Tag: breathwork

Categories
Alternative Living Spirituality

“Breatharian” Claims He Hasn’t Eaten In 4 Years…

breatharian_fasting_four_years

A “breatharian” is someone who claims to not eat food. These rare humans remain in a perpetual fast and say they get their energy from other sources, such as sunlight and ancient breathwork techniques.

Being well-versed in whacky wellness and spiritual topics, I’ve heard of breatharians before, but have always been highly skeptical of them. Is this actually possible… or is it all a big scam with a lot of smoke and mirrors? I decided to find out.

I knew the only way to get some answers was to spend time with a real breatharian. Luckily, my good friend Jeff Shub told me he knew a breatharian who lived in Miami named Devon, aka the Black Air Bender.

So I headed to Miami to spend the day with the Black Air Bender to try and get some answers.

Immersing myself in Breatharianism

To get the full breatharian experience, I decided to become a breatharian for a day and immerse myself in the Black Air Bender’s lifestyle. That meant I would also be fasting for the day. Since I have completed a 5-day water fast before, this wouldn’t be a problem for me.

But not drinking any coffee would be another story. I had become addicted to caffeine throughout the past few months and going without it for a day would turn out to be quite a painful challenge.

Meeting the Breatharian
meeting a breatharian!
Meet Devon, aka The Black Air Bender!

Upon meeting Devon, he revealed to me that he has been fasting for the past four years! I was shocked by this. He said that it took him two years to integrate into the breatharian lifestyle, by having one meal per week. After two years, he transitioned to 100 percent breatharianism. This was hard for me to believe.

“How is this possible?” I asked him.

Devon explained that breatharians can reach a certain state of “energy cultivation” where they no longer need to rely on dense foods. This involves a disciplined practice of certain breathwork and meditation techniques.

Was this for real? As skeptical as I was, I wanted to stay as open-minded as possible.

Breatharian roots in Daoism

He told me that he got into breatharianism through an ancient Daoist fasting practice called Bigu. He trained for months with a mentor called a Sifu to learn all of the meditation and breathwork techniques that he says allow him to transcend the body and sustain this lifestyle.

The Breatharian diet

Devon explained that although he doesn’t eat, he does consume a few key things. He said he drinks coconut water, fresh-pressed juice every once in a while, and… his own urine. 

breatharian drinking urine
Devon doesn’t eat, but he does consume coconut water and his own urine.

His reasoning for this? He claims urine contains 103 healthy minerals and is more sterile than distilled water. (I would fact-check that one.)

Having already spent a day with a urine drinker for a previous video, this was not a new concept to me. Personally, I don’t subscribe to urine therapy and recommend people do their research before trying it. 

The Breatharian loves pyramids

I noticed that Devon’s room was full of pyramids, including a solid canopy-like pyramid over his bed and he is always wearing a pyramid-shaped hat. He explained that he uses the pyramid as a symbol for his meditative practice.

breatharian natural habitat
I immediately noticed the breatharian’s obsession with pyramids and wondered why.

Devon said he envisions pyramids “expanding and contracting” in his mind. He also compares pyramids to the shape of the human face, describing it as the “window to the soul.” I didn’t totally understand this, but Devon had me do some mirror-gazing to grasp the idea.

breatharian shows me mirror gazing
One reason Devon loves pyramids is that they symbolize the face, which is said to be the “window to the Soul.”
My day as a Breatharian

We started our morning with one of Devon’s daily rituals: squat breathing. This practice involved an inhale through the nose on the way up, and an exhale through the nose on the way down… with a smile. This was actually quite fun and I felt unable to control my giggle response.

breatharian shows me squat breathing
The Black Air Bender starts his day with “squat breathing.”
More breathwork techniques

After showing me more of his breathwork practices at home, we headed to a local park for more techniques that Devon does every day. We started with a walking breathwork practice. The hardest thing about this was how hot the ground was.

Devon encouraged me to stay focused on my breath until I could no longer feel the heat on my feet. After overcoming the pain of the hot cement, I actually found this practice to be quite relaxing.

breatharian shows me walking breathwork
Devon showed me a very relaxing walking breathwork technique.

