. Even 10 minutes per day will create momentum when it comes to breaking ancestral patterns. And remember—when you heal yourself, you’re simultaneously healing past, present and future generations.
The work of generational healing through breathwork isn’t just personal transformation. It’s a profound act of service to your entire lineage.
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