Wellness Resource Center
Mini-Workshop
Saturday & Sunday
Feb 18th & 19th
9am
See you in the HOTROOM after the 7:30 and before 9:30 class!
In this 15-minute mini-workshop prior to/after your Bikram yoga class, learn more about HOW and WHY you can train your attention and breathing. We will begin to play around with the various types of breathing methods most applicable for you to use when you need them. The workshop resources on breath-work will be available (here and) at the front desk!
Your Greatest Resources: Attention & Breathing!
“Just breathe” they say. Sounds so very simple, but not always easy, especially when challenged by stressors that plague you from your inner landscape and the outer world. Learning to use our breath is a powerful internal resource we all own and our breath is foundational to regulating our nervous system (Lepera,2022). Your nervous system is a surveillance system always looking for both threat and cues for safety (Porges, 2014; Dana, 2018). If we take the time to learn about how our nervous system feels safe or threatened by examining our own breathing patterns, we can participate in our own wellness.
By noticing our breathing, and paying careful attention to it, we may find that with stressful experiences comes shallow, quick, chest-breathing. We may notice we tighten up our muscles, hold our breath, and clench our jaw. These physiological shifts send our body messages that we are not safe, not okay, and it is time to prepare to run or fight in response to a real or perceived threat. By intentionally changing our very own breathing, we can teach our body that we are safe, we are okay! By learning about your attention and breathing, you can self-regulate, respond to stress, and help others to do the same. This is yoga you can practice on and off the mat!
***Breathing Methods
Balanced Breathing
Sit, or lay down in a comfortable position where you’ll be able to safely relax for the next few minutes. Begin to inhale slowly and deeply through your nose to the count of five, relaxing your jaw, shoulders, and any other muscles that feel tense. Exhale slowly through your nose to the same count of five, feeling your body continue to relax. Repeat this pattern of inhalation and exhalation for 1 to 2 minutes. Check in with your body a notice any shifts or changes and its feelings of stress or tension.
Deep Belly Breathing
Set or lay down in a comfortable position where you’ll be able to safely relax for the next few minutes. Place your hands on your belly and begin to inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, feeling the air, inflate, your belly, relax in your jaw, shoulders, and any other muscles that feel tense. Exhale slowly through your nose, feeling the air, leave your body in your belly deflate. Repeat this pattern of deep belly breathing for one to two minutes. Check in with your body and notice any shifts or changes and its feelings of stress or attention.
Straw Breathing
Sit, or lay down in a comfortable position where you’ll be able to safely relax for the next few minutes. Begin to inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, relaxing, your jaw, shoulders, and any other muscles that feel tense. Exhale through pursed lips like you’re slowly blowing air through an imaginary straw. Continue breathing slowly and deeply for one to two minutes, exhaling the air slowly through an imaginary straw. Check in with your body and notice any shifts or changes and its feelings of stress or tension.
4 –7–8 Breathing
Set or lay down in a comfortable position where you’ll be able to relax safely for the next few minutes. Begin to inhale slowly and deeply through your nose for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds, and then exhale for eight seconds, relax in your jaw, shoulders, and any other muscles that feel tense. Repeat this pattern of 4-7–8 breathing for 1-2 minutes. Check in with your body and notice any shifts or changes in his feelings of stress or tension.
Box Breathing
Sit, or lay down in a comfortable position where you’ll be able to safely relax for the next few minutes. Begin to inhale slowly and deeply through your nose for four seconds, hold your breath for four seconds, and then exhale for four seconds. Wait four seconds before your next inhalation. Repeat this pattern of Vox breathing for 1 to 2 minutes . Check in with your body and notice any shifts or changes in his feelings of stress or tension.
Alternate-Nostril Breathing
Sit, or lay down in a comfortable position where you’ll be able to safely relax for the next few minutes. Gently close your right nostril with your right thumb and inhale slowly and deeply through the left nostril then close the left nostril with your right finger and release your thumb, exhaling slowly through the right nostril. With the right nostril open, inhale slowly and deeply, then close it with your right thumb, exhaling slowly through your left nostril. Once your exhalation is complete, inhale through the left, and begin the cycle again, repeating this pattern of alternate nostril breathing for 1 to 2 minutes. Check in with your body and notice any shifts or changes in its feelings of stress or tension.
Physiological Sigh
The physiological sigh is one deep inhale through the nose followed by a shorter quick inhale to completely fill the lungs followed by a long exhale out of the mouth. Repeat this breathing pattern for 5 minutes. Check in with your body and notice any shifts or changes in its feelings of stress or tension. For a video that explains the physiological sigh, please visit this link.
***Breathing Exercises taken from How to Meet Yourself: The Workbook for Self-Discovery by Dr. Nicole LePera (2022) and Physiological Sigh taken from
Dr. Andrew Huberman
@ The Huberman Lab podcast.
References
Dana, D. (2018)The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy (Norton)
Porges, Stephen, M.D. PhD., (2014) The PocketGuide to The Polyvagal Theory (Norton).
