How Breath Training Can Improve Squash Performance

Breath training - often described as the ‘new frontier’ of athletic performance - is becoming increasingly high profile, with many professional athletes such Erling Haaland and Iga Switek embracing science-backed techniques to improve their performance. In the squash world too, players such as Amanda Sobhy and Victor Crouin are reaping the benefits of incorporating breath training into their routines. But what ARE the benefits of breath training, and how can it improve your performance on court? Read on to find out more and for some practical tips to get you started…

Please note that breath training (in particular breath holds) should not be undertaken when pregnant or if you suffer from high blood pressure. If in doubt consult your doctor before attempting any of the below techniques.

1. Breath Training improves aerobic performance

Our lungs are the ‘engine’ of athletic performance - their function is to draw oxygen into our body to fuel our muscles and cells whilst also expelling waste products.

It is therefore critical that we breathe as efficiently as possible to optimise oxygen delivery - unfortunately however breathing pattern disorders are highly prevalent, even within athletic populations, risking premature breathlessness, muscle fatigue and sub-optimal performance (Chapman, et. al, 2016).

Functional breathing patterns also play an important role in posture and spinal stabilisation by creating intra-abdominal pressure - where breathing disorders are present, functional movement capacity is adversely affected and the risk of injury is increased. 

Breath training optimises breathing biomechanics, and also ensures that we’re able to increase our tolerance to carbon dioxide - whilst CO2 is often considered to be simply a waste product, it actually plays an important role in facilitating the release of oxygen from haemoglobin to our cells. If we’re offloading too much CO2, the efficiency of that release becomes compromised.

How can you start?

The simplest way to start is by ensuring that you’re breathing through your nose AT ALL TIMES when training at sub maximal intensity (i.e. HR zones 1- 3). It won’t be easy, especially at first, but it’s worth it…a 2018 study of recreational runners indicated that nasal breathing is 22% more efficient than mouth breathing! (Dallam, 2018)

2. Breath Training improves anaerobic conditioning

Of course, when we play squash, we regularly exceed our aerobic threshold and tap into our anaerobic energy system. 

Hypoxic (low oxygen) / hypercapnic (high CO2) breath hold training improves anaerobic conditioning by exposing our body to increased blood acidosis.

Breathing against the resistance of a dumbbell increases respiratory muscle strength

In turn our body adapts by improving lactate tolerance and our ability to buffer excess hydrogen ions (responsible for the ‘burning’ sensation in our muscles when they start to fatigue at high intensities) - in turn improving our endurance and rate of recovery.

Indeed, a 2018 study of national level rugby players found that players practising breath holds after exhalation twice a week increased their repeat sprintability capacity by 64% vs. a marginal 6% increase for the control group (Fornasier-Santos et. al, 2018).

This type of training can be particularly useful when you’re recovering from injury and want to prevent loss of anaerobic conditioning - or simply when you want to expose your body to a hypoxic / hypercapnic state without putting too much stress into the musculoskeletal system.

How can you start?

Breath hold training can be very intense and is best taken under guidance from an experienced breath coach. However, a simple way to begin is by introducing breath holds into runs or walks. Start small with 5 x holds (after exhalation) of 5 - 10 paces with c.30s in between holds. Then repeat with a higher number of paces for each hold (e.g. 20 - 25…or more!) and longer breaks between rounds - it should feel challenging but not too extreme. It’s important to return to nasal breathing after each round to maintain the hypoxic / hypercapnic effect.

3. Breath Training increases respiratory muscle strength

When our respiratory muscles tire, our body redirects blood flow from our legs to our breathing muscles (as they are deemed a ‘higher priority’) - this reduction in blood flow (known as ‘blood stealing’) causes fatigue and negatively impacts athletic performance. 

Functional (nasal) breathing, as well as specific exercises to increase respiratory muscle strength, can help to mitigate against this metaboreflex by ensuring that we don’t need to breathe as ‘hard’ for a given level of exercise intensity, reducing respiratory muscle fatigue.

Training with a Sports Mask creates resistance to airflow and increases tolerance to carbon dioxide

Furthermore, as I’ve already mentioned above, our respiratory muscles - in particular the diaphragm - play an important role in core stabilisation. Therefore when we strengthen those muscles we can develop greater core stability, improving movement efficiency and helping to mitigate against the risk of injury.

How can you start?

As when training any muscle, to increase respiratory muscle strength we need to introduce increased resistance or load for the muscles to overcome. Nasal breathing is a good start as it creates greater resistance to air flow vs. mouth breathing. To take it a step further, you can explore single nostril breathing e.g. during recovery from intense exercise (between ghosting sets is the perfect opportunity). You could also try out a Sports Mask - though be warned it’s pretty intense!

4. Breath Training regulates the nervous system

Each cycle of the breath is linked to our autonomic nervous system -  with each inhalation we stimulate our ‘fight or flight’ sympathetic response, increasing our heart rate, whilst each exhalation does the opposite by stimulating our ‘rest and digest’ parasympathetic response and lowering our heart rate.

Therefore by manipulating the breath we are able to directly influence our nervous system - calming ourselves when we feel agitated or using the breath to help us get ‘in the zone’ when we need to (see below). 

In this way breath training techniques can be powerful tools to help combat stress and anxiety and maintain nervous system balance so that you’ll be at your peak when going into your game. They will also support effective rest, recovery and down-regulation after a hard training session or match.

How can you start?

If you’re feeling anxious or nervous, a simple technique is to lengthen your exhalation, thus exacerbating the calming effects of parasympathetic nervous system stimulation. Begin by establishing a light breath in and out of your nose, and then start to extend the outbreath so that it’s longer than the inhalation (e.g. breath in for 3 or 4 seconds, exhale for 5 or 6 seconds). When lying on your back, this technique is also helpful for down regulation and recovery after training or a hard match.

