LIBERATING THE NATURAL BREATH
Finding freedom from Air Hunger and Chronic Breathing Tension
Coming home to your Natural Breathing
NEW REFINED AND EXPANDED VERSION JUST LAUNCHED, JUNE 2023
ALL CURRENT AND FUTURE PARTICIPANTS NOW AUTOMATICALLY HAVE ACCESS TO LNB 2.0
Liberating the Natural Breath
is an online breathing journey and community created specifically to help people experiencing non-medical breathing dysfunction—such as Air Hunger, Chronic Breathing Tension, and Chronic Hyperventilation—find their way toward easeful, natural breathing. Created by a psychotherapist who found his way through Air Hunger earlier in his life and a breathing-specialized Alexander Technique teacher (see the two bios below), Liberating the Natural Breath is an innovative, thorough, and holistic approach that is founded upon long-established bodies of work. We are committed to providing a path forward for people with non-medical Air Hunger and breathing dysfunction—people who feel they can’t get a full breath—by helping them rediscover that their body does know how to breathe and can reestablish its inherent, easeful breathing if given the right support.
How It Works: 15 minutes a day toward natural breathing
Liberating the Natural Breath (LNB) provides the tools, practices, and guidance you’ll need to be in the process of restoring your natural, easeful breathing. For 15-20 minutes a day, you’ll be engaging in practices that provide a basis for natural breathing. You’ll also be engaging in 15 course modules as you integrate tools and guidance into your daily practice and into your daily life. Further support is included in the form of live monthly Office Hours with the course facilitators and through the LNB Community forums. You’ll have the option of seeking additional in-person, hands-on support from a local somatic practitioner if you decide it could be useful at any point during your journey (suggestions and guidance are provided within the course). Using these resources and the ongoing support of the course structure and the growing community, you will put the tools and principles into practice and begin integrating them into your daily life, enabling you to progress toward your natural, easeful breathing.
“I cannot thank Simon and the team enough for putting this course together and encourage anyone reading this brief testimonial to embrace this course with open arms. It’s a godsend and for me almost a life saver.”
New 2023 Introductory Video:
2021 Introductory Video:
Who is Liberating the Natural Breath for?
LNB is for anyone seeking freedom from non-medical breathing dysfunction, such as Air Hunger, who is prepared to be in a process with their breathing. For most people, getting through Air Hunger involves a process of progressively releasing accumulated tension and interference and reawakening the natural movement of the breath. LNB provides what you need to be in this process. Occasionally, it may be possible to find relief simply through understanding and a shift in perspective, which is one reason we provide free resources on this site. However, most people find a more involved process is required in order to find their way to the other side of Air Hunger. That’s why we created LNB. The resources included in this program provide the support needed for this process of restoring your natural breathing.
Origins of the course
From 2000 to 2004, I (Simon) struggled with constant Air Hunger and the distress that comes with it. Though I searched far and wide, no one seemed to be able to help me, and I couldn’t find a solution. Eventually, I did find my way through the worst of it based on the advice of a breathing specialist and physical therapist, though my breathing remained problematic. When I finally discovered the Alexander Technique and started working with a gifted, breathing-specialized Alexander teacher, everything finally made sense, and I was able to restore my natural breathing. In 2011, I wrote an essay about this journey. Since publishing it, countless people with the same problem I once had have contacted me asking for help. Over the years, Amira (a breathing-specialized Alexander Technique teacher) and I have worked with Air Hunger-sufferers and developed resources to help them find their way through Air Hunger. We’re happy to finally share this online course with those seeking a way forward with non-medical breathing disorders such as Air Hunger and Hyperventilation Syndrome.
