At 25, Corrimal local Ariane Compagnin has been a snowboard instructor, a singing and piano teacher, and an aerial silks tutor. Now she is encouraging folks of the Illawarra to slow down and take a deep breath as she steps into her role as a facilitator with the Ox Gen Breath Movement.

Ox Gen is a technique that uses deep, rhythmic breathing and sound therapy to encourage relaxation and healing. Ariane describes it as "a bit like a choose your own adventure".

"A song might mean something different to you than another person … You just don’t know what is going to come up.”

And while Ariane has been using this technique for just over a year, she has always been drawn to the practice of breath work. 

"When I was an [snowboard] instructor I would get people at the top of the hill and you’d tell people to take a deep breath and you’d watch them relax," she said. 

"And I didn’t know any of these the techniques that I do now but I used to do yoga. So I understood breath work as a form of relaxation. 

“If you take a deep breath into your belly, your body will naturally relax and there are so many studies to prove three deep breaths will relax your body…but I hadn’t studied any of that at the time.

"All I knew was that when I watched people [who] took a deep breath, their shoulders would relax, they would become more focused on what they were doing instead of the thoughts in their head.”

Nowadays as one of five Ox Gen facilitators, Ariane runs group ‘breathes’ and has recently started free sunrise ‘taster’ sessions in Towradgi through Wild Women of Wollongong.

These sessions are perfect for anyone wanting to try out breath work. 

“All breath work is bringing yourself back to the present moment… You just have to come along and try it. Until you come along and try a session it’s so hard to explain due to the nature of it.”

To try a short, free session with Ariane, head to Wild Women of Wollongong events

For those interested in going deeper, join Ariane for an afternoon of breath work immersion. Details here