5. Breath Training focuses the mind

Mental focus is as much of a skill as perfecting your backhand drop. Unfortunately however, we spend most of our lives in a state of distraction (hello, social media) meaning that we are actually training our brains for a lack of focus.

Breath training is a great opportunity to counter the effects of the multiple distractions we are subjected to on a daily basis by improving mental focus - like any aspect of our nervous system the brain will respond and adapt to this training stimulus over time (a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity), helping you to be mentally sharper and more alert on court.

How can you start?

Simply paying attention to your breath as you practise any of the techniques above is a good start (don’t worry if your mind wanders - just start again!). Practising breath holds is a particularly good opportunity to bring your mind into focus. Try 2 x small breath holds (e.g. 5 - 10 seconds) from a seated or reclining position followed by 5 x strong breath holds (30 - 60 seconds with c. 60 seconds between rounds) - this is a great practice to take 5 - 10 minutes before you go on court to get in the zone (there are physiological benefits to this practice too but that’s a post for another day!)

So ends this summary of some of the key benefits that breath training can bring to improve your performance on the squash court (there are more!).

As a trained Oxygen Advantage® breath coach I can support you in harnessing the power of breath training for the significant benefits that it can offer your squash game - so if you’re looking to introduce some of these approaches and techniques into your training, or would simply like to understand more about them, then don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Podcast Interview with Squash Mind Podcast

I was lucky enough to chat with Jesse Engelbrecht from the Squash Mind podcast recently about the benefits of yoga, breath training and mobility training for squash players.

It was an enjoyable and wide ranging discussion and we covered several practical tips and takeaways that you can quickly integrate into your game and training to improve your athletic performance on the squash court.

You can listen on the below link - I hope you enjoy it!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4SZNdDm6nky1LgPvVUPlMd?si=U0fDrH8qSweo5EPaKA4gUw

And if you’d like to learn more about how these modalities can help to improve performance - either for yourself or the players that you coach - then please do get in touch.

10 Yoga Teachings for Squash Performance Success

In the West, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is probably the best known of all yoga texts. In chapter two of his exposition of yoga he outlines 5 yamas (restraints) and 5 niyamas (observances) that practitioners should adhere to in order to still their mind and achieve spiritual transcendence.

In the infographic below I’ve reframed and repurposed these teachings for performance success - they can be applied on the squash court (or in fact for any sport!) as well as in a professional context.

I hope you find them useful - click the image to download a full size copy of the pdf!

CLICK IMAGE TO DOWNLOAD A FULL SIZE PDF

5 Benefits of Yoga for Squash

Once considered the preserve of new age hippies, yoga is now being incorporated by top level athletes as a core element of their training regimes. Here are 5 reasons why yoga can help you to perform better on the court…

1. Yoga (and mobility training) improves movement efficiency

Regular practice of yoga has many physical benefits that carry over into athletic and sporting endeavours - in particular increased flexibility (our ability to passively lengthen muscles) and mobility (active range of motion around a joint), as well as improved joint stability, core strength and balance.

Greg Gaultier showing the benefits of having a full range of accessible movement

In combination, these attributes help us to move with greater ease and efficiency through greater ranges, enabling us to improve our performance levels.

Indeed, one of the core benefits of yoga and mobility training is that we have an opportunity to develop strength at ‘end ranges’. Muscles tend to be strongest at mid-range length and have less ability to produce force when lengthened or shortened.

So when we move a joint towards its passive end range of motion and then contract the muscles across both sides of the joint (as we do in yoga), we begin to develop greater strength and control through our full range of movement. 

This can be helpful if you’re looking to improve movement efficiency…or if you’re lunging to pick up a drop shot by allowing you to reach the ball and then recover your position as quickly and efficiently as possible (think of how well Gina Kennedy moves for example).

2. Yoga helps to mitigate against the risk of injury

Increasing flexibility, mobility and end range strength is also helpful for ‘pre-habbing’ the body and mitigating against the potential risk of injury. 

Take the above example of lunging to reach a drop shot - if the lead leg happens to slip and you move towards the ‘splits’ position, you could be in trouble if you haven’t spent sufficient time working on your hamstrings flexibility and hip mobility.

So by engaging muscles as we move joints through their full ranges, we’re able to prepare the body for the ‘unexpected’ (at least to a degree!) by training it to be stronger and more resilient in all potential ranges of movement. Yoga also helps us to develop greater muscular endurance and recruit and engage our stabiliser muscles around joints - both of which will once again help to create more robust bodies.

This is partly why so many athletes now incorporate yoga into their training programmes to keep their bodies functioning as well as possible.

3. Yoga aids rest and recovery

When we train, exercise or play sport, it comes at a ‘cost’ to our nervous system and depletes our energy reserves.

In fact we’re actually weaker at the end of a training session than we were at the start - it’s when we recover that we get stronger as the nervous system ‘super compensates’ to adapt to the demands we’ve placed on the body so that we’re better able to cope with those stresses in future.

This is why smart training programs will include opportunities for the body and the nervous system to fully recover, and this is where yoga can act as the perfect counterpoint to high intensity training and sports.

It helps to downregulate the nervous system and dial up the parasympathetic rest and digest response to aid recovery, and gentle movement can also help to alleviate the effects of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).

Moreover, yoga helps to provide "symmetry relief" for asymmetric sports such as squash (ex world number 1 James Willstrop bears testament to the benefits of yoga in ‘Shot and a Ghost’), and it can also help to counter the effects of gravity associated with high impact activities.

4. Yoga helps to improve breathing biomechanics

One of the major benefits of yoga practice is that it helps us to address faulty breathing patterns and improve breathing biomechanics.

As I’ve explained in previous posts, this helps to improve the efficiency of oxygen uptake by the body’s cells, muscles and organs, significantly improving athletic performance. Moreover, many breathing techniques help to strengthen the muscles of respiration, improve lung capacity and increase the oxygen carrying capacity of the bloodstream - all of which will have carry-over benefits on the court.

