Breathwork Mini Retreat
What if you could enjoy the pre-Christmas time being calm and relaxed?
December has developed into a very stressful month for most of us. Everyone seems to be rushed off their feet with getting everything ready for Christmas.
How about trying something different this year?
“Start your pre Christmas time with deep breathing and relaxation”.
Do you know why breathing is so effective when we feel stressed, upset, frustrated, frazzled?
‘Take a deep breath’ is the usual phrase to calm someone down. It works like a treat every time. Why is that?
The Yogis of old knew it. Patanjali suggested in the Yoga Sutras to focus on lengthening the outbreath and developing pauses after the in- and the outbreath to quieten the mind.
Breathwork and pranayama wasn’t merely suggested for steadying the mind, it has always been an essential tool for gaining spiritual insight, for progressing on the spiritual path. Patanjali suggested in the 2nd chapter of the Yoga Sutras that regular pranayama is helping to ‘destroy the veil that covers our inner light’.
Isn’t that magnificent?
The one tool that we need is with us all the time.
In the 50ies the American cardiologist Herbert Benson explored the relationship between stress and breathing. He observed that a focused breath elicits ‘the relaxation response’, which means when we start breathing deeply, our nervous system switches from the sympathetic one, which sets us into fight, flight and freeze mode with raising heartbeat, blood pressure, and breathing frequency, into the opposite parasympathetic nervous system, our rest and digest mode.
And this will always happen, no matter what. This is one reason why we all feel so chilled after a Yoga class and somehow issues that we were dealing with beforehand, lost their edge.
No doubt that you are very familiar with the signs of stress and have experienced them many, many times, so there is no need to talk about this.
However, I would like to talk about what we can do when feeling stressed. As this time of the year offers a brilliant opportunity to elicit some relaxation, I would like to offer the last mini retreat of this year:
“Start your pre Christmas time with deep breathing and relaxation”.
The session will be at the first advent weekend Nov 27th, 3.30 – 6.00 pm, online for utmost comfort.
What to expect from this mini retreat?
Writing to empty the mind.
Practicing a luscious slow flowing Yoga sequence to open the breathing spaces.
Using Mudras, hand gestures, to support the different breathing spaces.
Practicing 3-part breath (9-part if familiar).
Experiencing nourishing a deep relaxation for replenishing the energy.
Feeling ready to face the remaining weeks 😊
Is this for me? Glad, you asked. This is for you ….
when you would like to get some tools to reduce stress levels.
when you love working with your breath and explore different ways to do this.
when you would like to try out using the breath more and are new to this.
when you want to enjoy a couple of hours to yourself, practicing Yoga, breathing and a deep relaxation.
when you would love some clarity of your mind.
How does that sound? Interested?
Come and join, here are again the details for you.
Saturday, Nov 27th, 3.00 – 5.30 pm
Via zoom. The session will be recorded and available for replay afterwards.
You are going to have access to 2 videos, one with a guided breathing and another one with a guided relaxation, for you to practice throughout December, whenever needed.
In the light of the pre-Christmas time, please choose the payment which you can afford right now.
Investment: £10, £20 or £30
The session will be suitable for everyone.
Should you have any questions or queries, please feel free to contact me.