Written by Brittney McKinley, Floral Wellness Designer
Brittney McKinley is the world's first Floral Wellness Designer and founder of Contained Stems, but her expertise extends far beyond her knowledge of flowers. She is award-nominated, a certified breath-work coach, and published author and poet of books Flowers with Benefits and Love Notes.
If you think about it, we can't do anything without our breath. Our breath is often referred to as our life source because it simply is. When I started exploring breathwork, it was to heal myself. I had been suffering from common breathing dysfunctions like shallow breathing and breath-holding for quite some time because of anxiety.
It was about this time last year when I was in pre-launch for my company, Contained Stems, and the deadlines I'd set for myself started to sink in and become real. I didn't have a playbook to go off of, being the first one in my immediate family to explore the journey of entrepreneurship. For those who may not be familiar with my work, Contained Stems focuses on the wellness aspect of floral design, designing pieces, spaces, and experiences that enhance our emotional and mental well-being. I am the first Floral Wellness Designer in the world, so on top of being the first entrepreneur in my family, there wasn't anyone to mirror in my field who shared my outlook. This quickly contributed to the feeling of imposter syndrome that impacted my breath. I understood I could not sustain feeling the way I did, so I turned to breathwork practices for help.
Regulating the nervous system with our breath
I enrolled in a mindfulness course, The Mindfulness Code, with The Inner Mind Institute to learn skills for mindful breathing. The course was instructed by Master Niels, a former Buddhist Monk residing in The Neverlands. During the course, I learned natural and conscious breathing practices for observing the breath and for minor and major emotional upsets. I learned to sit with myself and my breath while regulating my nervous system simultaneously. The course made way for a lot of internal reflection, and although it wasn't about meditation, the experience was meditative. I found a zen inside myself that was much needed to help carry me through the current season I was in. The season had much to do with pivoting, uncertainty, and remaining versatile which could send anyone's nervous system into an uproar. I realized it wasn't about having a calm nervous system because that isn't feasible. You will experience situations in life that will disrupt your peace. Your role is to develop skills and if possible, use your internal resources to regulate your nervous system as triggers arise.
Layering on the practices
The more I sat with the concept of breathwork, the more I understood that we can't do anything without our breath. If you work out, you're encouraged to breathe. But, why? Breathing deeply and regularly helps to add fluidity to your exercise. It helps your muscles to relax and ease into the practice instead of causing more strain. Breathing helps you release carbon dioxide so that our bodies have the new energy needed to fuel what you're doing. If you've ever taken a yoga class, you may hear instructors tell you to breathe into an area of your body such as your feet. In my studies and conversations with my clients, I realized that can take people out of the experience because they don't understand what that means – how does one breathe into their foot? Breathing into areas of your body that aren't within the yogic chamber [stomach, ribs/lungs, chest] can feel impossible if you're thinking about it from a literal perspective. The goal here is to bring attention to the area of the body that you're focusing on, like your foot, and breathe deeply into your yogic chamber.
Although beautiful, I understood my experience with The Inner Mind Institute wasn't enough. I enrolled in a breathwork certification course with The Whole Health Project, where I became certified twice as a Breathwork Coach and Trauma-Awareness Facilitator. The course provided an understanding of breathing foundations, breathing dysfunctions, the nervous system, empowering communities, and guiding from a non-triggering perspective. This was the perfect addition to Contained Stems and also helped me with more ways to heal myself. Adding breathwork to Contained Stems provided a tangible connection between breathing and integrating with all healing modalities while working seamlessly with floral healing. I include floral elements in all my breathwork sessions and guided floral meditations that I facilitate for my clients in person and online. In my sessions with my clients, I combine my experiences with The Whole Health Project, The Inner Mind Institute, and my take on exploring this practice.
Now that you have a background of my journey with breathwork and how it ties into Contained Stems, let's take a look at what breathwork is, signs that you may benefit from breathwork exercises, and how you can experience sessions with me, no matter where you are in the world!
What is breathwork?
