Ohhh, Shut Your Mouth!

Dear Yogis,

I’m reading a book about breathing. There are just so many books on the subject; it can’t be just yoga teachers and asthmatics that read them! This one, the un-put-downable Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor,  says that 90% of us breath incorrectly which is 'aggravating a laundry list of chronic diseases'. As I read this book I think about all the people I want to give it to!

The book starts off with stuff that yogis already know: that the way we breathe can reduce or reverse asthma, anxiety, reduce blood pressure, boost athletic performance and overall health. Yardi yardi yar. But the first experiment of the book is where the author blocks his nose for two weeks to breath only through the mouth. Like Supersize Me, he knew the consequences of this and, like Supersize Me, the outcomes are serious-as-a-heart-attack!

George Catlin, famous for portrait painting with many and various tribes of the Americas, studied the breathing habits of tribes. Native Americans said that the difference between breath breathed through the nose and through the mouth was as different as distilled water is to water in a cistern or frog pond! Catlin came to this conclusion: "And if I were to endeavour to bequeath to posterity the most important Motto which human language can convey, it should be in three words - SHUT-YOUR-MOUTH... where I would paint and engrave it in every Nursery, and on every Bed-post. And if obeyed, its importance would soon be realized".

What a good read!

Training

Recently, David Swenson gave a free relaxation class for his birthday which is now free! (Hundreds and hundreds of people turned up). It’s a visualisation relaxation class with a tiny bit of stretching. It’s in the Grab It FREE section!

Zoom Classes

Yes it’s been hot! Classes have been small or cancelled! I know it’s hard. Try having a flannel or small towel rinsed under the cold tap and squeeeeezed. You can mop your brow with that through the class. It does work!

I’ve been asked fairly constantly to do another relaxation class later in the week. I’d like to do something different - a Restorative class. You will need a bolster for it. Restorative yoga is not like the Monday/Tuesday stretchy classes. (Some say ‘more props that postures’!).

It is useful to have some equipment in any case. Some of you are returning to gym and studio classes but all of us have now experienced yoga at home and it will always be there for us as a serious option with teachers from all over the world. Stock up: of course... first is a yoga mat! A yoga belt is too cheap not to have! Two cork yoga blocks are useful and Restorative yoga will use those and the Yoga Foam Block - what people often sit on it if is difficult to sit up straight. Decathlon has all of these. 

Yoga in the news

Forbes has: 'Is British Yoga Really For All? Calls For Inclusivity In Wake Of Black Lives Matter Protests'. “A recent study of UK yoga by the British Medical Journal – designed to investigate “the characteristics of people who practise yoga” as well as reasons for practising and the perceived impact. Of the 2,434 practitioners who completed the survey – distributed throughout UK-based yoga organizations, studios and events – 87% were women, 91% white and 71% were degree-educated.”

Stylist Magazine has: 'Try this yoga breathing technique to aid your post-workout recovery’. “Slow, deep breathing provides the muscles with energy, which is necessary during both your workout and your recovery. It can also help to boost stamina while decreasing stress and blood pressure, so all in all, it’s an impressively effective way of easing the body out of exercise mode.”