After that, we tried a “flame breathing” practice. I had a hard time sticking with this one. I was painfully hungry and had a pounding headache at this point. Devon reassured me that this was part of the detox, which made sense considering I was detoxing from caffeine.

breatharian shows me flame breathing
I was in pain detoxing from caffeine with a pounding headache and no energy.
Embracing pain

We finished off the day by putting my pain tolerance to the test with one of Devon’s more extreme practices… standing on nails. 

breatharian teaches me how to stand on nails
Devon introduced me to one of his more extreme practices… standing on nails!

My challenge was to stand on the nails for one minute. With the timer set, I put each foot on the nails until I had my full weight on them. I breathed my way through each passing second with Devon encouraging me to slow down my exhales, hum, and let it all out.

When the minute was over, I couldn’t believe I did it. That’s when Devon said it was time to try push-ups.

breatharian doing push-ups on nails
Devon also enjoys doing push-ups on nails!

It was at this moment that I thought about how my relationship to pain had completely changed since I started doing things that are painful with intention like cold therapy and even intense exercise.

We often think of pain as being “wrong” or “bad,” but the truth is that pain is an inevitable part of the human experience and it’s only our perception of pain that gives it meaning.

I kept that in mind as I felt the nails pierce through the skin on my hands.

hands after doing push-ups on nails
My hands after doing a push-up on nails.
My honest opinion about the breatharian

Although I learned a lot from spending the day with Devon and engaging in his unconventional practices, I still have many questions about breatharianism and am not totally sure what to make of the whole experience.

As skeptical as I still am, I do feel like Devon gave me an honest peek into his breatharian lifestyle. It also helped to meet Devon’s partner Gen who confirmed that she has never seen him eat in the two years they’ve lived together.

I want to believe Devon. I think he’s a genuine and kind person and it meant a lot to me that he welcomed me into his world for a day. It didn’t feel like he was lying, but my logical brain has a hard time wrapping my head around some of the big claims he made.

Even if I am still puzzled by the Black Air Bender and may never know the truth, it doesn’t take away from how much I learned during our day together.

The meaning of it all
meeting the breatharian girlfriend
Devon’s girlfriend Gen has been living with him for two years and said she has never seen him eat!

The Black Air Bender may remain a mystery to me, but I respect his mission to share breath consciousness with the world. One major awakening I had during our day together is how addicted to caffeine I truly was.

Something in me woke up that day and I decided to quit caffeine immediately. It’s been almost a month since this experience and I haven’t had caffeine and don’t plan to. My energy levels are back and I’m not dealing with crazy mood swings like I was.

When it comes to learning about new ways of life, being open-minded is crucial if we want to shift from judgment to curiosity. That one small shift can create infinite potential and completely expand our realities.

That’s why spending time with interesting humans like The Black Air Bender, is my favorite way to live.

Watch the full video here!
Categories
Alternative Living Spirituality

I Went To Witch School To Learn Magic For Manifestation

Modern Witches With Broom & Cauldron
Mia Magik is a modern witch who teaches witchcraft and magic for manifestation.

I went to Witch School to learn how to use magic for manifestation, which turned out to help me transform my life and manifest some pretty incredible things. 

Most of us have been told our whole lives that magic isn’t real and that witches are evil. But after making several videos about witchcraft throughout the past two years, I have met a lot of lovely witches and I have witnessed how magic can actually work.

So I decided to try Witch School and see if I could take my magical powers up a notch.

What is Witch School?

Witch School is an online course created by a modern witch named Mia Magik. Mia has been studying witchcraft for more than eight years and is trained in 13 different healing modalities. 

According to her website, Witch School teaches “ancient tools for a magikal modern life,” through topics such as astrology, rituals, chakras, herbology, achieving abundance, and magic for meditation.

Why did I sign up for Witch School?

Ever since I met Mia and started making videos with her, a lot of magical things have happened in my life. This made me very curious to learn more about witchcraft and try her Witch School to see what might happen.

Week 1: The Witch Wound

The first week of Witch School included a lot of history. We learned about something called “The Witch Wound,” which is basically the result of witches being demonized, oppressed, and tortured for centuries.