Another benefit of optimising the way in which we breathe is that it helps to maintain and increase ‘intra abdominal pressure’ (IAP), a key contributing factor to ‘core stability’ which in turn has a significant bearing on both mobility and movement efficiency.

‘Superman’ Paul Coll

5. Yoga improves mental focus

Any dedicated athlete will tell you that mental focus is a critical element of performance.

This is why top level players such as Paul Coll are increasingly embracing the benefits of breathwork, meditation and mindfulness for improving mental clarity, minimising distraction, maintaining focus and managing pre game anxiety.

These practices can also help athletes to better cope with the highs and lows of sporting life as they experience the joys of success or the pain of defeat, and it can help them to maintain their mental health as they deal with the pressures of performing or the frustration, stress and isolation of injury.

And whilst you might not be performing at quite the same level as Paul, regular engagement in these practices will undoubtedly help to improve the mental aspect of your game too.

So there we have 5 reasons why I believe every squash player should be incorporating yoga, mobility practises and breathing techniques into their training routines, no matter what level they’re performing at. And if you’re looking to level up your own game please do get in touch today to set up an initial 30 minute consultation about how we can work together to improve your performance through yoga.

10 Fun Facts About the Breath

The power of the breath is endlessly fascinating (to me at least) - here are 10 facts to prove it!

1. When we breathe IN we stimulate sympathetic 'fight or flight' response and increase heart rate - when we exhale the opposite happens (which is why lengthening the out-breath can be beneficial for stress management, immune system function etc.)

2. The vagus nerve (the main driver of parasympathetic rest and digest response) passes through the diaphragm - correct activation of the diaphragm therefore helps to improve vagal tone (function and conditioning of the vagal nerve)

3. Research suggests that breathing through the left nostril is another way in which we can further stimulate parasympathetic response

4. Each nostril is linked to the opposite hemisphere of the brain - i.e. left nostril breathing increases blood flow to the right side of the brain (stimulating creative thinking, intuition etc.) whilst right nostril breathing increases blood flow to the left side (stimulating analytical thinking etc.)

5. Our stimulus to breathe is triggered by build up of carbon dioxide vs. 'low' oxygen levels (blood oxygenation tends to sit a 95%+ in healthy individuals)

6. Similarly, efficient delivery of oxygen to cells and muscles depends on sufficient 'pressure' of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream (which is why soft light breaths > big breaths)

7. Humming increases production of nasal nitric oxygen which lowers blood pressure, facilitates oxygen uptake and supports immune system function

8. The literal translation of 'pranayama' (yogic breathing exercises) is 'restraint of life force' ('prana' is said to be carried on the breath)

9. By practising breath retentions we can simulate the effects of altitude training by encouraging the spleen to release more red blood cells into the bloodstream

10. Breathing is the only automatic function within the body that we can directly override with conscious control

So there you have it…you’re ready for Mastermind!

And if you’d like to dive deep into all things breath related and expand your practice of breathwork and pranayama please do check out my upcoming ‘Breath Better to Live Better’ immersion starting on Friday 4th February.

5 reasons to begin a regular breathwork + pranayama practice

Once seen as a somewhat esoteric ‘out-there’ practice, breathwork is now becoming increasingly mainstream. Fuelled by the success of books such as James Nestor’s ‘Breath’ and Patrick McKeown’s ‘The Oxygen Advantage’ breathing practises now sit at the heart of many athletic training programs and holistic wellness regimes.

However, long before it became fashionable, breath manipulation (or pranayama) was a central component of yoga practice. Indeed, yogis have expertly harnessed the power of the breath for 1000s of years and many descriptions of the physical, mental and ‘energetic’ effects of these pranayama techniques align to modern scientific understanding of the body, brain and nervous system.

So here are 5 reasons why you should also be investing more time practising breathing exercises…also do check out my 4 week online breathwork + pranayama immersion in which we’ll dive into the magic of the breath in much greater detail.

1. It helps us to manage our response to stress

The breath can provide us with a number of very simple ‘hacks’ to rebalance our nervous system and bring us back to centre when we’re feeling stressed out.

Nasal breathing, softening the inhalation, lengthening the exhalation, humming, retentions - all of these techniques (when applied correctly) can help to stimulate our rest and digest response and counter the effects of feeling overwhelmed or anxious. 

You can find 3 simple tips for breathing in ways designed to aid stress management in this blog post.

2. It can improve athletic performance

By improving breathing mechanics and our tolerance to carbon dioxide, we’re able to strengthen respiratory muscles, deliver oxygen more efficiently to muscles and even increase the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood…all of which will have a significant impact on athletic performance.

I dive into the science of how and why this works in much further detail here - and also outline a number of breathing techniques  for improving sporting performance.

3. It can help to improve flexibility and mobility

When we breathe in ways designed to stimulate parasympathetic rest and digest response it relaxes the body and decreases muscle tone…which will then help us to find a greater sense of ease when taking deep stretches.

We can also apply specific breathing techniques when exploring twists, side bends, forward folds and back bends to help us to access greater ranges of movement.

One very simple technique that can help us to work deeper into twists is to inhale into the side of the ribcage that you’re twisting towards and then exhale to the opposite side of the body (e.g. if you’re twisting to the right inhale to the right side of the ribcage and exhale to the left).

This will ‘open up’ the ribs on the leading side of the body (i.e. the right side) and ‘close’ the ribs on the left side - both of which helps us to find a greater degree of rotation. Give it a go and see how you get on…you might find you’re able to access a significantly deeper twist. 

4.  It improves immune system function, sleep and overall well-being

Most of us spend a great deal of our lives feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated and this can lead to a number of dysfunctional breathing patterns that further chronically stress our system.

