#breathwork

#breathwork

When life feels chaotic and your mind is spinning, a short yoga flow can help you slow down, breathe, and come back to your center. Rather than the nonstop twists and turns of some sequences, this practice helps you find your rhythm by taking your body through simple, repetitive movement, which offers your mind a place to find stillness. With its various iterations of the classic Sun Salutation A and B, this fluid practice grounds your energy and clears mental clutter.

You're lying in bed, staring into the darkness, and suddenly an urgent work email pops into your head, unbidden. Or maybe it's that shampoo you forgot to add to your shopping list, or the need to fill up your gas tank in the morning. Your lower back is twinging and your shoulders are tensing in response to your thoughts of all the things you need to do, or already did, or didn't do. It's a pretty universal experience.

This week's practice invites us to soften, unclench, and let go - not by forcing release, but by creating the space for it to arrive naturally. As we move toward Pigeon Pose, we'll explore the hips and heart with mindful intention, offering ourselves permission to release tension and get rid of anything that doesn't contribute to our peace of mind. Let your breath be the gas to power the vehicle (your body) that moves you.

When temperatures drop, we cover ourselves with puffy jackets, burrow underneath blankets, and keep an endless supply of warm tea on standby. Maybe yoga is the last thing on your mind (especially when it involves abandoning your protective layers). But unlike the temporary fixes that you reach for when you're feeling chilly, yoga generates warmth from the inside out. These static and dynamic postures are sorta like your body's personal space heater that you can turn on whenever you need it.

To get a better understanding of how structured breathing patterns can reshape both body and mind, let's delve into the science behind Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (also known as SKY Breath). From nervous system regulation to hormonal balance and brainwave modulation, we'll unravel the physiological mechanisms that explain how targeted breathwork can transform physical and mental health. Modern life bombards us with stressors-tight deadlines, endless notifications, and constant stimulation-that keep our stress response perpetually activated.

Over the past year, I started practicing breathwork to help with my mental health. Slowing my breath and breathing deep into my diaphragm has helped bring me calm and perspective, and longer sessions have helped me work through negative thought patterns. Breathwork, I have found, is an important adjunct to other components of a healthy life, such as nutrition, physical exercise, sleep, and social connection.

Have you ever struggled to feel warm in cold weather, even when bundled up? Maybe you've wondered how that's even possible-after all, how can you be cold when you're wearing seven layers? But when temperatures drop, it's not just the world around you that cools down. During the winter, your circulation slows down and blood flow diverts from your extremities to protect your core. That's why your hands and feet often feel icy even when you're wearing cozy clothes.

Few of us escape lower back discomfort, whether it results from long drives, hours spent at a desk, or the aches of menstruation. Practicing yin yoga is a simple antidote that can help you undo the stresses caused by your everyday life. The long holds and mindful focus of yin yoga poses compress, stretch, and release the lower back to bring you relief from tension and discomfort.

Arrival & Breath (5 minutes) How to: Begin seated or lying on your back with support under your head if needed. Close your eyes. Take 5-10 deep breaths. Let your shoulders soften, your belly soften. Set an intention for the practice-perhaps "ease," "space," or "openness." (3-5 minutes) How to: Come to a comfortable seated position. Bring the soles of the feet together and let your knees fall to the sides (or widen your legs).

In modern society, it's considered *super* normal to strive for things outside of yourself. Call it hustle culture or rise-and-grind-either way, you're told to constantly reach for a promotion, a new car, or a fancy espresso machine (to fuel all your ambitions, ofc). This isn't a bad thing. Setting goals and challenging yourself can teach you discipline and dedication-not to mention it feels really good when you achieve them.

When that goes on long enough, the body tightens. The breath shortens. The nervous system stays braced for impact, even when nothing is immediately wrong. This is why practices that help us reinhabit the body and soothe the nervous system can feel so powerful. They remind us we don't have to live in a state of tension. We can soften. We can ground. We can exhale. That's what draws me to this upcoming Omega workshop, Sound as Medicine: A Healing Journey, with sound healer and guide Phyllicia Victoria.

Brain fog is very real. According to a recent study, "cognitive disability"-defined as difficulties concentrating, remembering, and making decisions-is on the rise in the U.S. The phenomenon is most dramatically affecting those between the ages of 18 to 39, with the self-reported impairments doubling over the course of the decade-long analysis. Potential culprits include stress, Covid, and digital overload. Fortunately, banishing-or at least minimizing-brain fog is within your power.

Legendary Italian freediver Umberto Pelizzari used to train in the Red Sea to study the breathing habits of dolphins.He was intrigued by dolphins' unique method for conserving their oxygen; whenever they dove for extended periods, they'd manage to slow down their heart rates and cling to a consistent core temperature. Pelizzari was keen to replicate these clever physiological adaptations in his own freediving.

Practicing yoga for anxiety is a balance of sitting with the accompanying emotions and moving just enough to allow new energy to flow through you. Yoga teacher Taylor Lorenz understands this. In just over 10 minutes, she moves you through calming cycles of Cat and Cow, some gently challenging seated postures, and a reinvigorating breathwork exercise, each easing anxiety while welcoming a more grounded sense of spirit.

Yoga is a way of life. For most student, practice begins on the mat, but once you find your flow, you begin to realize that yoga touches everything you do. From exploring accompany philosophy to focusing on breath and mindfulness, the effects of entering your yoga era are a perspective-shifting experience. Once there, though, you may find yourself immersed in yoga to the point where it's impossible to separate your practice from everything else. And that's kind of the point.

Lunette is marketed as the first multi-sensory breathwork device designed for better sleep by using light, vibration, and scent to enhance the sleep experience.

Breathwork, particularly in the form of a structured, regular practice, is emerging as a powerful science-backed tool for improving sleep.