“This course has been beyond helpful in every way. I really hope any person who is experiencing air hunger finds this wonderful community. ”
About the online course and community:
Liberating the Natural Breath
Liberating the Natural Breath was carefully designed by Simon Spire, a psychotherapist, and Amira Glaser, an AmSAT-certified Alexander Technique teacher who is also certified in Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing, an acupuncturist, and Simon’s life partner. The program is designed especially for those experiencing moderate to severe non-medical air hunger or breathing dysfunction. Many of the understandings and practices explored are also highly applicable to less pronounced cases and to natural breathing in general. The course and community are hosted on a learning platform named Podia for an easy and supportive experience for participants. There are no hidden costs. (For scholarship inquiries or to understand how the course fee is determined, please see the bottom of the FAQs page.) For a total of $129 (USD), you’ll receive immediate and ongoing access to:
Self-paced components:
15 video modules, each including suggested activities, which are organized into three parts to form the arc of the course
A 30-page, in-depth reference guide (PDF download) containing the essential principles, practices, and understandings to support you in moving toward natural breathing
A course workbook (PDF download) containing key takeaways and activities from each module
Downloadable audio recordings for guided experiences that you can revisit as often as you like
Access to Jessica Wolf’s full nine-minute Art of Breathing animation video (with gratitude to Jessica for her generosity in making this available to LNB participants)
Guidance, links, and important considerations for how to find and work with a somatic practitioner who could be a good match for you, if you choose to seek additional individual, in-person support
Explorations around the essence of the journey of moving from dysfunctional breathing to natural breathing, with guidance on how to embrace the inner and psychological growth opportunities presented
Responses to frequently asked questions that we have received over the years
Stories from others who have restored their natural breathing
Ongoing access to the course so you can return to the modules and videos as often as you’d like
Live components:
Free access to monthly group “office hours” offered by the course facilitators via Zoom during which participants can receive guidance on their individual experience with air hunger and their journey toward natural breathing
The ability to submit written questions to the course facilitators for inclusion in their monthly recorded video responses to written questions (recorded during monthly office hours)
Free membership in the LNB Community forums, where you can be in conversation with other course participants by posting, commenting, and replying under various topics as participants share their experiences and insights with one another
The option to book individual online sessions with the course instructors or affiliated breathing practitioners if you are seeking additional support (not required and not included as part of the course)
We continue to refine the course and add new resources when appropriate.
Scholarships are available to those for whom the course fee presents financial challenges. See the relevant section on the FAQs page for more info.
“I cannot fully express how Simon’s program changed my life and how grateful I am for it!”
NEXT STEPS
To learn more about the course, explore the introductory videos above, the frequently asked questions, or simply visit the Liberating the Natural Breath course page here. Or follow this link to read full testimonials from LNB participants.
About your facilitators:
Simon is a licensed psychotherapist, quest guide, contemplative, songwriter, and innovator. He has been on an intentional journey with his breathing since 2000 and an avid student of natural breathing and the Alexander Technique since 2008. Through the bodies of work he has founded and developed—Emergent Inquiry, the Emergent Quest, Soulcentric Psychotherapy, and Liberating the Natural Breath—he accompanies individuals and groups in their processes of healing, unfolding, and apprenticing to their authentic journey. His work is informed by 20 years of contemplative inquiry; a corresponding commitment to academic and intellectual inquiry; 10 years of counseling and facilitation experience with individuals and groups; several years serving in leadership positions for organizations active in economic and societal innovation, international social entrepreneurship, and mental health; and his long experience with artistry and the creative process. Raised in New Zealand, his career as a songwriter and recording artist led him to the shores of Los Angeles and New York before transitioning to his current life in North Carolina. Simon holds degrees from the University of Auckland, Columbia University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has completed in-depth studies in Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing-Oriented Therapy, eco-depth psychology, and with Thomas Hübl and his Academy of Inner Science. His music and writing have been featured on major radio and TV networks in New Zealand and the US, in major songwriting competitions, and in outlets such as MTV, AOL, Voice of America, the Ecozoic Journal, and Kosmos Journal. He currently lives near Chapel Hill, NC, where he appreciates the rivers, misses the ocean, and enjoys writing about himself in the third person.
Amira Glaser is an AmSAT-certified Alexander Technique teacher who holds additional certification in Jessica Wolf's Art of Breathing and has taught the technique within university programs in New York and North Carolina. She is also a North Carolina-Licensed Acupuncturist and a Diplomat of Oriental Medicine (Acupuncture & Herbology) with the NCCAOM.
Amira is an holistic health practitioner whose practice serves those on a journey of healing and self-discovery. She creates her practice from a deep respect and love for human nature and our innate ease and capacity for healing. In her own journey with artistic expression, back & neck pain, auto-immune dis-ease, and a love for nature and organic self-expression, Amira found her way to becoming first a teacher of the Alexander Technique, then an Acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine practitioner. She bridges these Eastern & Western understandings of health, balance, and the power of non-doing, and draws on their transformative teachings for each individual’s unique needs.
The videos appearing on this page are educational videos about how the Alexander Technique and self-awareness can be used to reduce habits of interference in the body’s natural ease and coordination. Neither these videos nor any text or the associated course are intended to address medical conditions or mental health conditions. These materials and any associated services are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment. Emergent Inquiry, LLC recommends that you consult your physician regarding the applicability of any information to your individual situation and utilize the guidance contained in the course Liberating the Natural Breath before attempting to apply these principles to your own breathing. Full terms of service can be viewed here.