Conscious breathing techniques that stimulate a shift into parasympathetic nervous system ‘rest and digest’ response can therefore provide a much needed energetic counterpoint to the stresses and strains of life, with many proven benefits: 

• Improved sleep

• Improved mental health and wellbeing

• Improved immune system response

• Enhanced memory and cognitive abilities

• Lower blood pressure

• Improved Heart Rate Variability (a key indicator of nervous system health)

• Improved ability to recover from the exertions of exercise

5. It improves focus and attention

The breath sits at the heart of many meditation practices, providing an ‘anchor point’ for our awareness and attention and shifting our focus away from rumination about the past or anxiety about the future (we can only ever breathe in the present!). 

Indeed, by harnessing the power of attention in this way we can actually ‘remould’ the shape of our brains (neuroplasticity) and neuroscience research has measured a number of profound effects of these practices including changes in brainwave activity that encourage a ‘relaxed’ state of mind, promote a positive mental attitude, improve creativity and memory function and increase mental resilience.

So there we have 5 compelling reasons to commit to a regular conscious breathing practice. And if you’re curious about breathwork and pranayama and you’d like to learn more then definitely do check out my 4 week online immersion.

We’ll dive into both the theory and practice of breathing exercises, providing you with a solid foundation from which to continue to explore and deepen your practice. You can find out more here, or to book your space, simply drop me an email.

What do you want from your yoga practice?

The new year is often a time for reflection and intention setting - and as we transitioned from 2021 into 2022 I spent some time reflecting on exactly what I want out of my yoga practice. I boiled it down to these 5 things…

1. I want to feel good in my body

This might sound simple, but for me it’s been a bit of a journey.

There was a time in my practice when I was very focused on being as proficient as possible at practising asanas (poses). I pushed, pushed, pushed (or was pushed by teachers!) to ‘get the shapes’ - often not listening to the signals that my body was sending.

Touching my head to my feet in backbends, sticking my leg behind my head…these things assumed an importance that was out of all proportion to the value they brought to my life. Indeed, I often ended my practice in pain and suffered both acute and chronic injuries as a result.

My approach to practice is now very different. I really just want to feel good in my body rather than getting hung up on achieving particular poses. 

This means that I tend to work through ‘full range of movement with control’ vs. ‘extreme range with force’ - which allows me to develop both strength and mobility rather than simply pulling myself into abstract shapes that have no intrinsic value.

That’s not to say that we shouldn’t have goals in our practice - these are important and most of us could definitely benefit from working on our flexibility, strength and balance to varying degrees. 

But for me these are simply a means to achieve the ultimate goal of feeling confident in my body, with the autonomy to move in the ways that I want to.

2. I want to feel centred and calm

Stress management and anxiety have been challenges for me at various points in my life and my yoga practice helps me to feel more focused, centred and calm so that I’m better able to manage the demands of life that can sometimes feel overwhelming.

I also find that different approaches work best for different states of mind. If I’m feeling anxious or stressed out then slower, grounding movements and breathwork to stimulate parasympathetic rest and digest response usually work best for me. 

Conversely if I’m in a ‘low’ mood then I tend to ‘up the pace’ and work with a stronger and more dynamic movement practice…often followed by a seated meditation to provide balance.

The key thing is to meet ourselves where we’re at and apply the practises that help us most in that moment…it’ll be different for each of us, and different at various points in our life.

3. I want to enjoy my practice and have fun

Again it might seem obvious, but if we don’t enjoy something then we’re much less likely to adhere to it over the longer term.

And I have to admit that whilst I always maintained my commitment to practice there were times when it did start to feel like a bit of a chore…grinding, repetitive and somewhat austere.

These days I like to take a much lighter and playful approach to my practice - striking the right balance between repetition (to cultivate skills and appropriate adaptations in the body) and explorative play so that my practice stays fun and enjoyable.

So whilst certain staples of my practice will always remain, I also love exploring different poses (hand balances are a particular favourite!) and trying out new transitions…but not giving myself a hard time if they don’t work for my body.

Not only is this a kinder approach, but being playful also has significant benefits for the brain (the more we learn new skills, the better we get at skill development!).

4. I want my yoga practice to support the other things I love doing

During those very focused (some would say obsessive!) days of practice, I would often sacrifice doing other things I enjoyed for fear that it would have a negative impact on my yoga practice.

I didn’t want to risk ‘tightening up’ my body for fear that I’d become less proficient at executing certain poses (at the time I was labouring under the common misapprehension that building strength would have a negative impact on my flexibility and mobility...whereas the converse is actually true!).

However, I now view my practice as a means of helping me to do the other things I love that provide a sense of fulfilment…whether that be playing sports or simply making sure that I can keep up with my children when we’re climbing trees and playing in the park!

5. I want to feel ‘connected’

This is a slightly more nebulous concept, but an important one. 

I find that the grounding effect of my practice helps me to feel more connected to a truer sense of myself, beneath all the busyness and drama of the mind and day-to-day existence.

This capacity to turn inwards and find a sense of stillness is, for me, one of the most powerful benefits of practice (indeed this was one of the original intentions of yoga). It helps me to feel more grounded and steady, and allows me to better navigate the challenges of life as they arise.

So there we have 5 things that I want from my yoga practice. In summary I guess you could say that I want to use my practice to help me live a more fulfilling life, rather than relying on it in isolation to provide that sense of fulfilment by itself.

But what about you - I’d love to hear what you’re looking to get out of your own practice, or what goals you want to achieve this year. And if there’s any way that I can support you on that journey then please do get in touch - I’d be more than happy to help out.

Preventing + Managing Stress: WHY WE MOVE Podcast Interview

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed for the ‘WHY WE MOVE"‘ podcast by my friends over at So We Flow…

The main subject for our discussion was 'Preventing + Managing Stress' - though we also covered many other yoga and movement related topics too.

It was a fun discussion - I enjoyed it a lot and I hope you get something out of it too…you can listen via one of the below links.