Breathwork is the conscious practice of being aware of your breath and utilizing it as a tool to help regulate your stress, emotions, and mood and move stagnant energy from your body to improve your overall well-being. There is no wonder when you're upset, someone tells you to breathe. Breathwork isn't just for calming you down though, it also can be a tool for energizing you and beginning your day or whenever you need a pick me up. Breathwork is a practice you can perform anywhere – whether you're driving, working at your computer, or meditating you can always bring the breath. Breathwork takes you out of your sympathetic nervous system, meaning you aren't operating in your fight, flight, or fawn responses where your body feels there is an active threat it needs to keep you safe from. Once out of your sympathetic nervous system, your body feels safe to be in the parasympathetic nervous system to rest and digest. Although you can't live solely in one or the other, it is important to understand the functions of each system and how to use them as resources throughout your day. When you're practicing healing modalities like meditation, focusing on your breath can be a great way to ground you into your practice and feel sensations of your breath moving in and out of your nostrils or expanding and deflating your belly. When you breathe a full breath, you can breathe deep into your diaphragm which helps massage your inner organs. Your inner organs surrounding your diaphragm involve your digestion and gut functions that are directly linked to your brain functions. Poor gut and brain functions can lead to mental and emotional imbalances over time.
Signs that you may benefit from breathwork
Chronic stress: If you're experiencing persistent stress, anxiety, or tension, breathwork techniques can help activate the body's relaxation response, reducing stress hormones like cortisol.
Shallow breathing: Breathing primarily into the chest rather than the diaphragm can lead to shallow breathing, which may contribute to feelings of fatigue, anxiety, and tension. Breathwork can help you relearn how to breathe deeply and fully.
Difficulty relaxing: If you find it challenging to relax or unwind, incorporating breathwork practices such as deep breathing or guided meditation can help induce a state of relaxation and calm.
Poor sleep quality: Irregular breathing patterns or stress can disrupt sleep patterns, leading to poor sleep quality or insomnia. Breathwork before bedtime can help calm the mind and body, promoting better sleep.
Overwhelm: Feeling overwhelmed by daily life, responsibilities, or emotions can indicate a need for tools to manage stress and cultivate a sense of calm. Breathwork techniques can provide a grounding practice to help navigate overwhelming moments.
Difficulty concentrating: If you're struggling to concentrate or find yourself easily distracted, incorporating breathwork practices can help increase focus and mental clarity by calming the mind and reducing mental chatter.
Emotional imbalance: Breathwork can be a powerful tool for processing and releasing emotions. If you're experiencing frequent mood swings, irritability, or emotional imbalance, breathwork practices can help you connect with and regulate your emotions.
Physical tension or pain: Chronic physical tension or pain, such as tension headaches, tight muscles, or jaw clenching, can be exacerbated by stress and shallow breathing patterns. Breathwork can help release physical tension and promote relaxation throughout the body.
Feeling disconnected: If you feel disconnected from your body, emotions, or surroundings, breathwork can help you cultivate a deeper sense of awareness and connection by focusing on the breath as an anchor to the present moment.
Desire for self-exploration: Whether you're seeking personal growth, spiritual exploration, or a deeper understanding of yourself, breathwork can be a valuable tool for self-exploration and introspection, allowing you to access deeper layers of consciousness and insight.
How can you experience sessions with me?
Breathwork can be a gateway to better communication, more life fulfillment, and more flow with your day-to-day.
I have offerings both in person in Dallas Texas and virtually to reach a global audience. My offerings include a variety of one-on-one, group, couple, corporate, prenatal, post-natal, women's work, men's work, life transitions, and children's work. My breathwork sessions are designed to be reflective and a resource for regulating your mental and emotional health.
Sessions include exploring breathwork exercises while allowing space to feel in the body what's happening. In each session, there is space to journal to understand the true journey of self-expression, self-discovery, and knowing where you may be storing tension/stagnant energy in your body to be released. The sessions conclude with a floral meditation with floral elements to deepen the practice. I often refer to the experience as journeying back to ourselves. I've also observed how humans tend to count themselves out before starting a new experience. I've observed clients say: "I'm not creative", "I don't know what I'm doing", and "My breathing doesn't look like yours." I've found breathwork helps calm negative chatter within the mind before doing something creative – this way you show up as your best self. I merged these experiences with our Floral Wellness Workshops, Breath-Work And Poetry sessions, and confidence workshop-A Walk In Confidence.
Brittney McKinley, Floral Wellness Designer
Specializing in the art of floral healing, Brittney saw the need to change the outlook of floristry by connecting the curation of flowers and designing spaces back to our emotional and mental well-being. Through experiences of the brand, Contained Stems focuses on creating safe oases where clients feel inspired and guided to creation, expression, connection, and a sense of community. As a thought leader, she believes inspiration can be sourced from any where and hosts containers to honor our life-force and creative writing, along with a Floral Healing Master course on mindful design and floral connection to our well-being.
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