The ancient yogis, to whom we owe an immeasurable debt and gratitude, recognised long ago that the patterns we repeat have a way of owning us. They leave an imprint, as Robin Rothenberg puts it in the outstanding ‘Restoring Prana’, forming a rut that grows deeper with every repetition – and the more we repeat it, the deeper we fall into that rut.
The yoga teaches us that we get good at what we practice. And this includes conscious and unconscious acts like breathing.
Unhealthy breathing habits and patterns can have a hazardous impact on our overall health, physical and mental wellbeing. And it takes great persistence and practice to change them once they have been set in motion. But it is possible. And before we learn how, we must first be able to recognise and assess those patterns in our therapy clients and yoga students.
Just from the abbreviated lists in the graphics above, any deviation from functional to dysfunctional breathing – let alone repeated across a lifetime – can have damaging effects upon our physiological processes.
As yoga teachers and therapists it is vital we support with the correct information and practices, aiding them in becoming functional breathers – not just on a yoga mat, or in the therapy room, but throughout their daily lives.
Our online training throughout the coming months includes a number of courses and workshops aimed at helping you do just that – including training in breath assessments, studying with Dr Patricia Gerbarg and Dr Richard Brown, and free morning community breath sessions.
You can book onto all of our online classes, courses, workshops and free breathing sessions here https://themindedinstitute.com/product-category/courses/
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(Credit to Robin Rothenberg and the excellent ‘Restoring Prana’ – one of our books of the year – for the inspiration behind text in graphics)