Listen on YouTube
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple Podcasts

5 Benefits of Yoga for Men

Although yoga was practised almost exclusively by men for much of its history in India, in the West we tend to think of it as predominantly a pastime for women. And whilst the benefits of yoga are universal, here are the 5 main reasons why I believe that more men should be practising yoga.

1. Yoga improves our flexibility

Without wishing to generalise or resort to cliche, the majority of men (at least the ones I see in class) struggle with their flexibility to a greater degree than women.

This is probably largely due to their history of movement and exercise. It’s more common for women to have practised movement modalities such as dance or gymnastics in their youth and to incorporate yoga and other stretching practises into their training. 

Conversely, most men have a legacy of participating in sports that place much less demand on flexibility - and often tend to prioritise strength building programmes.

Some studies suggest that there may also be a genetic component to flexibility (with men coming off second best!) and it’s certainly true that as we get older, our flexibility naturally starts to decrease as our connective tissues (muscles, tendons, fascia etc.) become less supple.

As a result, many men reach middle age feeling chronically ‘stiff’. Yoga is a great practice to start addressing this by training our nervous system to increase our ‘stretch tolerance’ so that we gradually become more flexible over time!

2. Yoga helps us to move better

Another physical benefit of yoga is that it helps us to improve joint mobility, stability and strength, helping us to move better by developing greater control of our body and joints through full ranges of movement.

This has many carry-over benefits such as improving athletic performance and mitigating against injury…or simply keeping up with our children in the park (one of my private students, an ex-rugby player of 30+ years, was delighted that he was finally able to sit cross legged at a picnic for the first time in his life!)

Many of the practises of yoga also challenge and develop our core stability and once again this allows us to move more efficiently by developing ‘proximal stability for distal mobility’ - i.e. we’re able to transfer force more effectively from our centre throughout the kinetic chain.

And when we consider the improvements to balance and proprioception (awareness of the body in space) from practising yoga we have pretty much the complete package for moving with greater ease and efficiency.

3. Yoga helps us to manage stress more effectively

It’s perhaps not an over exaggeration to say that we’re living through a mental health crisis. With so many environmental triggers - Covid, climate change, rising costs of living, social media etc. - many of us are increasingly struggling to maintain our mental health.

And whilst this impacts women at least as much as men, the way in which men deal with stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges has led to a situation in which men are over 3 times more likely than women to die by suicide.

Society’s (and internal) expectations that men stay ‘strong’ and in control often makes it difficult for men to talk honestly about their mental health struggles, or to ask for help, with the result that they often resort to unhealthy coping mechanisms that exacerbate the issues.

Yoga provides many simple techniques, from mindful movement, to breathwork and meditation, that can help us to address both chronic and acute stress when it arises by shifting attention ‘out of the head and into the body’.

Moreover, simply having time out from the pressures of life, from the need to do, achieve, compete or perform can be a powerful antidote to stress by offering the space we need to ‘reset’.

4. Yoga improves how we breathe

Chronic patterns of breath dysfunction are endemic - reverse breathing, paradoxical breathing, mouth breathing…the list goes on.

Whilst this may not sound critical, the impacts of these faulty breathing patterns can in fact be significant and pernicious - elevated stress levels, increased heart rate (and lower heart rate variability - a key indicator of health), increased blood pressure, and inefficient delivery of oxygen to our muscles, cells and organs. 

Yoga can help us to address these issues, firstly by bringing awareness to how we breathe and then by retraining breathing biomechanics through exploration of the many breathing and pranayama techniques that are a core feature of the practice.

Over time these practises will help to increase mental clarity, improve athletic performance and decrease stress levels, leaving us feeling calmer and more centred so that we can move through life with just a little more ease.

5. Yoga improves overall health and wellbeing

I’d say that as a general rule most men are not that great at taking care of ourselves…but yoga can help.

Yoga practice can be a great refuge from the constant overstimulation of modern day life and an opportunity to ‘down-regulate’ our chronically stimulated nervous system.

This helps to shift us from a ‘flight, fight, freeze’ dominant state by stimulating the ‘rest and digest’ parasympathetic nervous system response, and this has many benefits, such as:

• Improved sleep

• Improved mental health and wellbeing

• Improved immune system response

• Enhanced memory and cognitive abilities

• Lower blood pressure

• Improved Heart Rate Variability (a key indicator of nervous system health)

• Improved ability to recover from the strenuous exertions of exercise and sport

So there we have 5 key reasons why I think more men should be taking yoga classes. The benefits of the practice are manifold and extend to all areas of life - home, work and sporting endeavours. 

So if you know a man who might need a little nudge to take the first step on their yoga journey (or maybe that person is you?), then do point them in the direction of this post, or encourage them to get in touch to discuss one to one teaching sessions so that we can get them started on the right foot.

Breathing Practices for Improved Athletic Performance

From a strictly yogic perspective pranayama practices are designed to manipulate the flow of energy in the subtle body in order to still the mind as we seek to transcend material existence…!

However when approached correctly, yogic breathing techniques also provide many practical benefits, including improving athletic and sporting performance. So here are 4 ways of working with the breath that will help you to perform better in your chosen sport, whether you’re a high end athlete seeking competitive advantage or a weekend warrior looking to improve your park run time.

1. Breathe through your nose

Nasal breathing helps to strengthen our respiratory muscles by creating resistance to air flow. 

It also helps to improve the efficiency of oxygen delivery to our muscles by ensuring that there’s sufficient presence of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream. Efficient oxygen uptake is determined not by blood oxygen saturation - which tends to sit at 95%+ - but by the presence of sufficient levels of carbon dioxide to stimulate the release of oxygen from haemoglobin in red blood cells (known as the Bohr effect and referred to as the ‘Oxygen Paradox’ by Patrick McKeown).

