The Deep Exhale
A guided breathwork experience to help you pause, reconnect and create a little more space
The deep exhale is my breathwork offering at Thrive in Therapy.
Using a combination of simple breathing practices, awareness and gentle movement, I create experiences that give you permission to step away from the constant thinking, doing and holding for a while.
There is nothing to achieve and no particular state you need to reach.
You do not need to breathe perfectly, completely relax or have a profound emotional experience.
Everything I offer is an invitation, allowing you to explore what feels comfortable and supportive for you.
What is the deep exhale?
The deep exhale is not one fixed breathwork session.
It is a collection of breathwork experiences which can be restorative, reflective or completely personalised depending on what you are looking for.
Some practices may feel slow and settling, while others may involve rhythm, movement or a little more energy.
You can keep your eyes open, change position, alter the pace, return to your natural breathing or stop at any time.
My approach centres around curiosity, choice and listening to what you need.
Breathwork may support you to:
- Slow down after periods of stress or feeling activated
- Create some space from racing thoughts and mental busyness
- Reconnect with your body and breath
- Support relaxation and winding down
- Develop greater focus and presence
- Explore practical breathing tools for everyday life
- Simply create some intentional time for yourself
Everyone experiences breathwork differently, so there is no right or wrong response.
Choose your deep exhale
There are currently four ways to experience the deep exhale.
The deep exhale – signature experience
An immersive group breathwork experience designed to let you stop, soften and be looked after for a while.
The signature deep exhale is about much more than simply learning breathing techniques.
From the moment you arrive, the experience is intentionally unhurried.
You will have time to settle into a comfortable space before I gently guide you through different ways of working with the breath.
This may include breath awareness, rhythmic breathing, extended exhales, gentle movement and periods of complete stillness.
Some parts may feel calming and restful. Others may feel more energising.
There is no particular response you are expected to have.
The breathwork gradually gives way to a period of deep rest and integration, allowing you time to simply lie still, breathe naturally and let the experience settle.
The session finishes slowly rather than rushing you back into everyday life, with tea, optional reflection and thoughtful touches designed to help you carry a little of the deep exhale home with you.
There is never any requirement to share something personal with the group.
This may suit you if you are looking for relaxation, reconnection, an introduction to breathwork or simply some time where nothing is being asked of you.
The deep exhale – Seven breaths journey
A longer, deeply reflective breathwork and meditation experience through different chapters of your life.
Seven breaths is the more introspective deep exhale experience.
Through guided meditation, gentle breathwork and spacious periods of reflection, I will invite you to move through different chapters of your story — exploring family influences, your beginnings, childhood, adolescence, becoming an adult, and eventually returning to the person you are today. This is a quiet, inward journey; whatever arises is yours to hold privately within the meditation, with no expectation to put it into words or share it aloud.
The seven breaths approach explores experiences, needs, strengths and patterns that can develop through different stages of life. You may be invited to gently consider questions such as:
- What did I need at this stage of my life?
- What strengths did I develop?
- What did I learn about myself?
- Were there parts of myself that became quieter or hidden?
- What might I want that younger version of me to know now?
These themes are drawn from the reflective element of the seven breaths practice.
After the guided journey, the words gradually fall away and we move into The deep exhale itself — a gentle extended-exhale practice followed by stillness and integration.
You do not need to understand or analyse everything that comes up.
Sometimes simply noticing is enough.
Seven breaths is a two-hour experience, giving us plenty of time to arrive, journey, breathe, rest and return without rushing.
The deep exhale – Bespoke 1:1
A breathwork experience created around you.
You do not need to know which breathing technique you want before you arrive.
We begin with how you are feeling and what you would like from your session.
You might want to explore breathwork to help you:
- Wind down and prepare for sleep
- Create space from stress or overwhelm
- Feel more grounded
- Slow a busy mind
- Support focus and presence
- Reconnect with your body
- Explore something more energising
- Simply experience breathwork privately for the first time
From there, I will choose and adapt practices that may support that intention.
This might include natural breath awareness, diaphragmatic breathing, rhythmic breathing, extended exhales, breath and body awareness or gentle movement.
The session is not rigidly scripted.
If something feels supportive, we can stay with it.
If something doesn’t feel right for you, we change it.
My role is to guide and offer possibilities rather than decide how you should breathe or how you should feel afterwards.
This may suit you if you would prefer privacy, want a personalised introduction to breathwork or have a particular intention you would like the session shaped around.
The deep exhale – private groups
Bring the deep exhale to your own group.
Private deep exhale experiences can be created for existing groups who would like to experience breathwork together.
This might include:
- Groups of friends
- Workplace or wellbeing groups
- Retreats
- Existing communities
- Private gatherings
Rather than offering one fixed package, we can discuss what you would like the experience to feel like and shape the session accordingly.
A private group could be:
- Restful and deeply relaxing
- Designed around slowing down after a demanding period
- An introduction to breathwork
- More energising and movement-based
- Based around elements of the signature deep exhale
- Developed into a longer and more immersive experience
The same principles apply throughout: choice, autonomy, no pressure to share and space for different people to experience breathwork differently.
Where appropriate, private groups can also incorporate some of the sensory elements of the deep exhale, including music, comfortable rest, tea and a gentle closing ritual.
Private groups are tailored individually, so please get in touch to discuss your group, location and what you have in mind.
A trauma-sensitive approach
I take a trauma-sensitive, person-centred and choice-led approach to breathwork.
Focusing on the breath and body can feel very different from person to person.
For some people, it feels calming. For others, turning attention inward can initially feel unfamiliar or uncomfortable.
Choice remains central throughout.
You can:
- Keep your eyes open
- Change your position
- Alter the pace
- Move your body
- Focus on something external
- Return to your natural breathing
- Choose not to take part in a particular practice
- Pause or stop completely
I will never ask you to push through discomfort.
My breathwork training & approach
My breathwork training includes foundational breathing techniques, breath and body awareness, nervous-system awareness, trauma sensitivity, session structure, ethics, accessibility, contraindications and working with both individuals and groups.
Breathwork and counselling remain separate practices.
A deep exhale session is not a counselling session, and I will not analyse or interpret what you experience.
However, my counselling background naturally influences the way I hold the space — with curiosity, clear boundaries, warmth and respect for your individual experience.
Is breathwork suitable for everyone?
Many of the breathwork practices I use are gentle and adaptable, although some techniques may need to be modified or avoided depending on individual health circumstances.
Before your session, I will ask about relevant health information so that I can consider suitability and make appropriate adaptations.
Where something falls outside my professional scope, I may recommend speaking with an appropriate medical or mental-health professional before taking part.
Breathwork can be a supportive wellbeing practice, but it does not replace medical or psychological treatment.
Not sure which deep exhale is right for you?
You do not need to decide before getting in touch.
You may already know that you want an individual session or a particular group experience.
Or you may simply be curious about breathwork and have no idea where to start.
Use the enquiry form and tell me a little about what has drawn you to the deep exhale or what you are hoping for.
We can then decide together whether the signature experience, seven breaths Journey, bespoke 1:1 or private group feels like the best fit for you.