This weekend Intuitive Spiritual Coach Adam Robertson is performing ‘Breathwork and ‘Twerkwerk’ session at the NZ Spirit Festival taking place in Kairpara, Auckland. Adam creates spaces for individuals to express and heal from trauma and grief through techniques like ‘breathwork’ to find great self-acceptance and love. He tells express about his journey into spiritual healing offers his top tips for finding peace and spiritual fulfilment.
Where did you grow up and how was ‘growing up’ for you?
I grew up in Auckland and growing up like anybody else was definitely an experience! Without going into mass amounts of details, my parents split when I was 2, I had quite an emotional and abusive father, I went through the family court systems at a young age trying to fight for what I wanted in terms of custodial living arrangements, and a vast array of other things. However, I also had some fantastic times with both my brother and mum, lots of love in that household, and was always encouraged by my mum to speak my truth and express myself.
Did you have a ‘coming out’ experience and if so what did that look like for you?
I came out around the age of 20 when I ended up having my first same-sex relationship as prior to that in high school I had been in hetero relationships. Coming out to my mum felt scary due to my own thoughts, but was received incredibly well and with open arms. I came out to my dad around the age of 24 after my ex-fiancé and I had split as I didn’t want him to know anything about my life, and I felt a lot stronger in myself at this stage in life with a lot more confidence in my expression. It was met with “Why did you choose to be gay”, and I knew he’d never fully understand, so it wasn’t a huge deal for me because his opinions and perspectives didn’t really affect my life.
At the NZ Spirit Festival, you offered a Breath Work session that focused on love and grief. For our uninitiated readers, what is Breath Work, and can you tell us a bit about the journey that lead you to practice it?
Breathwork is a holistic practice that involves controlled breathing techniques to improve physical and mental health. It has been used for centuries in various cultures and traditions to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and improve overall well-being.
- Breathwork can help improve cardiovascular health. By regulating the breath, you can improve the flow of oxygen to your body, which can help strengthen your heart and improve blood circulation.
- It can help reduce stress and anxiety. Breathwork techniques can help activate the body’s natural relaxation response, which can help reduce the physical symptoms of stress and anxiety, such as rapid heart rate and shallow breathing.
- It can improve mental clarity and focus. By focusing on the breath, you can quiet the mind and increase mindfulness, which can improve your ability to concentrate and make decisions.
- It can help improve respiratory function. Breathwork techniques can help improve the function of the lungs and increase the amount of air that is inhaled and exhaled with each breath.
- It can help improve overall well-being. By reducing stress and improving physical health, breathwork can help improve your overall sense of well-being and happiness.
My journey into breathwork was part of my progression into a more holistic lifestyle and looking for ways outside of psychopharmacology to help people with certain mental, emotional, physical and spiritual challenges. This all began when I was 12 years old after losing my brother to suicide, and then working with youth at a young age as part of a charity as their youth facilitator for those who had attempted suicide or lost someone to suicide.
For me, our health should be looked at with a holistic perspective and we should use prevention rather than waiting until treatment is required. One model does not fit all individuals and when we look at each individual holistically we can create frameworks that work more successfully.
You now travel up and down NZ offering Breath Work workshops – What is the most fundamental lesson your try and teach people in these sessions and what has doing this taught you?
My main mission is to unite people back to themselves – for me that means prioritising one’s healing through the likes of breathwork, creating safe environments where one can move through trauma, and often unmask their conditioning and ego to come into a healthier relationship with self and others.
This has taught me the importance of embodied practice and prioritising my own healing in order to hold that integral space for others, and how so many of us hold so much shame around narratives in which we have associated or adopted for ourselves that aren’t even ours to begin with. It also reminds me every day the importance of somatic (body) therapy and how much of our conditioning and trauma is stored within our body.
In a world full of headlines and social posts that can leave our readers feeling anxious or unsatisfied with their lives – what are your top tips for finding peace and fulfillment?
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- Your 5 closest relationships in your proximity are going to dictate your environment – therefore asking the hard questions sometimes of are these people hindering my growth or harming my growth (not always intentionally), and responding accordingly.
- Start your healing journey because the more you continue to suppress your emotions, the louder they come back down the line. You’ve got to prioritise healing and filling your cup up first in order to give from the overflow.
- Judgment is merely an unwillingness to express and accept that part of yourself. Sometimes a hard pill to swallow, but when we start taking more self-accountability and responsibility, there is less judgment and negativity in our environment.
- Self-love is the most integral part of your relationships (that’s different from confidence and cockiness). No one will ever be able to fill a void that you’re avoiding to do the work in. Spend more quality time with yourself
- How you set up your mornings will have a direct impact on how you experience your day – a positive morning routine is everything whether or not this includes an impactful podcast, meditation, gratitude, journaling or dancing!
You tragically lost your brother at a young age, is there any advice you can offer to readers who are currently grieving?
Grief is such an individualistic thing, no one can tell you how to feel, and how you feel is your own journey. I had to go through all the emotions from anger, sadness, rage, hopelessness, happiness, and more and I want to let you know there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of those emotions, as long as we deal with them in a healthy way. Scream into a pillow, take up a hobby, cry when you need to, and ask for support. The more that you can express these things, the easier it will become, but often suppressing our emotions because “we’ve got to be tough” or “we got to be the strong one for the family” can lead to detriment in our own grieving process. Take small steps day by day, that’s going to be greater help to you in the long run for both your mental health and nervous system. Some days you’re not going to want to get out of bed, just remember that going for a small walk around the backyard or the street can help shift our state. Be compassionate on yourself, send yourself love every day, and remember you’re not alone.
Are there any other messages you would like to leave express readers with?
Set yourself up with a good support network. Know you’re always loved by someone, even in those times you may not feel it. Understand your values and reflect on how your behaviours align with those and BELIEVE, anything is possible and your wildest dreams can be achieved!
For more info visit adamrobertson.co.nz and nzspiritfestival.com