Moreover, when we breathe through the nose it stimulates the production of nasal nitric oxide which has the effect of dilating the blood vessels, improving circulation of oxygen carrying red blood cells to the body’s tissues.

So whilst our natural tendency when we exercise will likely be to take ‘big’ breaths in through the mouth, this is actually counterproductive to optimising athletic performance. Admittedly it can be very challenging at first to retrain the body to breathe through the nose when we feel like we’re struggling for air, but it will reap benefits over time. A good way to begin is by consciously breathing through your nose when you take a brisk walk

2. Slow down your respiratory rate 

Taking long, slow, full breaths (but not ‘big’ breaths into the chest - see above) also helps to improve oxygen uptake by ensuring that more air reaches the alveoli and that proportionally less air remains in the ‘dead space’ (dead space is the amount of air that is inhaled but does not take part in gaseous exchange). 

Indeed, in a recent interview James Nestor (the author of ‘Breath’) suggested that when we slow our respiratory rate to 6 breaths per minute we absorb 85% of the oxygen vs. just 50% when we breathe at 18 - 20 breaths per minute.

Breathing in this way also helps to stimulate our parasympathetic rest and digest response, aiding recovery from training and calming the mind, thus improving focus. 

And deep breathing has many other benefits too including improving lung capacity, and stabilising the spine which allows us to move more efficiently.

3. Practice resisted breathing exercises

When we take resisted breathing exercises (for example closing one nostril, or partly closing both nostrils) we create additional resistance to airflow, further strengthening our respiratory muscles and increasing our tolerance to carbon dioxide.

When we explore these practices we are seeking to create a tolerable level of ‘air hunger’ (the desire to breathe deeper) - when we feel this we know that we’re increasing the pressure of carbon dioxide in our bloodstream. As our system adapts over time to become more tolerant to carbon dioxide, the efficiency of oxygen uptake to muscles will increase accordingly (as explained above).

4. Explore breath holds

Another way of increasing our tolerance to carbon dioxide is by exploring breath holds. A word of caution however - these should not be practised if you suffer from high blood pressure or if you’re pregnant, and they should never be practised in water!

Extreme breath holds can also trigger anxiety so it’s definitely best to start small…‘box breathing’* is a good way to begin your exploration.

In box breathing we inhale to a count of 4, retain the inhalation to a count of 4, exhale to a count of 4 and then hold the breath out to a count of 4. Very simple…repeat for 5 - 10 minutes (you can also see the video above for a guided exploration).

An additional benefit of holding the breath after an exhalation is that it stimulates the spleen to release more oxygen carrying red blood cells, thus increasing the oxygen capacity of the blood...in effect stimulating the effects of high altitude training.

So there we have 4 ways of working with the breath to improve athletic and sporting performance. Like most practices they require consistent and regular practice over time to begin to realise the benefits - so stick at it and you’ll start to see improvements in the weeks and months ahead. And if you have any questions about these practices, or if you’d like to work together to optimise your breathing, then please do get in touch.

Much of the information above is taken from, or inspired by, the work of Patrick McKeown, author of The Oxygen Advantage and The Breathing Cure.

* In yoga we refer to box breathing as samavritti (‘same fluctuation’) pranayama (control of life force) with antara kumbhaka (internal breath retention) and bahya kumbhaka (external breath retention)

Why left nostril breathing helps with stress management (and other surprising benefits...)

Several of the pranayama techniques we encounter in our yoga practice involve single or alternate nostril breathing - and this has some surprising benefits. Read on to find out how breathing through your left nostril in particular can help you to manage stress, improve sporting performance and even unlock your creative potential...

1. Left nostril breathing stimulates our rest and digest response and counters the effects of stress

In the hatha yoga system, the left nostril is said to be linked to the cooling 'moon' energy via ida nadi (one of the major energy channels in the subtle body)...

More recently, scientific research suggests that left nostril breathing can activate parasympathetic 'rest and digest' response (the yogis knew!)..,meaning that it helps to lower blood pressure, decrease heart rate and encourage improved digestion and sleep.

Left nostril breathing practices can therefore help to restore autonomic nervous system balance when we find ourselves in a chronically 'parasympathetic dominant' state - i.e. when we're constantly feeling stressed out, overwhelmed and emotionally unbalanced.

(You might also want to check out 3 simple breathing tips for stress management).

2. It encourages creative 'right brain' creative thinking

Research suggests that each nostril is linked to the opposite hemisphere of the brain.

This means that when we breathe through the left nostril we increase blood flow to the right side of the brain, stimulating creative thinking, intuition and emotional intelligence. (Conversely, when we breathe through the right nostril it encourages 'logical' left brain thinking - which can also be useful!)

So if you're struggling to find inspiration and creativity, or a much needed spark of imagination, left nostril breathing could be just what you need!

3. Single nostril breathing strengthens our respiratory muscles

When we breathe through the nose it naturally creates a little bit of resistance to the breath, which in turn slows down the rhythm of our breathing.

So when we create additional resistance to the breath through 'digital pranayama' techniques we are amplifying this effect.

This resistance has a number of profound benefits, including activation and strengthening of the diaphragm and respiratory muscles, and further stimulation of parasympathetic nervous system response (e.g. through increasing vagus nerve tone).

4. It can improve athletic performance

Another benefit of creating resistance to the breath is that it helps us to improve the efficiency of oxygen uptake by our muscles and organs...in turn improving athletic performance.

It does this by reducing our body's sensitivity to CO2 - whilst we might think of carbon dioxide as simply a waste gas, sufficient accumulation of CO2 in the blood stream is critical to the efficient release of oxygen from haemoglobin in the red blood cells (this sounds counterintuitive...but it's true).

I'll explain more about how this works another time, but for now suffice to say that whether you’re a runner or a cyclist, a footballer, rugby player or tennis player, this increased efficiency of oxygen uptake can start to reap major benefits over time.

