Rebekah Porter
Arts Therapist &
Dramatherapist
Creative journeys for life
How it Works
Breathing Spaces are regular on-line sessions designed to create a mindful and meditative space to create calm from a Christian perspective.
45 minute sessions create space to lie down, relax, breathe and listen to scripture with enough time and space to genuinely absorb what is heard. There is also time for simple postural changes in order to connect creatively with the material and learn how to integrate the ingredients of the session - be that contentment or courage, help or hope, peace of mind and more.
As well as feeling the benefits during the session, the session content can be a take away tool for practicing a calm and resilient spiritual centre beyond each session.
Sessions are booked in advance and cost £7.50 which can be paid by Paypal.
Sessions are held on-line so that you can access them from the privacy of your own home and the peace of your own space.
They can be attended live in real time or pre recorded to use in your own time. Sessions are 45 minutes.
There is no need to have a camera or microphone on, the session is a resource for you to follow step by step.
Sessions begin with time to settle in and relax and practice breathing well. A focus of a particular theme and scripture is introduced and time taken to allow space to absorb the words and themes. After some time there is a shift in mode from relaxation to application using a range of postures. This can include breathing, sitting, standing and some simple moves and positions to enable the theme or words to become more established.
Any of these practices can be used in day to day life to develop a sense of calm and peace or to enrich your faith practices.
Get in touch to book a session and receive the Participation Information sheet or to join the mailing list.
Please note that Sessions are not therapy sessions and are run as classes. They are designed as an independent resource and don't offer any individual one-to-one support.
What people say
"Breathing Spaces...is very much what it says on the label, a space to breathe and to recalibrate in this hectic world.”
“I feel so relaxed and renewed.”
“I felt completely relaxed. I had a real peace.”
“Absolutely brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can definitely recommend it.”
“I have been suffering from insomnia and found that straight after the session I was so relaxed, I fell into a deep sleep.”
“I love the weekly experience of Breathing Spaces. It has enabled me to feel the whole benefit in my mind, body and spirit.”
Coming up
About the body
Advances in neuroscience this century have taught us so much about the interconnectedness between our bodies and our minds. Put simply our felt experiences play a vital role in our sense of well being. If we can feel more at ease physically our mind can start to catch up. Without this knowledge and putting it into practice life can feel like an uphill struggle. We know we need to feel less stressed or anxious, we know that the bible speaks of a peace that is there for us, but how do we experience it? How do we make it last before the next thing comes along to consume our thoughts or take over our feelings?
Working with the body helps us to actualise and realise what we need to feel in order for our minds to know it more fully. It takes us back to basics, just like the verse from the psalms which says :
“I have stilled and quietened my soul like a weaned child” Psalm 131:2
We don’t always give our selves the space we need to replenish or to recover, or simply to occupy a restful mental space. Breathing Spaces creates an opportunity to practice the abiding and dwelling we read about in the bible in body, mind and spirit.
Breathing is the most wonderful thing. Every breath we take is a wonderful act that both energises us (in breath) and relaxes us (out breath). Used well our breathing can alter and enhance our physiology improving both how we function and how we feel and think.
Because of its Christian philosophy, Breathing Spaces can enhance this physical breathing by combining it with the what we might refer to as the breath of God. The spiritual breath that if we make space for and take in can sustain us spiritually just as the physical breath sustains us physically.
This combined experience enables us to revive ourselves in a more integrated and complete way that attends to our mind, body and spirit together rather than compartmentalising our thoughts from our bodies and from our spiritual life.
We can easily intend to build time into our lives for peace and quiet, just like we can intend to exercise more or improve our eating habits. Breathing Spaces is about using the intention to set aside time and space to make it happen. Also, as you may well know, cultivating a peaceful state of mind (and body!) is not that easy. It is my experience that it is a practice and like any practice it takes time and repetition to develop. Building a regular practice into your life will help with all the ordinary moments in-between, times when you can know yourself and catch yourself and bring yourself back ‘on line’ to what is taught in Breathing Spaces as a ‘base place’ or put even more simply ‘home’.