Breathing corresponds to taking charge of one’s own life.
Luce Irigaray
I am very passionate about the healing power of breath. Yoga Breathing is a safe and fast way to relieve stress and anxiety, aid digestion, balance moods and energy, improve sleep and boost the immune system, amongst many other benefits. Certain practices increase Nitric Oxide and there is a lot of research at the moment looking into how this can help with managing Covid symptoms.
Breathwork is very accessible and I take a simple, science-based approach that is effective for everyone, including children. It requires no experience and allows you to feel the results pretty quickly. These sessions are easily done online, although I am also happy to meet in person (see below) and offer you a natural self-care tool which you can use for life.
We start with a Discovery Session which is approximately 40 mins long, during which we do some breathing together, go through a questionnaire to assess your health and aspirations, explain some breathing techniques, plan what goals we can achieve and give you handouts and audio recordings of breathing exercises to practice.
If you decide to carry on, I offer an Exploratory programme first and then, if you want to deepen your practice, either ad hoc Breathing by the Sea sessions, or a Wellness programme.
Exploratory Programme.
This is an opportunity to gain a solid understanding of the science of breathing (physiology, its relation with the Autonomic Nervous System, biomechanics, etc). It also gives you the chance to learn some techniques exploring the three main types of breathing (energising, balancing, calming), which will help you feel more balanced and healthy, and are suitable for different situations in your daily life.
The programme develops over 5 weeks with weekly 30-40 mins sessions and while it follows a certain structure, it is also a personal exploration: we start from where you're at now - understanding who you are, your health journey, how you breathe and what you aspire to. I offer email support in between sessions and weekly audio recordings for you to practice.
Wellness Programme
This follows on from the Exploratory Programme and also develops over 5 weeks. Having learnt about breathing and practised different exercises, we can now tailor the sessions more specifically to your needs: what you might wish to explore, issues you want to address or resolve, and how you would like to feel.
This is a very personal journey as we are guided entirely by your own situation. Whether you are healthy, experiencing respiratory disorders or other medical issues, familiar with Yoga breathing, recovering from an illness, facing emotional challenges… all of this will affect where the programme takes us and where you want to take your breathing practice. By the end, you should feel empowered to choose those breathing practices which therapeutically balance your nervous system in a transformational way.
What is required from you is a commitment to attend each session and to spend 15 mins a day practicing the breathing exercises (five minutes in the morning, five during the day and five at bedtime).
Breathing by the Sea sessions
During these very tailored and personal sessions, we meet and walk alongside each other for 45 minutes doing different breathing practices and exploring whatever comes up. These are weather dependent.