5. It helps to focus and calm the mind

All conscious breathing techniques help us to train our awareness...and in my experience, single or alternative nostril breathing practices are particularly effective in this regard.

By turning our full attention to the rhythm of the inhalation and exhalation we have an opportunity to shift our focus away from rumination and anxieties by becoming fully immersed in the movements of the breath.

This meditation technique has the effect of bringing the mind into a state of 'wakeful rest', increasing theta wave activity that encourages a positive mental state, creativity and calm.

So there you have it - 5 benefits of left nostril breathing...from nervous system balance and stress management, to improved athletic performance and increased creativity.

To get you started, give the practice at the top of the post a try (Chandra Bhedana - 'piercing the moon').

It's a simple pranayama technique for encouraging left nostril breathing and one of my favourite breathing practices - I hope you enjoy it too, I’d love to hear how you get on in the comments below.

3 Simple Breathing Tips for Stress Managment

Today (3rd November 2021) is national stress awareness day in the UK. Over the years I’ve suffered, both chronically and acutely, from stress and anxiety and I’m all too aware of the profoundly negative impact that stress can have on our day to day lives….so in this post I share 3 simple tips for breathing your way to better stress management.

Management and treatment of stress is multi-faceted and yoga certainly doesn’t have all of the answers. However, many yoga techniques can have a profound effect on how we manage stress - and one of the most powerful (and free!) tools at our disposal is the breath! 

It also doesn’t have to be complicated...simple is often (and usually!) best. So, below are 3 simple tips for breathing in a way that will help you to manage your stress response and bring your nervous system back into balance…

1. Breath through the nose

‘Noses are for breathing, mouths are for eating’, so the saying goes. Yet despite this, many of us are habitual ‘mouth breathers’ which can contribute to the level of stress and anxiety we experience by stimulating our ‘fight, flight, freeze’ response.

On the other hand, when we breathe through the nose it helps to stimulate the diaphragm (our primary muscle of breathing) which in turn helps to stimulate the vagus nerve (the vagus nerve passes through the diaphragm).

Stimulation of the vagus nerve has a major impact on triggering our parasympathetic ‘rest and digest’ response - leading to decreased heart rate, decreased blood pressure, improved digestion and sleep etc.

So simply bringing attention to your breath several times a day, and consciously ensuring that you’re inhaling and exhaling through the nose can really help us to rebalance our chronically stressed nervous system.

2. Take light, slow, deep breaths

When we’re feeling stressed we’re often encouraged to ‘take a big breath’. However, ‘big’ breaths tend to move up into our chest and require activation of our accessory muscles of respiration - which can once again trigger the fight, flight freeze response.

Instead, think about establishing a light, slow and deep breath at a rate of 5.5 - 6.5 breaths per minute.

Observe your lower ribs expanding outwards on the inhalation and returning to centre on the exhalation and feel as though you’re gently drawing the breath down towards the bottom of your lungs.

This will further help to regulate our nervous system (as well as other systems in the body such as the circulatory system) meaning that we’re better able to deal with stressors and change as and when they arise.

3. Lengthen the exhalation

When we exhale our heart rate naturally decreases (it increases on the inhalation).

Therefore when we consciously extend our exhalation we’re also exacerbating this effect and sending signals to our nervous system that all is well...once again encouraging activation of the rest and digest response.

So as you establish your ‘light, slow, deep’ breathing rate of 5.5 - 6.5 breaths per minute, can you also establish a rhythm in which the outbreath is 1.5 - 2 x as long as the inhalation.

This can have a profoundly relaxing effect on the nervous system - and focusing our awareness on counting the breath can also help to shift the mind’s attention away from ruminating on anxieties and concerns.

So there you have it - 3 simple tips to breathe your way to better stress management. 

You can also watch the video above for a short guided exploration of the techniques outlined above - and if you’d like further help in managing stress or improving your breathing then please do get in touch today to book up an initial 30 minute chat.

Much of the information in this post is taken from, or inspired by, the work of Patrick McKeown - if the breath is something that interests you, I’d highly recommend checking out his books The Oxygen Advantage and The Breathing Cure (I’m currently working my way through the latter).

Are you resting enough?

At last weekend's module of the deep dive immersion I’m currently leading, we began the day with an open discussion around the question "what do I find challenging in my practice".

Fairly quickly the discussion centred around the subject of ‘rest’…with all of us agreeing that we really struggle, mentally and physically, to allow ourselves sufficient time for resting.

And when I posed the question 'do you rest enough' over on Instagram recently 67% of people said that they didn't rest enough.

This is perhaps not surprising given the messaging and conditioning that we’re constantly subjected to - we live in a society that places value on ‘doing’, in which ‘being really busy’ is worn as a badge of honour.

It’s no surprise then that many of us (me included) find it so hard to rest, and that we feel guilty for taking time out for self care - with the result that we’re getting burnt out, sick and feeling generally exhausted (I came down the 'super cold' last month...not to be recommended).

But when our ‘fight, flight, freeze’ response is subjected to chronic low level stimulation through the everyday stresses of life - and particularly if we’re also taking challenging yoga practices or other forms of exercise that intentionally 'stress' our system - it’s critical that we find time for down regulation and activation of the ‘rest and digest’ response too.

Because it’s when we rest and allow the body time to fully recover that we realise the benefits of those practices…it's during those periods of rest that the body adapts to the demands that we've placed upon it in our practice.

Part of the problem is that some of our default ‘go-to’ relaxation approaches - watching TV, looking at social media having a few drinks 🍺 etc. - can actually have the opposite effect by placing further stress into our system.

Instead, can we switch off the phone and TV and take a walk in nature? Or take some time for meditation, calming breath work / pranayama, and gentle restorative physical practice…all of these can really help to bring our nervous system back into balance and help us avoid burnt out.

