Page 75 - What Doctors Don't Tell You - AU-NZ (February-March 2020)

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As a young man,

Matthew Donnachie thought he was heading for prison or an early

grave. Years of bottled-up trauma from an emotionally abusive

childhood had left him with no self-esteem, problematic relationships,

depression and huge anger.

Diagnosed with behavioral problems as a child—
Matthew realized later he was just trying to get attention—
Matthew Donnachie’s abusive his life spun out of control as the internalized negative

childhood was slowly killing him script of his abuser played out. The put-downs and

until he discovered that eliminating phrases he had heard daily as he grew up, like, “You’re not

these painful experiences was a good enough, you will never succeed,” and “No one will ever
love you,” echoed through his mind, driving him into a
matter of catching his breath. frustrating cycle of toxic relationships and dead-end jobs.
Jane Turney reports “I thought nobody cared, and then because of that I

didn’t care about myself,” says Matthew, 39.

“Some days I was so depressed I could hardly get out of bed.

My anger was so great I used to punch doors and walls. I was a walking

time-bomb.”

Matthew tried counseling and anger management, after 24 hours I realized it was the abusive voice in my
but, “talking about the past and why I was angry head. I used to hear ‘You can’t do that, you’re an idiot,’
just made me angrier.” In his twenties, he turned to and ‘If I can’t love you, who can?’ But it was gone!”
recreational drugs to block out the mental pain. “I was Matthew continued to see Pennie once a month,
heavily into cocaine, I smoked marijuana and I was the breathwork sessions being complemented
drinking way too much alcohol sometimes. by life coaching and cognitive techniques such as
“At first it was fun, I was going out with friends, going neurolinguistic programming (NLP) to anchor the
to wild parties, but when I was in the same groove seven internal shifts and support change in his external life.
years later I realized I was in trouble. I got to 28 or 29, “As well as dealing with my childhood traumas, I
and something clicked—‘I have got to change.’” needed to look at my own behaviors to see what I was
Matthew’s pivotal moment came while working on a putting out and what I was getting back,” he says.
rooftop as a builder. His mind, as usual, was elsewhere, A year later, he had transformed so much he decided
and he hit his thumb three times in quick succession to become a Breath4Life practitioner and started a
with a hammer. In pain and desperation, he cried out, “I three-year training with Pennie at the Acorn to Oak
can’t live like this anymore. I’ve had enough.” International School of Energy Medicine in the south
Fortunately, Matthew’s colleague saw how deadly of England.
serious he was and called someone he knew could help: “If I had not found breathwork, I would be dead or in
Pennie Quaile-Pearce, creator of the transformative prison,” he says. “My life flipped around, and I wanted
TM
breathwork modality Breath4Life . Two hours later, to help others.”
Matthew was lying on the floor in her office. What is Breath4Life?
PHOTOGRAPHY: Tony C. French; www.tonycfrench.com moment I would have done anything,” says Matthew. that have emerged in the West since the 1960s to
What happened next was the start of an extraordinary
Breath4Life is one of a number of breathing techniques
transformational journey. “I was skeptical, but in that

“I didn’t do too much talking, I went straight into the
transform and heal body, mind and spirit. They use a
breathwork. I dealt with some anger and fear, and I
method of connected breathing that practitioners claim
catalyzes a change in consciousness (see box, page 77).
came out with a feeling of ecstasy.”
In Breath4Life subconscious connected breathing,
He felt that life changed instantly.“Afterwards, I
the technique is to employ an energetic in-breath
couldn’t grasp how I could lie on the floor for two hours
and be different, but within three to four days, I noticed
that something was missing. I thought about it, and
between in- and out-breath. The theory is that the

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ followed by a sighing out-breath, with no pauses
ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 75