"Breathing is one of the most misunderstood aspects of bodywork, 

with a lot of mistaken ideas floating around. 

You must choose what you do with care."

~ Blandine Calais-Germain

Anatomy of Breathing

How did you do with last week's CO2 (carbon dioxide)Tolerance Test? 

The best thing about this test is that you can't fail it. 

Physiological tests like this are less about pass/fail and more about learning where you are on the spectrum of human abilities and possibilities. It is only your current departure point, a place to start.

I planned to write about changes in our voice and neck and throat tension for this week's post, but I'll save this topic for the weeks ahead. The next session of the Breath Xpress starts next week, so today seems like a perfect time for a formal introduction to this class. 

Breath Xpress class is designed especially for you if:

• You are frustrated by how you feel.
• Your motivation to move got up and left.
• You are big on intentions but short on time.
• You want help to figure out how to start improving.
• You notice that you take short, shallow breaths.
• You hold your breath to get through the pain.
• Your voice has changed to a different pitch. 
• You have persistent neck or shoulder pain.
• You have tension all around your rib cage.
• Your face - jaws, cheeks or temples - hurts on most days .

Breath Xpress is a different kind of yoga class.

I joke that it is an "all meat and no gravy" practice.

With Breath Xpress, I'm not concerned with smooth transitions and pretty segue ways that make a regular yoga class flow like a vast, rolling river.

When prepping for Breath Xpress, I seek out the most effective breath awareness exercises and functional movement strategies so students can experience fuller, less restricted breathing with significantly less effort. 

Better breathing with less effort naturally translates into less tension. Muscles relax, tightness melts, and the nervous system is affected in a myriad of positive ways, leading to less pain and a calm, even mind, all in just 30 minutes over your lunch break. Oh yeah, and improved carbon dioxide tolerance, too.

You can call it Breath Xpress or your "little lunch miracle."