Mia really uncovered a lot of history to understand the context of why this happened and why the witch wound is still so present in the collective unconscious. Much of it goes back to control and power.

A History Lesson

Once upon a time witches were the wise-people of the community. They were respected and held ancient knowledge of folklore, connection with spirits, herbal medicine, and unique rituals to invoke the power of the natural world.

During the rise of Christianity is when the mass persecution of witches began as a way for the church to gain power over Pagan and Celtic beliefs. Between the years 1500 and 1660, about 80,000 suspected witches were put to death in Europe. 

Around 80 percent of witchcraft victims were women.

An accused witch going through the judgement trial, where she is dunked in water to prove her guilt of practicing witchcraft.

Then came the famous Salem Witch Trials of 1692, which mirrored much of what was still happening in Europe.

Even today, in some parts of the world there are still people being persecuted for witchcraft, many of whom are women. 

The Hollywood Witch
The Wicked Witch of the West. The classic “Hollywood” witch.

We’ve all seen how witches are portrayed in TV and movies. They are terrifying! Hollywood and the media have played a huge role in reinforcing scary and negative stereotypes of witches. 

Ever since I was a little girl I was so naturally curious about witchcraft. It was something I was intuitively drawn to, but I pushed it away because of how witches were shown to me in movies and TV shows. I was scared of it. 

But now, re-exploring this childhood curiosity as an adult, I am awakening to why this stuff was exciting to me when I was little.

Dressing up as a “good witch” on Halloween.

I think that’s part of why during the first meditation, I had such a powerful experience. It really blew my mind. The opening meditation of Witch School was a total awakening for me and it was emotional. It was like I was remembering this innate knowing that I’ve always felt, but just forgot. 

“Your magik is going to connect with you… show itself to you. Whatever guidance you are supposed to receive will come to you.” 

Mia Magik
The Witchy Basics

The first half of Witch School was a lot of foundational knowledge. We learned about astrology, symbology in animals and nature, the Chakra system, moon cycles, how to communicate with the language of the Universe, how to cast a circle and spellcast, and lots of Witch 101 stuff. 

As a beginner witch (or a baby witch, as I like to call myself) this was all very exciting, but a little overwhelming because we were just learning so many things so fast. I bought a new notebook at the beginning of the course and quickly filled it up in about two weeks because I was taking so many notes! 

The Science of Magic

During Witch School I also read a book called “Real Magic” by Dean Radin, Ph.D. This book opened my eyes to some of the scientific literature that exists on how intention and belief actually can affect outcomes. For anyone looking for more science and evidence-based information on how witchcraft and magical practice actually works, I highly recommend this book. 

I’m someone who learns by doing, so getting into the action during the second half of Witch School was exciting to me. I was finally about to see how use witchcraft and real magic for manifestation.

Magic for Manifestation

The second half of Witch School was learning to work with the elements of nature, which is foundational to most witchcraft lineages.

Because the earth element represents our earthly reality including home, finances, etc. I figured this was the perfect time to work on manifesting a new home since my lease was up on my apartment in LA. 

So I prepared a new home abundance ritual. I tried a channeled writing practice and wrote out all of the things I desired in a new home as if I already have moved in! (This is key).

About one week later, I was having a conversation about moving into a new home that matched exactly what I had written down. About a month later, I moved into my dream new home. I could barely believe it! I literally used magic for manifestation…

This was a huge signal to me that magic might actually work…

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…

Another practice that we learned in Witch School was mirror work, where you basically stare at yourself in the mirror and have a conversation with yourself. Many people are familiar with affirmations, but this is a bit different. It’s more like a deep conversation with yourself. 

I imagined my “Higher Self” speaking directly to me and channeled whatever I needed to hear. This was a little weird at first, but it turned out being quite an empowering process. 

Practicing a mirror ritual and channeling my “Higher Self.”
Sex Magik

During Week 8 of Witch School, we learned about the water element. Water represents out emotions and our sensuality. This is why the week we were learning about the water element, we did a sex magik ritual. It was very intense…

The “sex magik” ritual was quite intense.

