Conscious Connected Breathwork
Archetypal Breathwork™ pairs a continuous conscious connected breath rhythm with Jung's archetypal psychology — opening an expanded state where inner psychosomatic information can surface and be transformed.
The practice rests on two bodies of work: Jung's archetypal psychology and the contemporary neuroscience of respiration and psychosomatic work — breath as a direct lever on the autonomic nervous system, interoception, and emotion regulation.
Pace, depth, and the choice to pause remain yours the entire time.
Sit in circle.
Small group breathwork circles in Berlin. Pay what fits — solidarity or standard.
The circle.
THE INNER TERRAIN
The Shadow Journey
A descent to meet and reintegrate exiled parts of the self, grounded in Jung's work on the shadow and individuation.
- 01Darknessthe threshold.
- 02Monsterguardian of the wound.
- 03Kidthe exiled part — wound and wholeness.
- 04Adultcontroller yielding into witness.
- 05Magicianthe integrating awareness.
The Inner Council
Four core patterns of psychic energy as a working model for leadership presence and regulation under pressure.
- 01Sovereignvision & decisiveness.
- 02Warriorboundaries & focus.
- 03Magicianinsight & adaptation.
- 04Loverconnection & engagement.
The Release of unconscious fears
Sedona Method · letting go beneath the three unconscious fears through breath, somatic and neurologic exercises:: approval, control and security, to open space for clarity and agency..
- 01Approvalbeneath the need to be liked, held, chosen: the fear of being unloved.
- 02Controlbeneath the need to manage, fix, and hold it all together: the fear of powerlessness.
- 03Securitybeneath the need to feel safe: the oldest fear, for survival itself.
The depth.
Roots Within
A slower container for the same inner work — held over several days in the tropical landscapes of Colombia. Extended breathwork journeys, embodied practice, and quiet integration in a small group, co-led with the Roots Within team.
CO LEADERSHIP IN TEAM
A facilitated programme for leaders and teams based on leadership presence, nervous system regulation and team coherence.
The Collective Reset
Nervous-system reset & collective clarity — for teams and organisations Teams don't make their best decisions from a stress state, the nervous system narrows, and thinking narrows with it: less listening, shorter horizons, harder positions. Through gentle nervous-system regulation and co-regulation, the group settles out of threat and into a steadier, socially-engaged state., the ground on which clear, collective decisions can actually be made. Grounded in the same autonomic science as the breathwork: a regulated, socially-engaged nervous system (Porges' polyvagal work) supports clearer thinking and collective decision-making. It shifts the state a team decides from . Delivered by Human Works LAB.
- 01Settleseated regulation and co-regulation; the group downshifts out of activation together.
- 02Integratequiet space to notice what's actually present, individually.
- 03Sharestructured, facilitated exchange that rebuilds trust and a common picture.
- 04Decidemoving from a regulated, coherent state into clearer priorities and decisions.
Collective Safety
Psychological safety, the nervous system & the breath: the foundations of a team that can think together Before a team can innovate, challenge each other, or make good decisions, it needs one thing: safety. The felt sense that it's safe to speak, to disagree, to be wrong out loud. Decades of organizational research identify this 'psychological safety' as the strongest single predictor of team performance. This is a seated session that works on two levels at once: the body, because a nervous system and the team, because safety is built in the concrete ways people respond to risk, error, and dissent. We use simple, science-backed breathing techniques to shift state in real time, so the team doesn't just understand regulation, it feels it. Then we turn it into agreements they keep. Delivered by Human Works LAB.
- 01Statethe physiology of threat and safety, experienced directly through slow, down-regulating breath: a simple, portable tool the team keeps for the next high-pressure moment.
- 02Signalhow states spread between people; breathing together as shared regulation, and what leaders transmit to a room without meaning to.
- 03Speakpsychological safety in practice: the specific norms that make it safe to voice risk, admit mistakes, and disagree upward.
- 04Sustainthe concrete agreements and the breath practice the team takes away and keeps using.
Ways to work.
What the research says.
Slow, connected breathing engages the vagal pathways that regulate heart rate, arousal, and the body's capacity to settle after activation.
