Breath & Energy · “Breath Is the Bridge”
Collarbone Breathing
To clear a stubborn ‘neurological disorganisation’ block that is stopping other TFT treatment from working, using a fixed pattern of breath holds combined with finger contact at the collarbone and gamut points.
Collarbone Breathing in brief: Rest two fingertips on one collarbone point; with the other hand tap the back-of-hand Gamut spot ~5x in each of five breath states — normal, full-in-and-hold, half-out-and-hold, fully-empty-and-hold, half-in-and-hold. Repeat on the other collarbone point, then with knuckle contact, then switch hands and repeat the whole set. Then retry the tapping that was stuck. Keep all holds gentle.
What it is
Collarbone Breathing is one of Roger Callahan’s “trouble-shooting” routines in TFT — reserved for the awkward cases where ordinary tapping won’t budge the distress.
Callahan attributed such resistance to “neurological disorganisation” (a kind of system-wide scrambling he borrowed from applied kinesiology) and devised this fixed pattern of breath positions held while you touch the collarbone points and tap the gamut spot.
It is part breath practice, part contact ritual: you cycle the same finger contacts through five distinct breathing states (normal, half-in, full-in, half-out, full-out) on each hand and each fingertip set. It’s the most breath-centric piece of the TFT toolkit, which is why it lives here rather than with the tapping algorithms.
The Method
The classic Collarbone Breathing Exercise, as taught in Callahan’s materials, runs a two-finger contact of one hand through five breathing positions, while the other hand taps the Gamut spot (~5 taps) at each position.
You then switch which fingers contact, then switch hands, working systematically through all combinations. Setup:
- Locate the two Collarbone points: ~1 inch down and ~1 inch out to each side of the sternal notch (the same CB point used in the algorithms, left and right).
- Locate the Gamut spot: back of the hand, in the hollow between the little-finger and ring-finger knuckles. The breathing positions — at each you tap the Gamut spot ~5 times:
- Breathe normally (relaxed, neutral).
- Take a full breath in and hold it.
- Let half the breath out and hold.
- Breathe all the way out and hold (empty).
- Take a half breath in and hold. The full cycle:
- Place two fingertips of one hand on one Collarbone point. Tap the Gamut spot with the other hand through all five breathing positions (5 taps each).
- Move those same two fingertips to the other Collarbone point. Repeat the five positions.
- Switch to the knuckle / back-of-finger contact (Callahan also used the backs of the fingers) on each Collarbone point in turn — repeat the five positions for each.
- Switch hands (the tapping hand now does the contact, and vice versa) and repeat the entire set.
- Then return to your main TFT treatment — the sequence that had been stuck — and re-check your SUD. The idea is that the block is now cleared and the algorithm will work. (Sourcing note: the collarbone and gamut point locations, the five breath positions with held breath, the fingertip-then-knuckle contact, and the switch-hands structure are documented in Callahan’s TFT materials. Faithfully summarised; minor variations exist between editions.)
Source & Lineage
Callahan developed Collarbone Breathing as a TFT correction for cases that resisted standard algorithms, framing the block as “neurological disorganisation.”. The “disorganisation” concept and the breath-plus-contact form descend from applied kinesiology (George Goodheart, John Thie’s Touch for Health).
Like the rest of TFT, the procedure passed into the broader Energy Psychology field; EFT retains a simplified “Collarbone Breathing” trouble-shooter for the same purpose.
The Traditions' versions
EFT Collarbone Breathing — the near-identical trouble-shooting routine in Craig’s system.
- Breath-retention practices — holding the breath at full and empty echoes pranayama’s kumbhaka (internal/external retention). → (pranayama / kumbhaka entries).
- Paced / box breathing — structured breath states to shift arousal. → paced-breathing entries.
- Touch for Health / applied kinesiology — the parent tradition of “switching” and re-organising via contact + breath.
- Self-touch grounding — fingertip contact at the chest as a soothing, orienting gesture.
Common refinements
Forcing the breath-holds. Hold gently and briefly; never strain. If a position feels uncomfortable, shorten it.
- Rushing through the positions. The point is to actually be in each breath state for a few taps — slow down.
- Skipping the switches. The systematic both-hands / both-points structure is the prescribed form; do the full cycle if you’re following the method.
- Treating it as the first thing to try. Callahan reserved it for resistant cases; it’s a trouble-shooter, not a starting point.
- Believing the energy story is doing the work. Lean on the genuinely useful breath-and-attention element; hold the theory lightly.