This ritual is a little hard to explain. It’s basically using breathwork to cultivate orgasmic energy for the purpose of manifestation. It was a sacred and safe space to be free and wild in my pleasure and sexuality and it was super powerful to give this time and energy to myself.

Recently my love life has been flourishing, which I see as another sign that magic for manifestation might actually work.

Divination

The air element represents our thoughts, our psychic powers, and the way our mind interprets this material reality. So during this week, we learned about divination. Divination is basically our connection to our psychic abilities. 

Back in my witch tent, I tried the divination ritual and received so many downloads and insights. I spent some time journaling what came through and then decided to pull out my deck of angel cards.

Something very peculiar happened… 

I pulled the exact same three cards that I pulled a week before… Was this a coincidence? Or was this magic? 

It didn’t feel like a coincidence to me. I shuffled them a ton and out of the ENTIRE deck of cards, I pulled the same three cards again? What?

It was clear that perhaps I should pay attention to the messages on these cards. 

The same three angel cards I pulled two weeks in a row. The deeper meanings of these cards really spoke to me.
Burn, Baby Burn!

During fire week, we learned that the fire element can be powerful for manifestation but also for burning away and letting go of the things that no longer serve us. 

I utilized the fire element to help me release limiting beliefs that were holding me back. One of those limiting beliefs is the guilt I sometimes have around pleasure and desire. I am still working on letting this go, but during the fire ritual, it’s definitely something I set the intention to burn away.  

Unlocking My Magical Powers

Overall, this was a super transformative experience for me. I can’t believe that I manifested my dream home and I have also seen other areas of my life improve as well. My love life is flourishing and I have been making more money than I ever have as an entrepreneur! 

I still have a long way to go and lots that I am working on, but I know that magic and witchcraft will continue to be tools that I cultivate and utilize for the rest of my life. 

I am super excited to learn more about using witchcraft and magic for manifestation.

A Few Notes

It’s important to note that there are so many different types of witchcraft and practitioners who use magic for all sorts of things. This was just one representation of the craft.

The price of Witch School

One thing that’s important to address is the cost of Witch School, because it’s not necessarily cheap. The full price at the time when I went was $555. Now, Mia actually restructured it so now it’s in two 6-week parts for $333 each.

Price wise and time wise, this definitely feels more doable to me because one of the challenging parts of Witch School was that it was so long. I think six weeks is actually a perfect length for this course. 

From my perspective, I believe that spiritual teachers should be compensated properly for their time, energy, and gifts. Mia has been studying for more than 10 years and has invested thousands of dollars and hours into her growth as a teacher, and has put a ton of energy into creating this course. Money is just the way we currently exchange our energy, so this makes sense to me.

By no means is Witch School something that you need. However, it’s a really cool experience and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about witchcraft, magic and manifestation. If you have the extra money to spend on yourself, this can be a powerful investment.

If you want to try Witch School be sure to use my code: SKY for 10% off! 

Mia also offers scholarships and payment plans for those who may need some financial support to attend Witch School. Email team@miamagik.com to learn more. 

Categories
Alternative Living Spirituality

The Witch Who Changed My Life

Mia Magik and Sky
Mia Magik and Sky connecting in the mountains of Topanga, California

Meet Mia Magik, a manifesting witch and an ambassador for modern magic.

Mia Magik is a modern-day witch and practices witchcraft and magic to manifest the life of her dreams. She also makes a living teaching others how to do the same with her Witch School.

“All I want to do is help people believe in magic because magic has changed and saved my life.”

Mia Magik

I met Mia through the spiritual community in Los Angeles and was always fascinated by her and drawn to her magnetic energy. I didn’t know that eventually, we would connect on a much deeper level and she would help me unlock a piece of my heart that I didn’t even know was locked up.

My Witchcraft Journey

Ever since I was a little girl I remember being particularly drawn to spiritual, witchy things. Growing up in Beverly, Massachusetts, the town right next door to Salem, Massachusetts, known as the “Witch City” where the famous Witch Trials of 1692 occurred, I was always deeply fascinated by this topic. 

