– breathing is obviously something we can’t live without! But it is possible for us to be impoverished in our breath. Even as someone who is a yoga teacher, a bodyworker, who knows deeply what a difference breathing makes, it is so easy to fall back into bad breathing habits. The moment one becomes a little preoccupied, worried or anxious, and let’s face it, this can happen in our lives. Perhaps our breath becomes shallower, maybe we even start to hold our breath without realising - we are just breath surviving - taking the bare minimum. Especially when we are doing desk work, it’s hard to take a deep, low breath when we are hunched over a screen. Most of us will have come across this more than once: belly breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, abdominal breathing, breathing as you see a young child will do naturally – through the nose, belly rising and falling, seems easy, doesn’t it? It can be, but it does take practice. Especially if we have a pattern of sympathetic nervous system arousal from our childhood, or from a prolonged experience of stress in our lives. We have to remember again and again, and again. One place to invite slow, deep, low, breathing, is at a yoga class; being reminded and guided into the breath can be helpful - but you can start wherever you are! Breathing through your nose, choosing the count that’s right for you to begin with, 2,3,4 or 5 – breathing in and out to the same count - increasing with your capacity. Keep the breath low, engaging your lower diaphragm, and rhythmical, using your lungs full capacity. It’s great to practice when walking, doing chores, in the shower etc. If you do want a yoga class, I’m offering Recovery Yoga, a restorative class with breath work, self-acupressure and guided relaxation. Recovery is a wide spectrum, and I think it can include all of us. The etymology of the word ‘recovery’ is to 'return' or 'come back', to the stage prior to ill health or injury. We have all faced loss in our life, many of us have felt a part of ourselves has been lost somewhere along the way, in a deep sadness or trauma, or someone close to us suffers and it breaks our heart. There is so much collective, intergenerational trauma, it can feel at times as if the whole culture needs to return or come back. Collectively we have so much to process, so much to recover. If you want to tend to that tender part of being human, please join us on Thursday evenings 6 - 7.15pm at St Alban's Hall in East Oxford.
I love this short talk by James Nestor author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. Interesting quote: "the greatest indicator of life span wasn't genetics, diet, or the amount of daily exercise, as many had suspected. It was lung capacity."
Holistic Acupressure and Zen Shiatsu
I’m offering a 20% discount for Holistic Acupressure or Zen Shiatsu to any new client reading this blog. If you are new to bodywork, it can be very supportive for your body to be deeply listened to, and given focused touch and pressure, in response to what is present. There is no judgement, just tending to what's there. Clients are invited to give feedback if they wish and to be active in the process, or to simply receive. It can be deeply relaxing and restorative, or energising and enlivening, depending on what is present and possible for us on that day. Many people find it grounding, nourishing and that they feel ‘more like themselves’ afterwards.
In both Holistic Acupressure and Zen Shiatsu, we work with Ki through the channels in the body, similar to Acupuncture and Chinese medicine. We are facilitating your body’s natural healing process - which never stops seeking balance - recognising, without words, the parts of us which need to be connected with and integrated into the whole person.
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