With their Breath and Restore events, Erin Telford and Pepper Monroe are blending two healing modalities with magical results. They explain how…Image: Sofia Ajram
Breathe and Restore
HOW DO THESE TWO PRACTICES – BREATHWORK AND RESTORATIVE YOGA – WORK IN TANDEM?
Erin: We put this combination together because it was the kind of healing session we were craving – but had no idea how magical it would be until we held our first gathering. I’m a Sagittarius and Pepper is a Taurus so these practices are infused with the elements of Fire and Earth. The Breathwork opens, moves, and transforms energy. Restorative yoga then allows for deep integration and grounding of the information this releases. It’s like riding an energetic wave that brings you way up and then gently back down.
Pepper: Exactly, the Breathwork takes us simultaneously high and deep, and after we land on a cosmic pillow of comfort and unwavering support with the Restorative Yoga. Erin’s work excavates our deeply rooted patterns, stories and beliefs and brings them to the surface. The Restorative Yoga gives us time to sit with all of our intentions and gently settle into our process so we can emerge a stronger version of ourselves, with more clarity and wholeness in our hearts.
ERIN, HOW DO YOU CHOOSE WHAT OILS AND HERBS TO WORK WITH?
Everybody gets Open Heart (heart chakra) and Sexual Healing (sacral chakra) oils put on their body, since those are the main areas that open up with the breath. I also watch people’s bodies to see where there may be tension, and I’ll use Flow (third chakra) around people’s jaws, mouths and shoulders if they are tightening up. I also use Expression (throat chakra) before we howl!
I use white sage to get energy open and moving, and Palo Santo to clear each person as they are releasing a lot of emotion. Finally, I bring in some sweetgrass to ease people’s transition from the active breathing back into easy, relaxed breath.
WHAT KIND OF INTENTIONS SHOULD PEOPLE BRING TO WORK WITH?
Erin: The only intention you need is to surrender to the process, let yourself be surprised and love yourself through it! The beautiful thing about Breathwork is that it taps into your body’s wisdom and ability to self heal. You may arrive with something you are working with, but your spirit may have other plans.
Pepper: People should bring with them whatever their soul and heart are crying out for and an enormous amount of love and willingness. We are arriving and aligning together on generous and settled territory with developed compassion for each other’s process and a full-bodied vulnerability that is completely backed and truly magical!
PHYSIOLOGICALLY, WHAT’S HAPPENING DURING THE SESSION?
Erin: The science-y explanation of Breathwork is that the oxygenation of the body stimulates the hypothalamus to release endorphins, and that’s what causes you to feel a lovely natural high. What’s really going on is that you are inviting the vibration of Love into your body and opening to Spirit. This light frequency can drive out the denser energy in your physical vessel, leaving you completely blissed out and tingling from head to toe.
Pepper: It takes about 15 minutes for the average person to relax and the heart rate to slow down. With the Restorative practice, we enter into a space of immense stillness and quiet for an extended period of time. The gross body, personality and cellular body sense for a moment that there is next to nothing to do and an opportunity to fully experience supported surrender. We teeter somewhere between awake and asleep and allow the nervous system a chance to respond in a more subtle way.
Undisturbed and un-rushed, the body can physically heal and switch over to a more restful state. Inside this stillness there’s an illumination and recognition of our truest presence, and a place of private integration and appreciation for all that we bravely encounter during the Breathwork. It’s really just a yummy place of ease, and knowing that everything is actually going to be okay and we are all in this together.
Your healing guides: Pepper Monroe (left) and Erin Telford
WHAT KIND OF BREAKTHROUGHS HAVE YOU SEEN IN YOUR OWN LIVES AS A RESULT OF THIS WORK?
Erin: I can barely recognize myself and I’ve only been studying/doing Breathwork for a year and a half! This practice has enabled me to truly be seen without shame, to dissolve fear and take more risks, to become more comfortable with my vulnerability, and to take my place as a leader and a teacher. Before I found this work, I was too afraid to teach on my own. The idea of all eyes on me felt terrifyingly vulnerable. Now, I teach with joy and ease, and I even sang in front of a group for the very first time this summer!
This work dissolves everything that is standing in your way of really living your life. We all carry emotional pain, anxiety, insecurity, and trauma. Breathwork brings it all up to be transmuted into something you can use to propel your life forward. My relationships are also more intimate, as I’ve cleared a lot of what makes relating difficult out of my heart.
Pepper: The practice of Restorative Yoga has changed the chemistry inside my brain and rewired my central nervous system. Before, I was riddled with anxiety, living from a skewed concept of time. I found myself getting super stressed and carried away with a quicker momentum that was unfamiliar and not my own. Inviting myself into a still point with quiet and much lower stimulation, I have been able to reset my thought patterns and bring an enormous amount of space to my interior life.
My levels of openness have expanded. All of that stubbornness has transferred into willingness. I’ve learned that being in such a simplified space truly allows me to accept myself and my efforts kindly and with an enormous amount of trust, understanding and love. Each time I practice or teach Restorative, I approach myself with measureless grace, encounter my essential nature and re-align with my native rhythm again.
AS PRACTITIONERS, WHY DOES YOUR WORK AND STYLE COMPLIMENT EACH OTHER SO WELL?
Erin: Neither of us do the “I’m so evolved” thing as teachers – we’re human beings and we’re doing the work, exactly like the brave and wonderful people who come to our gatherings. We are also both ferociously committed to introspection and gentle self-examination. Our partnership values vulnerability, growth, accountability, presence, expansion, creativity, love, and trusting the fluidity of the process. Since we’re coming from the same vibration, it’s joyful and easy for us to blend our energies in our teaching.
Pepper: We’re both seeking happiness and a healthy existence. Erin and I are wildly passionate and committed to creating conditions that make deep healing safe and possible, and with hopes of connecting to something much larger than any one workshop or event.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE OF HEALING, AS MORE AND MORE PRACTITIONERS EXPERIMENT WITH MERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN THIS WAY?
Erin: The future of healing is a little lighter, moving toward what feels good and bringing some laughter into the equation. We’ve all been doing so much hard work on ourselves for so long – clearing, purging and looking within. It’s easy to forget that we’re also here to have a good time! The more open our hearts are, the more creative and loving we can be and this spirit naturally lends itself to some really beautiful meldings of different teachings. I think every being needs a whole crew of healers to call on – and it makes so much sense to be able to receive different types/levels of healing all in one experience!
Pepper: The world of healing is full of possibility right now. Powerful social and individual mending is being made available, and stronger communal bonds are being developed. People really want to be better lovers, friends, etc. and are seeking ways to gather knowledge and practice self-healing. Having access to deeper healing experiences and pathways to that reality gives us space to make big, supported decisions, will lead to cleaner, more successful lives together.
Breath & Restore: A Healing Gathering will take place at Wanderlust Hollywood as part of our Numinous Presents series on November 6 2015. Get full details + how to sign up at the link.
