As clients, we want to know if we can ‘like, know and trust’ the businesses we buy from and the people whose services we use, so in this series we talk to the Changemakers who are making a difference in the world and ask them to step out into the spotlight to tell us their story.
It’s the turn of Alison Waring from York Natural Health and Author of Breathe with Ease
Tell us about yourself and what you do…
Having felt amazing after my first osteopathic treatment at 8 years old from my grandfather, I followed a childhood dream to become an osteopath. After graduating I realised I wanted to take a more holistic approach to health than simply realigning the body and decided to undertake further training in guided meditation to help support emotional wellbeing, a traditional form of naturopathy known as Nature Cure to support natural healing using whole food nutrition and fasting, water, sunlight and exercise. Following on from that I trained in clinical hypnotherapy, Buteyko breathing and Rebirthing.
All of these modalities have informed the development of Dynamic Breath Release. This uses the breath to help release old belief systems and emotions that may have held you back from experiencing your full potential.
How did you get started?
I was inspired to help others because of having suffered childhood asthma and allergies and was looking for a solution to help chronic health problems. Everything I learnt I was able to use to help myself and my patients experience greater health and wellbeing. My breakthrough moment came after 8 years in practice when I was able to overcome an allergic asthma attack in 3 minutes using a breathing exercise I developed from my studies which I named Dynamic Breath Release.
What were you doing in a previous life?
I have always been drawn to working holistically. I grew up in a family that didn’t medicate me and used fasting and wholefood and relaxation and massage as a way of helping support my childhood breathing difficulties. I realised that I had been incredibly lucky to have been shown how to trust in our body’s natural healing abilities from such a young age and been given the natural healing support that enabled me to avoid the slippery slope of increasing medication.
I can now use not only my extensive training to work with people to improve health but my early life experience helps me to appreciate what having health challenges is like which gives me a more empathetic approach to people’s stresses and strains and the challenges we face in making lifestyle changes.
Why holistic?
Learning to trust your body’s natural healing is something that is often lost if you have suffered a long term or chronic health problem. It takes time and often more than one way of approaching a situation to enable a full recovery.
If there is an imbalance in more than one area of your life, be that physical, mental, emotional or nutritional this will have a knock on effect on all the different systems. Without addressing the underlying causes of the health problem it is impossible to resolve a condition.
Writing Breathe with Ease I wanted to create a book that didn’t simply look at breathing exercises to overcome asthma, but empowers people with knowledge about how to utilise all the many different ways you can support your health from a the different viewpoints of physical, emotional, nutritional and mental wellbeing and how each aspect affects your breathing health which relates to your experience of stress.
What’s your USP? What sets you apart from your competitors?
I teach you how to look at your life holistically to identify ways you can make simple changes consistently that can help create a lasting change to your breathing health and wellbeing and regain your trust in your body, breath and being. As the creator of Dynamic Breath Release I love guiding people through this breathwork process to enable emotional and spiritual awakening.
Breathe with Ease is an interactive book so that you can gain a direct experience of the transformational tools and exercises described within the book online.
What kind of feedback you have received from clients?
The breath can be used to minimise or exaggerate how we feel. Sometimes we need to minimise symptoms and other times emotions need to be experienced so that we can release them and find greater freedom. The skill is being able to determine what type of breathwork is the most appropriate for each person at a given time. A client says…
‘I first got interested in the Buteyko breathing technique, because I was having breathing difficulties and had been reassured by the doctor that there was no underlying medical cause for this. I discovered, as luck would have, there was a local advanced practitioner, Alison Waring at York Natural Health. When I first went see Alison I was feeling quite desperate and stressed. It was apparent to me that Alison was very experienced and knowledgeable and someone in whom I could have complete trust. Alison explained to me that my symptoms were caused by dysfunctional breathing patterns and she confirmed that Buteyko would help. Buteyko does require some time and commitment but I was willing to try anything. With Alison’s encouragement and reassurance, there was gradual but obvious improvement in my breathing. Alison also used other visualisation techniques and manipulation which were very helpful. I now feel that my breathing is back under control and when I start to feel myself hyperventilating, I know how to deal with this. I feel extremely grateful to Alison for all her support and reassurance and would recommend her to anyone who is suffering with any kind of breathing problem.
Despite being a little sceptical that the Dynamic Breath Release process would work at the beginning, I can honestly say that it has had a remarkable effect on my health and wellbeing. It enabled me to take control and confront the strong emotions I was feeling leaving me with a calmer sense of inner peace.’ Anonymous, York
‘When I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea in January 2016 and my AHI reading was 35.7. I was referred to the hospital and I was put under a specialist nurse. From what I gather my sleep apnea was serious though I did not have any of the classic symptoms of nodding off to sleep while watching TV, listening to a lecture or even just sitting in a chair. One thing was every afternoon, I used to go to bed for an afternoon siesta. This I have been doing all my life. I never felt tired or lethargic during the course of the day A friend of mine mentioned to me about Buteyko breathing exercises for asthma. On reading about it on the internet I learnt that it helped a number of ailments. Thankfully I found Alison. I must say I practised the breathing technique daily. It paid off. My appointment at the hospital was in September 2016. I was given a CPAP machine as a trial for a week. At the end of the week new readings were taken and it surprised the nurse to see that the AHI readings went down to 5.4 which was dramatic. I did confess to the nurse that I had been practicing the Buteyko breathing exercises. My annual appointment will be in September 2017 and hopefully I will be discharged from the sleep clinic’ Acomb, York
What’s the next big project coming up for you?
My book launch this Autumn on the 19th November will be followed by growing my online training and coaching program to expand the help and support I can provide to a wider audience.
What’s your big dream?
That people rediscover their health naturally and learn to trust their body and their intuition more to experience greater wellbeing in harmony with themselves and the world around them.
To be the go to expert for breathing and holistic wellness in the UK
Where can we find your services?
www.breathewithease.co.uk
www.yorknaturalhealth.co.uk
www.dynamicbreathrelease.com
My book ‘Breath with Ease’ is available on Amazon and on my website www.breathewithease.co.uk