Category: Breathwork

Breath Token May 2017

13. May 2017
Breathwork
by Nicola Caroli

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

Centering with „S“
Exhaling with an „S“ sound has a strong centering effect. In any stretching motion like lifting the toes, bending to one side with the torso or extending the arms, for example, one can accompany the return back to centre with an exhaled „S“ sound to enhance both the outward motion as well as the return. Alternatively I can stay in the stretch for 3 breaths, exhaling with an „S“ sound and then release back to centre. Read More

Doing breathing exercises is not enough

27. April 2017
Breathwork
by Nicola Caroli

In his Audio CD „Natural Breathing“, Dennis Lewis talks about his personal discovery of natural breathwork. He gives a succinct, measured and accessible explanations about how breathing works and includes introductory breath explorations. I’ve been listening to his CD for a couple of years now and never get tired of his measured and thoughtful language and tone of voice. He makes several statements about doing breathing exercises that are key and I‘d like to share one of them with you:

„To reclaim the natural, authentic breathing that is our birthright, simply doing breathing exercises is not enough. Let me repeat that: doing breathing exercises, however wonderful they are, is not enough. We also need to begin a process of re-education of our perception. Read More

Breath Token April 2017

14. April 2017
Breathwork
by Nicola Caroli

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

Sliding Knees
I like to do this when I’m sitting on the train, or when I’ve been sitting for a while to bring aliveness to the position and to the breath.
Sitting, sensing my sitting bones meeting the surface I‘m sitting on, I slide one knee forward and release it back. Then I switch to the other side.  Allowing time for the breath to flow with the movement, the inhale can come on the gentle sliding motion and the exhale on the release of the sliding motion, or vice versa. Read More

The Window in: Following the breath

14. April 2017
Breathwork
by Nicola Caroli

In the article „The Window In: Following the Breath“, Sonny Whitelaw beautifully describes the heart of Donna Fahri‘s Yoga teaching.

“Everything that moves, breathes, opens and closes Lives in the Self.”
Mundaka Upanishad 2.1. Translated by Eknath Easwaran

It begins when we are still in the womb – an expanding, condensing rhythm, threaded together by moments of pause. It is the pulse of the universe, and from the moment of conception we are that. While we are in our mother’s body, the breath is an interior movement, a process of shimmering cellular respiration. At the moment of birth, when we first breathe into the lungs, we are initiated into the family of things. Suddenly the world is in us and we are in the world. Read More

Breath Token March 2017

17. March 2017
Breathwork
by Nicola Caroli


Credit: Kirill Abdrakhmanov

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

Stroking along the body walls
Since natural breath practice is a body work focussed on breathing, we connect first to the chest space where the lungs and heart are. We stroke up one arm, over the shoulder and down along the breastbone. We do the same thing stroking up the other arm. Read More

Three-dimensional rib animation

20. February 2017
Breathwork
by Nicola Caroli

Pioneering breath teacher Jessica Wolf teamed up with Dreamworks animator Marty Havran to make the first ever three-dimensional rib animation. This amazing film exhibits all the muscles, bones, and organs of respiration during breathing.
Jessica Wolf created her own method „The Art of Breathing“ by combining the principles of the Alexander Technique and Carl Stough’s Breathing Coordination.

Here is the link to the trailer of the video:
http:/3D rib animation film

Source: http://www.jessicawolfartofbreathing.com

Breath Token February 2017

18. February 2017
Breathwork
by Nicola Caroli

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

Shifting the weight over one foot at a time

Standing waiting for the train today and wanted to find some patience. I focussed on one foot and shifted the weight over the balls of the foot, first over the elevation on the inner side and then over to the elevation on the outer side and then back again. This can be done a few times and then one can compare one body side to the other. I did the same thing with the other foot. Read More

Breathing as a Tool for Self-Regulation and Self-Reflection

11. February 2017
Breathwork
by Nicola Caroli

“Breathing as a Tool for Self-Regulation and Self-Reflection” is the best book about behavioral breathwork to date. The authors are the impressively interdisciplinary team of Miina Martin (psychologist), Maila Seppa (movement therapist), Paivi Lehtinen (psychologist) and Tiina Toro (graphic designer and relaxation therapist). Read More

Breath Token January 2017

25. January 2017
Breathwork
by Nicola Caroli

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

Drop & Lift
I was sitting in a doctor‘s waiting room and was in need of some rest, relaxation and at the same time uprightness. So I let the lower back sink backwards* on the inhale and release back up on the exhale. As I lengthened the spine on the exhale I drew the shoulderblades towards each other. Then I let the shoulderblades release as dropped down again. Once I got into the groove it felt like the moving of wings, a drop and a lift and then again, drop and lift. Read More