Inform us a bit about your self…

I’m Sara Matchett, a Professor on the College of Cape City, the place I train and analysis within the fields of theatre, voice, and efficiency research. I’m additionally a licensed Superior Breathwork Practitioner with Breathwork Africa, and one in every of twelve international Lead Trainers in Fitzmaurice Voicework®. 25 years in the past, I co-founded The Mothertongue Undertaking, a ladies’s arts collective targeted on efficiency and social engagement.

What does a typical day seem like for you?

My days are a mixture of educating, analysis, and inventive work. I spend time within the studio with college students, supervise postgraduate analysis, and work on varied efficiency and breathwork tasks. I additionally collaborate with native and worldwide companions on analysis and workshops, and sometimes current at conferences and contribute to publications.

How did your breathwork journey start and what impressed you to pursue this path?

My curiosity in breathwork began in 1998, after I did a ten day Vipassana retreat in Igatpuri, India. My curiosity additional developed via my educational and inventive work, notably throughout my PhD analysis, which explored breath as a means into performance-making. Over time, I built-in practices from Fitzmaurice Voicework® and varied breathwork practices into my educating and inventive course of. These approaches aligned with my curiosity in how breath connects to emotion, reminiscence, and voice. Working with Dr Ela Manga and Breathwork Africa continues to deepen my journey with breath, mixing science, spirit, and creativity.

How have you ever seen your apply profit your practitioners?

Practitioners typically report elevated consciousness of their bodily and emotional states, improved vocal presence, and a deeper connection to their artistic work. Breathwork can help resilience and assist people entry private narratives and embodied experiences, which could be helpful in each efficiency and on a regular basis life.

Do you’ve gotten a favorite quote, mantra or life motto that you simply stay by?

One quote I typically return to is: “Respiratory is That means” – Catherine Fitzmaurice. It displays the method I take advantage of in my work, beginning with breath, transferring into sensation, and permitting that to tell artistic expression. A mantra that evokes me every day (actually, it kinds a part of my e mail signature) is “There’s actually no such factor because the ‘unvoiced’. There are solely the intentionally silenced, or the ideally unheard” – Arundhati Roy. This displays the core of my apply, which explores breath as a medium for expression and presence, and efficiency as an area the place voices, particularly these typically marginalised, could be heard and acknowledged.