Breath Coaching
If you are...
Experiencing ongoing tension in your neck, shoulders, chest and back,
Having trouble sleeping at night due to mind racing or apnea and snoring,
Feeling a heightened sense of stress, anxiety or overwhelm,
Struggling with work/life balance,
Breath Coaching can help.
As a certified YOGABODY® breathing coach, I offer ancient yoga breathing practices informed by modern science to provide safe, practical exercises that deliver immediate results. In these sessions, we’ll dive into the science of breathing, I will guide you through breathing exercises, and we'll do breath testing to chart your growth. I will provide you with handouts and access to private online videos to support your practice in between sessions.
The benefits of breath coaching are myriad: Reduce chronic aches and pains, decrease apnea and increase sleep quality, balance mood/energy and increase mental focus, increase somatic awareness and overall embodiment.
Not convinced? Check out these 3 myth-busters about breathing:
Myth: Breathing doesn’t need to be taught since we do it automatically.
Many people are unconsciously locked into a stress-based cycle of overusing the accessory breathing muscles of the chest, neck and shoulders, which can facilitate patterns of muscle imbalance, tension and pain, and keep your nervous system stuck in fight or flight mode.
Learning and practicing yoga breathing techniques will help you break this cycle, by strengthening and toning the diaphragm muscle and regulating the nervous system.
Myth: Oxygen is good, CO2 is bad.
High levels of CO2 in the atmosphere can be harmful but inside the human body, a balance of oxygen and CO2 is essential for health. CO2 plays a key role in:
Dilation of airways for ease of breathing;
Increasing oxygen absorption;
Elimination of waste.
Yoga breathing is mostly about manipulating CO2 levels in the lungs/blood.
Myth: Taking big/deep breaths is the best way to combat stress.
This myth is only partially untrue. Unless the diaphragm is properly engaged and an appropriate rhythm is used, exaggerated inhaling can be harmful rather than beneficial, by:
Encouraging chest breathing, which perpetuates sustained upper body muscle tension and stimulates the sympathetic (e.g., stress response) nervous system.
Promoting mouth breathing, which is associated with numerous health problems.
Upsetting your body’s oxygen/CO2 balance, by releasing too much CO2 and taking in too much oxygen.