Online Class: The Art of Breathing

The Art of Breathing: Mastery for Life's Every Moment

Breathing: an involuntary act so vital, yet how often do we pause to truly understand its potential? The Art of Breathing delves deep into harnessing the full magnitude of this life-affirming act, transforming it into a tool that enhances every facet of our daily lives.

Most people, unknowingly, use merely a fraction of their breathing capacity. Our course aims to shed light on this innate powerhouse within you. We will journey through realms from traditional yoga and mindful meditation to techniques for peak performance and emotional equilibrium. Contrary to what one might assume, the art of breathing isn't something to be learnt anew; it's an art to be remembered.

Astonishingly, each of us entered this world as a maestro in this art. Life's twists and turns, stresses and strains, often lead us away from this inborn mastery. Physical, mental, and emotional patterns set in, making us forget our inherent breathing prowess. The Art of Breathing endeavors to reignite this innate skill, empowering you to retake command of your body, thoughts, and emotions. The magic doesn't end at self-transformation; your newfound equilibrium will radiate, becoming a beacon of positivity for those around you.

As you embark on this transformative odyssey, you'll experience a convergence of your current self with the version you've always aspired to be. This harmony, once achieved, holds the promise of an enduring, enriched existence.

Course Breakdown:

1. Course Introduction: Setting the stage for a transformative journey.
2. Breathing, The Physiology: Delve deep into the science behind every breath.
3. Creating a Breathing Routine: Design rituals that harness the full power of breath.
4. Controlling Your Breathing: Master techniques to govern your every inhalation and exhalation.
5. Breathing and Emotional Health: Discover the symbiosis between balanced breathing and mental harmony.
6. Basics of Breathing and Meditation: Meld mindfulness with breath for unparalleled tranquility.
7. Basics of Breathing and Yoga: Explore the ancient discipline where movement marries breath.
8. Performance Breathing: Techniques to ensure peak physical and mental performance.
9. Giving Voice to Your Breathing: Integrate breath control into vocal expression.
10. Avoiding & Eradicating Bad Habits: Identify and transform detrimental breathing patterns.
11. A Philosophical Look: Contemplate breath's deeper implications in the grand tapestry of life.
12. Some Exercises: Practical exercises to refine and perfect your breathing mastery.

Join us on this odyssey, reclaiming an art that's been yours since birth. Breathe deep, live fully.

Courses Frequently Bought Together:

Relaxation 101

Meditation 101: Learn How to Meditate

Stress Management

Course Motivation

This course is not about learning how to breathe. (I expect you wouldn't be taking it had you not the ability to do so!) It is also not about a magical formula or mathematical breathing equation that will improve your life overnight. This course is also not a scientific approach to breathing.

But… given what it is not… what is it?

This course is about self-knowledge and exploration. It's about an intimate experience: that of breathing, that of being alive. It's about improving your life by learning about, and controlling, the one activity you perform continuously, and that provides life itself.

Though some of the lessons we will touch on very subjective aspects of your life (such as personality, work environment, relaxation, sensations, feelings and emotions), it must be said that the experimentations, exercises, and suggestions are not intended to be mystical, or magical (though you very well may approach it in that way, if you so desire). The art of breathing is to be experienced anywhere, at any time – from the most trivial (or seemingly trivial!) day-to-day activities, to highly significant moments.

The way we breathe has a much deeper connection to our bodies, feelings, and thoughts than we realize. Though this course deals mainly with breathing, it is impossible to separate it from the reasons why you want to have better control of your breathing, as well as from the benefits that will be triggered by breathing to your full potential.

In Lesson 2, we will have an objective look at how and why we breathe. You may be thinking, "It's easy: We breathe in and then breathe out, because if we don't, we can't stay alive." Well… you are right. But, what happens in your body just so you can breathe in and out, is a little more complex than you might imagine! This lesson is also especially important as it gives you a basic understanding of the muscles involved in your breathing. Without this understanding, it would be much harder to work on your breathing, because you wouldn't necessarily know what is happening in your body and exactly how you are improving.

