Anika Adrian

"I would invite whomever is really ready to transform into breathwork. Timing is important because breathwork really makes you see deeper and once you've seen, you cannot unsee."

What is your offering? 
I offer support in a way that comes in many different modalities mixed in one through rhythmic breath. The idea is to help each other connect to our essence, to feel into where we're at, and to tune into our own mastery and self healing capacities. I'm a big advocate and believer that there is no better healing than the healing we give ourselves.

What is breathwork?
Breathwork is a rhythmic technique of inhale and exhale. Where you move the energy within you, then you open up to maybe a bit more sensitivity and create a place where you can dive into a deeper awareness. We use the breath as a way to create this movement of chi where you take in as much life force as you can master and then exhale whatever is not serving your highest good. So inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, just like you're cleaning your house and so whatever needs to be addressed will most probably show up. It's almost like an active meditation - with every breath you take, you're saying yes to seeing deeper and to receiving more.

What is a journey with you like?
It starts first by being aware because with awareness, 50 percent of the work is done. I primarily do this through breath, but I have all sorts of tools that come through. I use tuning forks in order to help the body when there's a bit of stiffness. I'm also trained as a hypnotherapist, so sometimes we get into different layers where it's easier to do work. Sound is also a very good ally to help us open and get into the rhythm of feeling. Whatever will get somebody to first feel themselves, accept themselves, trust themselves, and allow themselves to see a little bit deeper is where I take the people that go on the journey with me.

Is it a mental or physical process?
Breathwork can be physical because what we have to deal with is on a physical level, or it could be emotional because we need to let go of something emotionally, or sometimes we just need to declutter our head. Often it can be everything at the same time because it is all interrelated. Every breathwork session will meet you where you are today and take you to the next level that you need to go to.

How did you find breathwork?
I started studying breathwork in Costa Rica, where I was on a personal quest after doing many years of plant medicines and studying the chemistry of life. But all this knowledge was not really being integrated in my life. When I met the breathwork, it really brought everything home.

What kind of breathwork do you practice?
I studied through the school of Clarity Breathwork, which has a more Yin-centered approach with the idea that with softness you can go deeper.  Even with the softness, this type of breathwork does require commitment to staying activated, so you're really saying yes every time you breathe as opposed to a modality where someone is doing it for you.

Why has breathwork become so popular?
Because it works! It helps people empower themselves. I also think it is effective because it really requires people to commit and put in their own work. You have to breathe or nothing is going to happen.

What makes the breath so powerful?
It is what connects you to your body. Once you realize, “wow, I've got an ally here who has been with me since the first moment of my life and will be with me until the end,” you see that this relationship is like no other. 

How can breathwork connect you to community?
I think one of the first revelations that people receive in a breath session is how similar we all are from the inside, and that similarity brings us closer. Sometimes it's about receiving, sometimes it's about holding space and connecting to each other through awareness. It's a different type of communication that is very honest and raw. Rarely are you going to sit in around a dinner table and just scream or start crying and then laugh, but in breathwork you can just allow yourself to be a like a child.

What kind of person is breathwork for?
I would invite whomever is really ready to transform into breathwork. If one is not ready and wants to stay a little bit longer where they're at, that's okay. Timing is important because breathwork really makes you see deeper and once you've seen, you cannot unsee. 

How can people work with you?
I do a lot of private and group sessions here in Ibiza, as well as work on retreats. I travel depending on the requests and the availability. Although I have always preferred hands-on experiences, I am working towards opening something online in a way that feels in tune with what I can support. 

How do you choose a good practitioner?
With any modality or support that one would choose, always look at the person in front of you. Do you resonate? Do they inspire a place that you feel you want to go towards? Know yourself a little bit and then choose who you want to trust on your journey. 

What does healing mean to you?
I don't use the word healing much because it resonates with being in a place of disharmony. I believe we are where we're at for reasons and that's totally fine. I believe in transformation where it's needed, and evolution if you want it. We’re a little bit different every day, so naturally we are in a cycle of creating and recreating. 

What else are you working on?
I have a jewelry line with my partner called Temple Jewel Ibiza. The idea behind Temple Jewel is to remind ourselves that we are living within this temple and to bring this idea in our collection. What are you about? What is your source? What symbols attract you? These adornments are tools to remind us to honor ourselves and to bring meaning into everything that you have into your life.

What are some of your own sort of personal rituals?
I try every day to sit quietly somewhere and just watch. As simple as this is, for me, it's gold. Sometimes I breathe putting a hand on my heart, hand on my belly and just do a bit of that cleansing. I think it's important to take these times out to meet yourself and to see what’s showing up. 

What are your favorite objects?
My altar is always shifting. I have some of my favorite crystals, I might have a deck of cards. Whenever I need a map, I go back to this altar. 

What about books?
I have this funny belief that when I want to learn something, I buy a book and I just put it on my night table and I don't read it, I just call in the wisdom I want to receive from this book. The answers come and I often don't end up reading the book, but I end up owning the book. I also like The Power of Plants

Words of wisdom you like to share? 
I often remind myself and others that it's not about where you're going, it's about how you're going. Because no matter what you do between now and then you know the destination. So how are you going to walk to that destination? What energy and flavor of life do you want to experience until that time?

Photos by Sofia Gomez Fonzo