But sometime early on, I pushed away this innate curiosity because of the stigma and societal judgment surrounding the topic of witchcraft. Hollywood, the media, and the church have a long history of portraying witchcraft as evil and making it seem wrong, scary, and something to fear. It’s been completely misunderstood and I always knew there must be more to the stereotype of the witch.  

So last October, I decided to revisit my childhood curiosity of witchcraft and spend some time learning witchcraft from real practicing witches in Los Angeles where I live. I learned so much about the history of witchcraft and why those who practice it today seem to resonate with this belief system and practice.

What I learned is that witchcraft is extremely connected to the elements of nature. This really appealed to me.

Manifesting with Magic

This October, I wanted to take things a bit further and learn more about how I might actually be able to apply witchcraft to my life. And that’s where Mia comes in because she is using witchcraft to truly manifest the life of her dreams. 

Manifestation is a buzzword we hear all the time and make jokes about. But when I witness people who seem to be manifestation pros, I want all their secrets.

Mia Magik is one of those humans and someone I needed to learn more about. So I headed into the mountains of Topanga, California, to spend the day with this modern witch and see how she lives her life.

I arrived in Topanga Canyon at 10 in the morning on a Tuesday. We were up in the mountains at Mia’s beautiful home. As I walked down the driveway towards the door, I noticed a casual red Range Rover in the driveway. I wondered if it was Mia’s and I later found out that of course, it was.

Mia welcomed me and my videographer, Caitlin, into her home and immediately began showing us around what she calls, “The Priestess Palace.”

“I just wanted to create a space where me and one or two sisters can make magic together and be in our practice together,” she said. “We’ve had rage rituals in here, we’ve had sex magic rituals in here, we’ve had all the things in here.”

Rage rituals? Sex magic rituals? My curiosity meter was peaking. I needed to experience these practices for myself. 

You can watch the full video here to see my day with Mia Magik, but here in this blog post, I want to dive a little bit deeper regarding what happened during the sex magic ritual… because shit got deep real fast. 

Watch my day with Mia Magik!
The Sex Magic Ritual

I sat down with Mia and her witchy sister Hannah Marie to participate in a “sex magic ritual” using an orgasmic breathwork method. Mia explained that we would be doing sex magic without actual sex. We wouldn’t be touching ourselves or doing anything crazy. We would just be working with “the energy of sex,” or the creative energy.

“You can do sex magic with the energy of sexuality because sexual energy is the creative energy. It’s what gives life and brings life.” Mia explained.

“So you can do sex magic without ever touching yourself because it’s just bringing that energy in, that free-flowing pleasure and feeling the joy and the bliss and the openness.”

Mia asked me to think about something that felt important to call into my life. I immediately said, “more financial abundance.” She asked me to imagine a symbol that represents that to me and I told her “gold.” She then instructed me to imagine everything in gold as we moved through the practice and as the energy “reached my crown,” or the crown chakra at the top of the head.

The breathwork technique that Mia taught me was a very simple free flowing breath with free movement. She instructed me to simply feel freedom and pleasure as we breathed and moved.

Very quickly into the ritual, I started feeling the effects. I could feel the joy, the bliss, and the pleasure. It felt so good and so natural.

After only about 10 minutes of breathing, we stopped breathing and just settled into this blissful, joyful presence. It was at this moment as the waters settled, that I experienced something that I’ve only experienced a handful of times in my life. With this sense of clarity, I experienced a moment of pure remembrance. One of those Divine moments that hits you straight in the heart and the gut.

My moment of remembrance

As I was sitting with Mia and Hannah, looking into the eyes at the beautiful, strong, powerful women holding this sacred space together, it hit me so hard. I broke down.

A huge wave of remembering hit me and I felt all sorts of feels: joy and gratitude, but also a deep sadness for the world and this wisdom that seems to have gotten lost or been wrongfully taken away over the years. 

“We’ve had our power stripped away. Women need each other like this,” I said. 

The wisdom they were sharing with me, felt so innate and so real in my heart. This moment with them felt so primal and cosmic at the same time. 

