Breathwork: Can You Stress Yourself Out of Stress?
Why do we get sick as soon as we relax? Why can't we live completely stress free? Why does one hard experience make us stronger, and another one leaves a scar?
The Breath Lab: an evening of science, breath, and shared inquiry.
We spend enormous effort avoiding stress. But a body never gets stronger from comfort - it gets stronger from the right dose of stress. That's hormesis: a challenge big enough to provoke adaptation, small enough not to harm. Breathwork, cold water, hard exercise - all deliberate, controlled stressors. So the provocation for this month is exactly what it sounds like: can stressing yourself on purpose build a nervous system that's harder to knock over?
We'll get into the genuinely wild end of this - the work, made famous through Wim Hof, where people trained in breathing and cold learned to voluntarily spike their own adrenaline and dial down their body's inflammatory response, something physiology textbooks said was impossible. We'll find out why the benefits of a workout can be cancelled out by taking vitamins, and why doing this every single morning might be a mistake. And we'll turn to the shadow side, because it matters: where is the line at which stress stops building resilience and starts laying down trauma instead — and what does the hippocampus have to do with which way a hard experience gets filed?
We'll look at what the research shows, we feel it in the body, and we compare notes in the circle. Skeptics, as ever, especially welcome.
The evening:
6:00pm - doors open
6:30pm - a conversation (45 min) - the science of hormesis and voluntary stress: how Wim Hof-trained breathers learned to spike their own adrenaline and dial down inflammation, and where the line sits between resilience training and trauma.
7:15pm - a guided breathwork journey (60 min) - a full conscious connected breathwork experience, lying down, with music.
8:15pm - a structured reflection & sharing circle - we'll map what the group experienced, find the patterns, and explore the science that explains them.
8:45pm - closing and connection
Your host: Camilla Menin is a certified Spiritus Breathwork facilitator with over a decade of meditation and somatic practice, and a researcher with a master's in psychology - her thesis investigated how conscious connected breathwork affects emotional regulation and the nervous system.
Sliding scale - pay what feels right:
$29 - Supported rate (for those who need it; no questions asked)
$39 - Standard rate
$49 - Supporter rate (helps hold a supported spot for someone else)
No one will be turned away for lack of funds. If finances are a barrier and the supported rate still isn't workable, reach out - a spot can always be made.
Please note: This practice involves intentional, intensive breathing and isn't suitable for everyone. Please review contraindications and complete the waiver after registering. If you're pregnant, have cardiovascular conditions, epilepsy, or certain other conditions, this practice isn't safe for you - reach out with questions. Full list: https://www.camillabreathwork.com/#contraindications
Please arrive by 6:15 at the latest - we begin promptly at 6:30, and latecomers can't be admitted once the lecture starts.
Spots limited to 16 participants. Exact location shared the day before.
Refunds available up to 7 days before the event. After that, tickets are non-refundable but transferable.
Come skeptical. Leave curious.