Every journey I’ve ever experienced or witnessed has 2 strands to it. The path, the road, the physical journey and the emotional/experiential journey, the highs, the lows, and the bits in between,
Self-employment has been no different. It has challenged me beyond anything I’ve experienced before. It has brought me bliss, and it has brought me to my knees.
As I embarked on this additional string to my bow, becoming a breathwork facilitator, I knew that to qualify I needed to travel one of those journeys, and to document it in some way. So, in mid-2020, in the middle of a pandemic, I began to tune into, or to feel into what I might like to create as a graduation project asking the question, “What does my breathwork path look like?”
The first thing I was given was this:
I saw it so clearly as a vision in my mind. Not knowing what it was. Trusty Google helped and I half laughed, and half cried as I realised it was the symbol of the chaos theory.
Chaos.
The very thing I have spent my life resolving or fixing, bringing calm to chaos. The very thing that was clearly obvious in my head and my heart as I worked through a sense of direction that was shaky at best and sometimes downright absent during the pandemic.
And so, to the second thing I received. This:
The number 1 (the image above).
Along with the clear understanding that when duplicated and transposed it (like the images in the middle), they could be brought together to become an arrow pointing North.
The One True Direction
These 2 elements came together with the Sirius Star that has been with me since the beginning of my self-employed journey (created by Cathy of The Old Burrow) to form the first draft of the Breath of Business logo.
Breath of Business – The words I heard as I pulled together all the pieces.
From these creative, meditative, breathwork sessions then, came the basis of my Breathwork Facilitator Graduation Project. Using all I was and all I was learning and experiencing to create the “Breath of Business”
Nothing happened for a little while with this seed of an idea, it was posted onto my creative wall where all my ideas go to settle and sprout (if you’ve ever been into a zoom meeting with me, you’ll see the wall behind me, but I digress), meanwhile another passion of mine was surfacing. Living with nature’s cycles and rhythms.
For years, indeed decades, I have worked and worked and worked. I had my first job when I was 13. That changed with the circumstances that landed during the beginning of the pandemic which meant that I had no work. These circumstances also conspired to provide me with the most wonderful home, on the edge of a lake, with many shades of green and trees and ducklings and baby moor hens to keep me company. The sun shone. I spent time each day in guided meditation, in breathwork, in contemplation. I realised how ‘full on’ life had been and equally how I was enjoying the opportunity to hear the cycles and rhythms, the in-breath and out-breath. The seasons, the times of day, the opportunity to connect with the elements. The opportunity to rest, recover and restore.
I started with the moon. It was a natural place for me to start as I’ve always loved and felt drawn to the beauty and consistency of the moon. Each month noticing the dark of the moon, the full moon and some of the phases in between. I was also reading Martha Beck – Finding your own North Star at the time, and I saw the parallels between her work with change, and the change that happens in our sky each month as the moon waxes and wanes.
It occurred to me that it was a powerful and honourable way to explore business. Allowing ourselves the teaching of the seasons as we consider our work and our projects.
Winter – the dark of the moon and the new moon. The time of going within, of letting go of anything that doesn’t serve us, the spark of birth as we find clarity. I associate this with element of water, our emotions. The place where we connect most clearly within.
Spring – the first quarter moon. The time of curiosity, of research, of exploring ideas. I associate this with the playful element of air, our mental capacity, our curiosity to learn.
Summer – the full moon. The time when we are most productive. When an idea becomes a project and growth is happening almost without our input. Energy is high and activity is buzzing like the bees. I associate this with the element of Fire. When passion is high, and our drive is effortless.
Finally, Autumn – the last quarter moon. The time of harvest. Of finishing. Of gathering in the fruits of our labours of the ideas birthed in winter and explored in spring. A busy time, even though the energy is beginning to wane (or reduce) as we turn our attention to darker nights. I association this with Earth. It appears to me the time when we take most care of physical bodies. We store and gather our food, give thanks for all the earth has provided for us, and we prepare for the next season of winter.
