The unique breathwork practice designed to release trauma

A conversation with Giten Tonkov, founder of BioDynamic Breathwork and Trauma Release System (BBTRS), on how his practice works and why it is so powerful in triggering the body’s innate self-healing pathways.

Introduction

Just over a year ago, I had my first BBTRS breathwork session and it introduced me to my body in a way I’d never felt before. Over the course of an hour, I experienced how something as simple as breathing could trigger my body’s own pathways for releasing emotion and trauma.

BioDynamic Breathwork & Trauma Release System (BBTRS) is a fairly new form of breathwork designed specifically for trauma and emotional release. Created and developed over the past 20 years by Giten Tonkov, BBTRS is a living system that combines many elements from traditional breathwork with emerging techniques from neuroscience and somatic psychology. While deep connected breathing is still the primary focus, BBTRS sessions also include techniques that are meant to evoke a primal healing response and release emotional tension locked in the body.

I recently sat down with the founder, Given Tonkov, to learn more about what inspired him to create BBTRS, how it’s evolved over time, and what makes it so uniquely effective in releasing trauma from the body.