Healing with Reanne

written by Carin Garland

Outside it’s raining. Again. The weather is frigid. I am hyper aware of a blanket being placed across me. I am doing my best to focus my attention on my breath. In through the mouth, out through the mouth. Diaphragm, chest, exhale. Repeat. The sounds of the rain against the window distracts me. I estimate how long I have been breathing for. Thirty minutes? My mind wanders to my busy schedule. Mentally calculating how on God’s green earth I am going to fit all my photoshoots in this month. In this weather!

The beautiful, haunting sounds of Nessi Gomes singing reverberates around the room. Keep breathing. The distractions have started to fade. Images, memories, emotions held onto, pushed deep into the parts of me I share with no one begin to rise. The devastation.

I am in the bedroom with my husband, Steven. Listening to his dying breath. Somehow, it feels like my breathing has synchronised with his last. I am back in the room whispering goodbyes to last a lifetime. To carry with him to wherever his soul is going next.

With a three-year-old son to look after, I did not give myself permission nor the time to heal. To breathe. To dig deep and deal with my emotions, my regrets, my pain. The unjustness of it all. Yet here they are, almost 6 years later, bubbling to the surface and flowing down my cheeks. The relief I feel to let go and release is immeasurable. The reassuring voice of Réanne Goes is in my ear. I am safe. I am cared for. I am in good hands. And so, for the first time, I don’t run from the emotions. I lean into them.

Whilst breathing is the most vital thing that keeps us alive, somehow so many of us in our busy, harried lives have forgotten (much less learned) how to breathe beyond anything that is superficial. It is a means to an end, so we give it no thought, yet directing the breath (the practive of Prana) with intent has been a technique well used for thousands of years in ancient and spiritual practices. Far from being limited to yoga alone, Shamanic or circular breathing relieves emotional baggage, transforms the mental state, reduces stress and anxiety and takes our body out of fight-or-flight mode (thereby reducing our adrenaline and cortisol levels) and is a form of conscious meditation.

Today my session with Cacao Breathwork, B.E.S.T, ERCS and eDNA facilitator, Réanne began with a ceremonial cup of Peruvian Cacao. It feels like a sacred ritual in itself and is a quick way of bonding whilst also being highly nutritive and restorative for the body.

An opener for the heart chakra, Cacao is rich in properties such as chemical compound theobromine (increases blood flow specifically to the heart and brain), improves focus, is packed with antioxidants (40 times that of blueberries), is high in iron, calcium and magnesium and is scientifically proven to contain naturally occurring bliss out chemicals, serotonin, tyrosine, tryptophan and phenylethylamine.

On this cold and dreary day, it was warmly welcomed; my fingers gladly wrapped around the mug, absorbing its heat and was a perfect way to begin the transformative work.

Working in the medical industry for 25 years, conversing with surgeons and specialists on the daily, Réanne has successfully stood with a “foot in each world”, finding and successfully striking balance between both allopathic and holistic practices.

It was through her own heartbreak and tragedy that led Réanne on a journey of self-discovery and healing. Seeking solace, comfort and transformation through breathwork and techniques B.E.S.T (Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique), ERCS (Emotional Release Cellular Support) and eDNA Techniques. Having found transformative healing herself using these modalities, she is deeply passionate and driven when it comes to helping others achieve similar results.

0433 155 435 cacao.breathwork.com activatehealingalchemy.com.au

Our minds are a little like a computer, multiple mental “tabs” remain open and the emotional traumas keep subconsciously running somewhere in the background without us consciously recognising the negative impact they are having on our physical, mental and emotional states.

On a sub-conscious level, many of us carry with us the burdens and hurts from birth and childhood traumas, toxic relationships, grief and stress.

Rather than patients having to verbally unpack and relive experiences, Réanne instead incorporates techniques that work on a subconscious, energetic level. Not unlike some Eastern practices, pressure is applied to specific points on the head and body as patients recall stressful memories. The goal is to manipulate the body’s energy in a way that brings about a healthy “rewiring” of the brain. Then, as mental issues are resolved, the brain stops sending unhealthy signals to the body. The end result is reduced pain and improved functionality and negative experiences are passively “cleared” but not erased.

With this clearing practice, our mind and body can divert the new-found energy to positive goals such as healing, energising the psyche as well as resetting negative belief systems surrounding, love, relationships and money. As I write this, the rain has thankfully passed. Sunshine pours in through my home and I can’t help but draw upon the parallels of my session with Réanne. I had been carrying around with me not only the grief of losing my husband and father of my child, but experiences from childhood to adulthood, not always recognising my emotions were affecting my mental and physical state of being. I’ve sent the bad weather packing and let the sun shine in. With help from facilitators like Réanne we can spiritually evolve and recover from the tough times whilst learning how to live and breathe again, inviting the good stuff in, and systemically letting go of the rest.

Scenic Road Magazine Creative Director and Photographer Carin Garland