“Your souls are like telling me ancient wisdom that’s been taken away or something. You’re literally giving me the gift of this wisdom that’s so real it’s crazy.”

In a world that doesn’t seem to make any sense right now, this moment made perfect sense to me.

Of course it makes sense to align with nature, the elements, and honor the Mother. Of course it makes sense to breathe with pure gratitude and pleasure. Of course, it makes sense to create space for sacred sisterhood to allow each other to feel deeply and support each other.

How could I forget this wisdom? 

Mia told me that the same experience happened to her once upon a time. She told me that when she exclaimed her remembrance to her spiritual teacher at the time, he responded with this, “We are designed to forget and the mission is to remember.” 

These moments of remembering are what motivate me. We all experience the world differently, but we must find these moments that make sense to our souls. The moments that fill us up with so much love, joy, connection, gratitude, and remembering are what we need most right now.

It just makes sense.

Right now, Mia Magik is offering the Sky Life Vibe Tribe 10% OFF her Magic School! USE CODE SKY for 10% off Mia’s Witch School so you can learn how to use witchcraft and magic to manifest all your dreams and desires 😉

Categories
Spirituality

I Tried Trippy Breathwork Online

Throughout the past four years of living in Los Angeles, I have tried all kinds of crazy alternative modalities, from cosmetic acupuncture to crystal healing, the Wim Hof Method and neurofeedback.

Breathwork is one modality that has been a real game-changer for me.

Now, there are all different forms of breathwork. Pranayama, the Skanrit term for breathing practice, has been practiced by the yogis and monks for thousands of years. Breathwork’s popularity in western culture really started around the 1970s when Dr. Stan Grof, a Czech psychiatrist, developed something called holotropic breathwork as a way to induce a psychedelic state for psychotherapeutic benefits, without the use of drugs. 

At this point, I’ve tried all different kinds of breathwork. I’ll never forget my first breathwork during my yoga teacher training in 2016, and how powerful this was for me. I couldn’t believe what I was feeling in my body through breathing alone.

How breathwork actually works:

As I mentioned before, there are all different types of breathwork, but generally what’s happening in most forms of breathwork, is a decrease in the levels of carbon dioxide in the body and an increase in oxygen. This causes the pH of your blood to increase and become more alkaline, and scientists have actually measured these levels studying Wim Hof breathing in the lab. 

With this change in alkalinity, the body and brain start to react in all sorts of ways physically and emotionally. There are documented accounts of people having all sorts of psychedelic-like experiences during breathwork, but the research on why this actually happens is just not something we have yet. 

Since I’ve started making more content about breathwork and other holistic modalities, a comment that I often see is that people wish they lived somewhere in the world that offers breathwork classes. 

So when I discovered a type of breathwork being taught completely online, I knew I needed to try it out to see if this is something that might be a way for people around the world to gain access to a modality that’s been a big part of my spiritual path, and is helping so many people around the world. 

So I went to meet with Michael Stone, a certified breathwork facilitator who has been guiding breathwork experiences for more than a decade in-person and online. Michael developed something called neurodynamic breathwork online in order to give people around the world access to breathwork, in an easy and affordable way.

My Experience

There are a lot of breathwork tutorials online, but what made this experience different is that it was a live class held via Zoom with Michael leading the session as a certified facilitator

Breathwork can be really intense, so it’s important to feel safe and supported. It was definitely reassuring to know that Michael was right there in case anyone needed him during the session.

Something that I really enjoyed was how people from all over the world were able to share their personal experiences after the class. Although it wasn’t the same as being in-person with people, I still felt such a strong sense of community. It reminded me that there are people all over the world who are hungry for this stuff and want to expand their consciousness. It’s not just happening in Los Angeles.

Although I would still recommend going to an in-person class over an online session if you get the chance, I know that’s necessarily a possibility for everyone. I feel that neurodynamic breathwork online is the next best thing and would highly recommend it. You can do this from the comfort of your own home while still feeling the support of a global community. 

Because Michael wants to share this with as many people as possible around the world, he’s offering the Sky Life vibe tribe a free neurodynamic breathwork session! So you can try it out and see if it’s something that resonates with you.