Category: Breathwork

Breath Token November 2017

A breath token is a breathing exploration that I develop for friends & clients and send out as a gift.

Accompanying the exhale (base of skull)

The other day I had a headache and I let my head gently hang down and began stroking with my fingertips from the centre of the base of the skull following the curvature to just below the ears. The sense of relief was particularly strong if I stroked out on the exhale while lifting up the head. Read More

Breath Token October 2017

A breath token is a breathing exploration that I develop for friends & clients and send out as a gift.

Airing the armpit
Let’s open and lift one arm slightly outwards so as to create a space between the armpit and the inside of the arm. Then we release the arm back to the torso. We repeat this as often as we like and then change sides. We can then open and lift both arms to the side at the same time, like a young bird preparing to open its wings. Read More

Breath Token September 2017

A breath token is a breathing exploration that I develop for friends & clients and send out as a gift.

This is an excercise from Professor Middendorf‘s book „The perceptible breath, A breathing science“. We let the right hand rest on the upper thigh, palm facing upwards. and take the middle three fingers of the left hand and gently press the tips into the center of the palm of the right hand. Then we release. Press and release. Generally the inhale comes on pressing and the exhale comes with the release. We sense how it is with us, how the breath corresponds with the movement. As always we find the right intensity and rhythm for us and do the exploration for as long as it feels agreeable.
Then we change sides.
This exploration is for opening up the middle space of the torso for the breath movement to flow through.

The benefits I experienced were:
a „healing touch“experience through the different gestures of each hand
easy breathing
deepening of the breath
slowing down of the breath
extension of the breath pause
getting in touch with myself
agreeable to do whilst on the road or in company

There are surely other benefits for you to discover. If you have any questions or feedback please contact me.

Source: Ilse Middendorf: The perceptible breath, A breathing science, Junfermann Verlag, 2007

Anxiety free

In this interview with personal philosopher“ Brian Johnson, Buteyko breath teacher Patrick McKeown  talks about breathing in relation to thinking: „by focussing on the breath, we take control back over our minds“. He maps out how „there are two types of thoughts, „productive thoughts and repetitive thoughts“. The productive thoughts are neccessary for planning activities, the repetitive thoughts are unnecessary and keep going round and round in a loop, not leading to an activity.  As opposed to other animals, because of our thinking „we tend to focus on what‘s not going on around us“. Read More

Breath Token August 2017

A breath token is a breathing exploration that I develop for friends & clients and send out as a gift.

Let’s take the idea of stretching and redefine it as a „leaning into a space“. We can lean from anywhere inside the torso towards the inner walls of the torso. This could be to the side, upwards or downwards, forwards or backwards, or diagonally. Where I meet with a resistance I explore it rather than go up against it. Leaning into the resistance, gently as into a sofa cushion or more directly as against a wall, waiting for the space to expand, to open so that the breath can flow in.

The benefits I experienced were:
A strong sense of the breath movement
Mobility in the chest
Deep, gentle and regular breathing
A sense of space in the entire torso
Becoming aware of tension and pain patterns in the torso

There are surely other benefits for you to discover. If you have any questions or feedback please contact me.

Coherence BreatheHeart

Coherence BreatheHeart

In this video, Stephen Elliot, the founder of coherence, demonstrates the biofeedback instrument COHERENCE BreatheHeart. Coherence breathing focusses on the circulatory aspect of breathing and how, through our ability to influence our breathing, we can influence our blood flow and heart rate. With COHERENCE BreatheHeart we can measure and see how breathing, blood flow and heart rate are synchronised. By breathing coherently we can train ourselves to synchronise breathing, blood flow and heart rate optimally for physical and mental health. Stephen Elliot says: „As we breathe coherently, the blood wave returns to and issues from the lungs with each cycle of inhalation and exhalation. This results in a blood wave that rises and falls, measured throughout the body, and the autonomic nervous system responds to this blood wave by changing the heart rate, so as blood wave rises the heart wave falls and as the blood wave falls the heart wave rises.“

Source: http://coherence.com

Breath Token July 2017

A breath token is a breathing exploration that I develop for friends & clients and send out as a gift.

I‘m just reading „The Oxygen Advantage“ by Patrick McKeown. Practicing one of his basic exercises, I’d like to share it with you. Placing one hand on the chest and the other on the belly, I exert pressure against the chest and belly on the inhale and release the pressure on the exhale. I offer resistance to  the inhale and let the exhale flow freely. As always, at the end of the exhale  I wait for the next inhale to come by itself. The purpose of this excercise is to reduce breath volume and thus prevent overbreathing.

The benefits I experienced were
Relaxation
Clarity of mind
Slower, more regular breathing
Natural diaphragmatic breathing
Extension of the breath pause
Regeneration

There are surely other benefits for you to discover. If you have any questions or feedback please contact me.

 

It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing

I just came across this video of Ella Fitzgerald singing „It don‘t mean a thing if it ain‘t got that swing“. That kind of sums it up for breathing, the force behind the singing voice. In natural breathing, no matter how subtle or strong the swinging motion is, it is the essence of the breath movement. When I’m in my own rhythm, from moment to moment, when I‘m in tune with myself in different situations, the right mix of looseness and good tone, I‘ve got that swing… Read More

Strelnikova breathing gymnastics

I have just learnt about Strelnikova breathing gymnastics. The gymnastics were originally developed by Alexandra Severovna Strelnikova to restore the voice of singers but turned out to be just as effective for the treatment and prophylaxis of respiratory illnesses. The central element of the gymnastics is sniffing energetically within a series of simple movements involving the whole body. Read More

Anatomy & Breath Clinic

In New York, there is a unique place called „The Breathing Project“. The Breathing Project is committed to body, movement and breath experience and education, led by experts in the field, Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews. But it gets even better: they offer a free „Anatomy & Breath Clinic“. This is a session where renowned yoga teacher Leslie Kaminoff teaches „a non-standardized, adaptable, breath-centered approach to yoga“. How wonderful is that? So, if you‘re in New York….free Anatomy & Breath Clinic on Wednesdays, 4:15pm – 6:00pm.