These seasons can not only be witnessed outside our window. We can feel them each day within ourselves. I definitely wake up in the winter season, I make a very slow start. But I’m very active at night-time, during the autumn season before bedtime. You might call me a night owl. Others wake up in Spring, with a song like the lark, raring to go and complete half of their day before others (me) have even woken up. It was liberating for me to know that I was not a failure as a business owner if I wasn’t up at 5am to start my day before others did. That I could honour my body and my rhythms respecting who I am instead of trying to fit a mould.
I began a membership group, networking I suppose, where we explored these themes and allowed our natural rhythms into the running of our business. I called it Creating Resonance. Creating because we are all creating our reality in life and business and Resonance because we can learn to create within the vibration of the cosmos. Harnessing what happens naturally to enhance how we live. Over the year we’ve been meeting we’ve found many of these rhythms, not least the breath. The first cycle, the first rhythm we experience as we draw our first breath.
Recognising these natural phases and honouring our natural rhythms became more important than having a direction as you’ll see in the final logo.
Having created the membership honouring the cosmos, I turned my thoughts to what I could create for the graduation project rather than just thinking about it, I began to think about what I wanted to offer so people could spend time with me, for free, before deciding if they wanted to work with me further, perhaps joining the membership or perhaps 1-2-1 support. My two passions are coaching and breathwork. Both from a place of empowerment. Of accessing the inner wisdom, we all have within us.
Could I seamlessly combine the two in an offer that both served the people who joined the session, but also showcased my skills and passions?
Well, I think I did and here it is. Introducing Breath of Business or BoB for short.
The zoom room opens at 4pm on the quarter moon. This isn’t quite weekly which means the day changes according to the moon cycle, this makes it both accessible and in-accessible.
Accessible because if you can’t meet on say Monday because you have a regular appointment, hopefully you might be free on Wednesday or Friday or Saturday as the moon moves around the earth. Equally, inaccessible as it’s easy to forget when the next quarter moon is so a regular habit is not formed! But in a way that’s the second reason for being on the actual moon. We don’t tend notice as the moon passes and moves through her phases (or I don’t) so this encourages me to be aware and allows me to engage more actively.
We start the session with a cuppa and chat, bringing any questions or observations about life and business. The conversation then moves to the phase of the moon cycle we are in. Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn and we move into a creative breathwork session, with a playlist that is relevant to the place we are at within our cosmic cycle.
It’s worth pointing out at this point, that whilst the Moon is often considered to be feminine and the keeper of feminine cycles, the natural rhythm of creative ebb and flow is for all genders. It is not just about the menstrual cycle. It is about the creative cycle we all have within us. It is about being aware of and honouring the movement of energy and the rise and fall of the elements within us, all genders, and all ages.
So, there you have it. The story of a logo. The 4 colours of the moon replacing the directional arrow, turning up-side-down the chaos into calm with the breath, and using the cosmic forces that work for us and around us whether we acknowledge them or not!
Sometimes I only have 1 breather, sometimes more. I have been inconsistent with the marketing and need to step that up a notch, I’m going to use Meet Up rather than traditional social media, I think. I have received my first paying customer because of the time we spent together in BoB and I’ve introduced people I already know to the amazingness of breath. So, I’m happy with the project, but acknowledge that it is just the start.
UPDATE:
This blog formed the last part of my Facilitator Journey and many years on we still meet to honour the cycles of the moon.
I now use the sessions to stay in touch with people I’ve met and worked with, they are by invitation only, the marketing is still spasmodic, so if you haven’t received an invitation and you’d like one, please reach out.
We now incorporate all the aspects of my work into these sessions – Astrology, Breathwork, Coaching, Druidry, Events, Finance. It’s the place where I am me. Curious, wondering, open, exploring. All the things that draw me deeper into this lived experience.
We still meet on the quarter turning of the moon, it’s now at 6pm and if we’ve met and worked together or you’re part of Breathing Space you are very welcome to come along and explore the mysteries of life too!
