Newark woman starts breathing ceremonies business across the country including at Millgate and YMCA Activities Village in Newark

A globe-trotting woman has returned to her hometown after a 10-year worldwide journey of self-discovery — and now aims to literally breathe a new lease of life into the community.

Lisa Li, of Newark, returned to the UK in 2020 after embarking on an adventure to try to put herself back together from a build up of trauma.

Once she returned to the country, she wanted to help others and started Breath Ceremony with Lisa Li — a two-hour workshop incorporating breathwork, sound and energetic healing with shamanic roots.

During her travels she began studying different healing methods, ancient yogic practices and her own inner world.

She became fascinated with the way we can release the body from tightly held traumas through many methods — her favourites being myofascial energetic release massage, yin yoga & breathwork.

She has created her workshop the breath ceremony and her newest creation Shamanic Journey which is a mixture of everything she has learned combined with the lost practice of healing ceremony.

“This is my home town so I felt I wanted to help create positive change where I am from,” said Lisa.

She added: “I feel it is important for people to learn how to process what they are feeling, so we can feel better in our lives, treat each other better, create happier and healthier communities, and a better world to live in.”

The ‘breath ceremony’ is a private session run online or in-person at Millgate therapy room in Newark - using techniques to help people to process their emotions and generally feel better.

Similar ceremonies take place across the country, including YMCA Activities Village in Newark, Purusha retreats in Lincolnshire, Soul Fire Yoga in Sheffield, The Zen Den in Retford and Queer Spirit in Vauxhall, London.

Lisa also organises pop up online breath ceremonies and workshops throughout the year.

“I am passionate about my job because I know personally how much better you can feel when taking the time to process what we have been through, and what we are feeling and/or supressing.

“I believe we all have the natural ability to heal and feel better inside of us, breathwork allows us to do that.

“It’s a really powerful experience and a skill that you can take away with you and use for the rest of your life.”

In the group sessions everyone is laid down in their own space, eyes closed, and there is music playing in the background. Lisa guides the people with her voice to a connected breathing. She says that this allows them to process stuck energy and emotions that the body is ready to feel.

In private sessions there are more possibilities to unpack personal stories, focusing on breathwork and other tools.

Lisa often holds sessions and workshops at festivals across Europe, Central America, Thailand and Australia.

“What makes my work special I guess is that I have trained all over the world, and yet I know how it is to grow up in this town and in this country, I know the struggles and the fears and the problems personally.

“I am committed to bringing world class techniques to our own little town to help people feel better and bring new energy and life to our communities.

“Its not an easy time to be alive for many reasons, and breathwork helps us build emotional resilience and inner strength to deal with the day-to-day problems we all go through to process grief and be able to take our power back and feel strong and at peace once more.”