breathing space

Thanks so much to everyone that has recently joined my Yoga for Men classes in Bristol. I introduce a different theme each month. Through October we took inspiration from Stuart Sandeman’s Breathe In Breathe Out book.

We started each class with a breathing practice from his book. We breathed while sitting on a chair as I know how many men find ‘easy seated’ cross-legged position on the mat anything but easy. I wanted to create space for the guys to focus on their breath without any feelings of discomfort and it worked well.

There were so many brilliant techniques to call upon from Stuart’s book. To name a few… Alternate nostril breathing (with and without hand) for focus. Box breathing to balance the stress and rest response of the nervous system towards a flow state. And my favourite of all, the ‘If in doubt, breathe it out’ technique with a prolonged out breath that feels like a wave of calmness rippling down the body… ☺️

As always, in true Talk Club style, I asked the guys how are you? Out of 10? at the start and end of each class. I lost count of the number of 10’s out of 10 at the end. Not a score on my ‘performance’ at the front of class, but reflecting how positive they felt. The moments of gratitude where we didn’t just think, but feel those thanks were simply the icing on the cake.