Lesson 3 will talk about the importance of creating a breathing routine, and it will also teach you a basic routine to get you started. Throughout this course, we will learn that breathing well is something we already know how to do – we just run out of practice as we get older and collect habits we didn't even know we had. A breathing routine will start getting you in the right mindset to relearn how to be in control of your breathing, and consequentially, your body, thoughts and emotions.

In lesson 4, we will take a look at the reasons why being in control of your breathing is so important. We will discuss how the breathing process is directly related to the processes of thought and emotion, and how breathing fully will bring you closer to better accessing and controlling those thoughts and emotions. We will also have a look at some of the many benefits of breath-control, and the importance of one-pointedness – the ability to focus on one thing and one thing only, in order to relate to that thing in the best possible manner. Concentration, focus and discipline are key to mastering the Art of Breathing. But don't worry: it's fun too!

Lesson 6 connects breathing with Meditation. Whether you are an experienced meditation practitioner, or have never meditated before, this lesson will be equally useful. We will provide some meditation basics, teaching you what it means to meditate, the benefits of meditation, and some simple meditation exercises. We will also have a look at how breathing relates to meditation, and how this relationship is beneficially mutual: Meditating will help with your breathing, and breathing fully will help you meditate, triggering a series of positive effects in your day-to-day life.

In Lesson 7 we will look at breathing under a similar light to Lesson 6, but instead of relating breathing to meditation, we will relate it to Yoga practices. Though both Yoga and Meditation bring positive change to your life, and many times these effects are very similar in both practices, breathing for Yoga is quite different than breathing for meditation. While meditation breathing is relaxed and slow-paced, yoga breathing can be very rhythmic and dynamic. Just like in the last lesson, we will also look at the benefits yoga can offer, and how these benefits can last, not only during your yoga practice time, but also for years and years to come.

Lesson 8 will provide you with a practical look at how breathing can help with performance. Performance can mean any event in which you have an activity to do, and a goal you would like to achieve: from sports, to speaking in public, to singing, to acting, and more. The ability to perform at your highest level should not rely on luck, but rather on how prepared you are to perform whatever task is at hand. We will look at the value of preparation, and the importance of breathing both in relation to practice and performance. We will introduce you to the powerful practice of visualization, which basically leads you through an event before it has even started! Warming up is a big part of maximizing performance, and we will also have a look at a basic 10-minute warm up routine that will get you ready physically and mentally through your breathing.

In Lesson 9 we will talk about Voice and Breathing. Voice is nothing more than vibrating air, and it would not exist without breathing. Being in control of your vocal abilities is a key aspect of being in control of your emotions and thoughts, and the way you express them. We all want to be understood and to communicate truthfully, but we seldom realize how vital it really is that our voices have the adequate assistance needed from our breathing. We will look at the two main things we need to pay attention to when we want to be in full control of our voices: Breath supply and breath support.

Lesson 10 will talk about the dozens, perhaps hundreds, of habits we acquire through our lives. We will focus on the not-so-helpful habits, the ones that limit and damage our ability to breathe fully and freely. Are you aware of your own habits? Most people are not. We will suggest an exercise that will help you become conscious of the body biases you may have "soaked up" throughout your life, so you can start working on unlearning them. This way, you will be able to restore your balance and neutral alignment, which, in turn, will immensely improve the quality of your breathing.

In Lesson 11, we will allow ourselves to digress a little. What does it mean to be a breathing being? How does our breathing affect not only ourselves, but also the people around us, and maybe even the people far away from us? In this world of cause-and-consequence, your breathing is one of the tools that you can actually control and positively influence our planet. All through the art of breathing? You bet.

Lesson 12 will provide you with a list of useful breathing exercises, some of which we had suggested during the course, and some of which are new. With this list, you can refer back to the exercises any time you want, according to your needs at a certain moment. From warming up, to stretching, to relaxing or becoming aware of the tensions in your body, here's where you will find them!