“Breathe, Breathe in the air. Don’t be afraid to care.”

— Pink floyd

Breathing is the most instinctive thing we do and yet we rarely think about it. The first time I recognized my inability to breathe was in January of 2015. I know that seems like an odd thing to say, but it’s true. I was at a conference in Wrightsville Beach where the instructor led us through an exercise that required us to scan our bodies for tension. We were asked to take deep detoxifying breaths as we tuned in and acknowledged how each individual element of our body felt. What happened to me during that exercise was bizarre. Attempting to take deep, belly-filling breaths practically made me choke. I couldn’t get a full breath and I felt like I was suffocating or drowning on dry land. It was then that I realized that I hold my breath when I feel tense. Air was something I used sparingly and for survival, not as a tool to cleanse or reset.

The next time I examined my breath was after my late husband Jayson passed in September of 2015. I knew that with the tension and grief I was holding in my body, I was also holding my breath. My sister owned a yoga studio in the town we grew up in and it was there that I began my breathwork practice. I chose the Vinyasa yoga method because it focuses on syncing your breath with your movement; working the two in tandem as you flow through a series of poses. I’m no yogi, but three times a week I actively worked to release tension as I exhaled and cleanse my mind as I inhaled. Each class turned into 60 minutes of breathing, bending, and letting the tears stream down my face at a steady pace. When I opened my lungs for air, I opened my heart to feel the pain I needed to process. It was then that I truly knew the power of our breath.

As I began to lean in and learn more about breathwork I discovered a number of teachers and resources, which I’ve referenced below. I hope that these individuals will inspire you to ask a few more questions and take a few more deep breaths. Breathe, breathe in the air, don’t be afraid to care my friends!

— Megan

Resources

Wim Hoff: Method

“Dutch extreme athlete Wim Hof got his nickname “The Iceman” by breaking a number of records related to cold exposure including: climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts, running a half marathon above the Arctic Circle barefoot, and standing in a container while covered with ice cubes for more than 112 minutes.

“Using “cold, hard nature” as his teacher, his extensive training has enabled him to learn to control his breathing, heart rate, and blood circulation and to withstand extreme temperatures.”

“Wim has made it his mission to share what he’s learned with the rest of the world. And so he developed the Wim Hof Method: a combination of breathing, cold therapy and commitment that offers a range of benefits”.”

Breathe: Book

“No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or wise you are, none of it matters if you’re not breathing properly.”

“There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat twenty-five thousand times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences.”

Yoga with Adriene- Breath: Practice

30 Days Of Conscious Breath…

To start your Free 30 Day Yoga Journey, sign up here. You will receive…

• Instructions on how to begin
• A “Social Sticker” to show your commitment and share the invitation with loved ones!
• An invitation to our FREE community platform, to connect and gain support from people all over the world
• A downloadable BREATH calendar

Wheelhouse Yoga: Practice

Start your practice at home. Live stream into your own living room