Meet Cora Vasserman | Breathwork Facilitator, Hypnobirthing Certified Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cora Vasserman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cora, can you share the most important lesson you’ve learned over the course of your career?
Building my own business has taught me that almost everything in life is an inside job. The hardest work I have to do is to continually choose to overcome my own self doubt and fear around my ability to make a living doing this work. So often in life we think we are up against external factors that our out of our control, but without the structure of a workplace I’ve realized the biggest obstacle is myself. The responsibility is both empowering and daunting, and my work is to embrace and lean into this responsibility everyday.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Starting and growing my healing arts practice has been completely organic and to be honest, there isn’t a lot that I’ve planned ahead that actually worked out. For me, growth has always come from going with the flow rather than making a plan an executing it. I started working with clients at beginning of the pandemic in June 2020. I had recently been trained in breathwork facilitation and started sharing breathwork sessions over zoom to friends and family to offer a bit of relief during that dark time. Anxiety was high and with everyone stuck at home, people were open to trying something new. It grew organically from there and started working in person as soon as I could, leading private sessions and groups outside. After several of my clients began spontaneously singing during breathwork and it was clear that their voice was trying to open and move energy but they needed a little guidance and direction to get started, I trained in sound healing and vocal toning and incorporated that into my private sessions and group practices.

Then, I had a few clients who were trying to conceive and using breathwork to open up space to call in their baby. Working in this space really lit me up and I had a few people tell me about a modality called Hypnobirthing, so I trained to become a Hypnobirthing Certified Educator and Doula. This method prepares pregnant women for a calm, beautiful physiological birth with self hypnosis techniques, fear releasing exercises, education, and breathwork.

In my breathwork and my birth work practices, my goal is to guide clients on a journey through the subconscious so that they can access the limiting beliefs and energetic emotional blocks that are keeping them disempowered and move into empowerment by releasing the held emotional energy and reprogramming on the subconscious level.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My favorite part about LA is the access to nature. I’m from New York City and I love being able to get in the car and take a blissful morning hike in Topanga feeling like I’m miles from any big city. So I’d start the day with a hike in Topanga or Malibu, then an ocean plunge to cool off.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to shoutout Mike Gazzo and Aileen Ramirez of unearthed LA. Mike was a breathwork client of mine and after working together for some time, we decided to start hosting breathwork workshops for our community at his house. We were able to cultivate a space where people showed up completely authentically and vulnerably, which can be so hard to find even in the wellness world. People with all levels of experience with meditation and breathwork had profound and healing experiences, and we were able to dig into the deep medicine that is group work. Working with Mike and Aileen taught me about collaboration. It was an honor to lead the breathwork practice but I could not have organized and created the community by myself. Now that I live in New York, Mike and, Aileen, who have both begun their work as breathwork facilitators and healers themselves, are going to continue hosting breathwork workshops. I’m so grateful for their support and our work together and I encourage any one in LA to check out unearthed and their events!

Website: coravbreathwork.com

Instagram: coravass