Breath modulates interoception — the felt sense of the body's internal state — central to emotion regulation. Extended connected breathing may make emotional material more accessible, which is why a trauma-sensitive frame matters.
The archetypal presences are a psychological map — drawn from Jung, compatible with modern parts-based approaches to the psyche. Interpretive framework, not clinical diagnosis.
- 01Zaccaro et al. (2018). Slow breathing psycho-physiological correlates. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12:353.
- 02Balban et al. (2023). Brief structured respiration enhances mood. Cell Reports Medicine, 4(1):100895.
- 03Porges (2011). The Polyvagal Theory. Norton.
- 04Craig (2009). How do you feel — now? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(1).
- 05Jung (1969). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Princeton UP.
About the practice.
What is Archetypal Breathwork?
Archetypal Breathwork™ is a trauma-sensitive breathwork practice that pairs conscious connected breathing with Jung's archetypal psychology. A continuous breath rhythm opens an expanded state where inner material — the shadow, the inner council of archetypes — can surface, be met, and reintegrated. It is founder-led by Erich Joseph and delivered in Berlin, in retreats, and in team programmes.
How do archetypes relate to breathwork?
Archetypes, in the Jungian sense, are recurring patterns of psychic energy — the Shadow, the Sovereign, the Warrior, the Magician, the Lover. Breathwork shifts the state of the nervous system enough that these patterns become directly perceivable rather than abstract. The archetypes give a psychological map for what the breath makes available.
What is Conscious Connected Breathwork?
Conscious Connected Breathwork (CCB) is a continuous breathing rhythm, no pause between the inhale and the exhale held over an extended session. It engages the vagal pathways that regulate arousal, and shifts interoception (the felt sense of the body's internal state) enough that emotional material becomes accessible in a way ordinary talking rarely allows.
Is breathwork safe? Who is it not for?
The practice is held with a structured safety and integration protocol trained to the Spirit of Breath standard. Pace, depth, and the choice to pause remain with the participant throughout. Extended connected breathing is not suitable in the presence of certain cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, ophthalmological, or psychiatric conditions, or during pregnancy. The registration form screens for these confidentially.
Where do sessions take place?
Group circles run in Kreuzberg, Berlin, at Brunnenstr. 23, Berlin-Mitte. One-to-one work is available in Berlin and, on request, remote.
Who is this for?
Individuals working through a transition, and leaders and teams building nervous-system regulation and coherence under pressure. It is inner work with a professional frame; not clinical therapy, not a wellness experience.
How is Archetypal Breathwork different from Holotropic Breathwork?
Both use a continuous connected breath rhythm. Archetypal Breathwork™ works within a shorter, trauma-sensitive arc, with an explicit Jungian archetypal frame (the Shadow, the Inner Council) and a structured integration protocol. The intent is inner work you can carry back into leadership and daily life, not a peak-experience session.
What happens in a breathwork session in Berlin?
Group circles run in a quiet loft studio in Berlin-Mitte, Brunnenstr. 23. You arrive, we open the circle, hold a short orientation on safety and the arc of the session, then move into an extended conscious connected breath lying down. The session closes with quiet integration and, when appropriate, a brief archetypal reflection. Total time is around two hours.
Do I need experience with breathwork or Jungian work?
No. First-timers are welcome. The registration form screens confidentially for contraindications, and the practice is guided step by step. Some familiarity with the language of archetypes or shadow work can deepen the integration afterwards but is not required to begin.
Erich Joseph
Applied leadership: breath-based inner work grounded in jungian psychology and the contemporary neuroscience of breath. I work with individuals, leaders, teams and organisations going through a transition and change to build circles of safety where we can experience agency. Circles of agency inside us, in the spaces we inhabit and in organisations we work at.
- 01Conscious Connected Breathwork certified facilitator by Spirit of Breath
- 02Emotional and Somatic Release certified facilitator by Sedona Method
- 03M.A. Business & Organizational Psychology (St
- 04B.A. Social Pedagogy
- 055+ years facilitating coaching sessions · 400+ participants
- 06Trauma-sensitive approach
CONNECT
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