But as mentioned above, whilst this is easy to acknowledge it’s not always easy to put into practice…I’m as guilty as anyone, especially with the competing demands of family, work and wanting to stay physically fit and healthy.

So to get you started, below are two short practices that will really help to down regulate your nervous system...I hope you enjoy them.
10 minute guided meditation
Restorative parasympathetic breathing technique

And on that note…I’m off to rest.

Is your Savasana fidget free?

I listened to a great interview with Max Strom this week in which he said he knew he’d taught a class well if the students didn’t fidget in savasana…because it meant that their nervous system was calm enough to lay in stillness.

I think this is a great philosophy and one I buy into whole heartedly - for me down regulation of the nervous system is such an important aspect of our practice.

We spend so much of our lives subjected to low level chronic stress, not to mention the many acute stressors that bring us into the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ state…our practice is a great opportunity to bring our nervous system back into balance by stimulating the ‘rest and digest’ response so that we can see with greater clarity and connect to a fuller sense of Self.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that our practice won’t be challenging at times - but if we move slowly and with awareness and if we harness and work with the breath in the right ways* it allows us to remain calm, centred and grounded as we move through our practice.

This is also why I’m no fan of super fast ‘crash bang wallop’ yoga classes - if I’m not able to remain centred in my breath, you can bet that my nervous system will start to ramp up fairly quickly and I’ll start to feel agitated.

So next time you come to practice maybe make a note of paying attention to how challenging or easy it feels to lie still in savasana at the end of class…it could be quite revealing! Let me know how you get on.

* a good start is to work with a soft, light, slow inhalation (feel the ribs expand outwards as you draw the breath in) + a long, complete exhalation (out breath longer than the in breath) + gentle ujjayi pranayama…always through the nostrils! 👃

The Paradox of Practice

Most of us tend to spend much of our life drifting on autopilot - unwittingly drawn into thoughts of past or future, and at the mercy of our samskaras: psychological ‘imprints’ that influence how we think, what we feel and how we engage with the world around us.

Yoga presents an opportunity to intentionally redirect our attention from the external to the internal. To pay attention to the body and how it moves, to become more aware of the mind’s wandering qualities and to shine a light on our habitual patterns of behaviour. This in turn loosens the control that our samskaras have over us, allowing us to rechannel those energies more consciously in order to live our lives with greater freedom.

The paradox of practice is that, whilst we become more embodied through cultivating this skill of presence, we also come to understand that we are not in fact just the body, but something far more expansive.

Through our experiences of practice we begin to expand our notion of ‘me’ or ‘I’ beyond the narrow definition that we have been conditioned to accept; we come to understand through these experiences that our true identity is not temporary and material, but something spiritual and eternal.

This is the truth that sits at the heart of the Upanishads, the Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, and indeed all of the scriptures and teachings of yoga (though how this truth is interpreted and presented differs according to the various philosophical viewpoints within the yoga tradition).

And though we often tend to associate ’yoga’ with the practices and techniques - the postures, breathing practices, chanting, meditation practices and so on - we must understand that these are all simply tools to help us realise and connect to our truest sense of Self (or universal consciousness, nature, God...whatever you want to call it).

As the Mundaka Upanishad teaches:

“The individual self, deluded by forgetfulness of its identity with the divine Self, bewildered by its ego, grieves and is sad. But when it recognises the worshipful Lord as its own true Self, and beholds its glory, it grieves no more.”

This is an understanding we can hold in awareness as we come to our practice, an understanding that will help us to deepen our experience of practice beyond something that is purely physical, to something that is ultimately more profound and rewarding.

Plugging the gaps

One of the main movement patterns lacking in our yoga practice is that of pulling (as well as the fact that we only tend to move in linear ways...something to address in another post).

A couple of years back I decided to address this by adding a lot more pulling activity into my movement practice - primarily with pull ups.

It’s definitely not a strong suit for me - in a fact it’s a massive struggle as it’s a movement pattern I’m quite weak in. But I’ve stuck with it and slowly slowly it’s starting to get better.

Last week I even managed to get my first transition from the pull phase to the dip phase in a ring muscle up...something that I NEVER would have believed was possible for me.

It’s not pretty but it felt like a massive achievement given where I started. It also goes to show that it’s never too late to address our movement challenges or work towards our movement goals if we do so progressively and with structure and focus.

It’s also important that we don’t buy into the defeatist narratives we can often create about ourselves and our potential to move (and live) in the ways we want. “I’ll never be able to do that...” etc.

If I’d done that I would have given up on this movement long ago...and missed out on a lot of fun and enjoyment from simply exploring it for what it is without getting too hung up on the end result.

And whilst I do of course realise and accept that at the age of 42 there are some things that are likely beyond my ability to learn now, it’s amazing to think that at this age it’s still possible to keep expanding my movement repertoire and to take so much pleasure from my movement practice. For that I’m super grateful 👍

Start Where You're At

This seems a very obvious thing to say but it’s sometimes easy to overlook.

We can become so fixated on our goals and where we want to ‘get to’ that we can often forget to take stock of where we’re at right now (and, as a side note, to be grateful for what we’re already capable of doing).

The temptation can be to want to progress too quickly to ‘do the thing’ rather than enjoying and trusting in the process - and seeing that as an end in itself.

A case in point for me is working with the rings - to say they keep my ego in check is something off an understatement. I struggle with just about everything that I do on them.

In the back of my mind I have the goal of one day doing a ‘muscle up’ - I’m following a structured and hopefully I’ll hit that ‘impossible’ sometime but right now it feels like a distant goal so my key intention is to simply to enjoy that exploration and see where it takes me.

It can also be helpful to call to mind the journey that we’ve had with other movements and postures - for example it took me 2 years to achieve a handstand press but how often do I call that to mind when I’m struggling with a new movement? Probably not often enough…

I tend to take what I ‘can do’ for granted and have often had the tendency to get frustrated about what I ‘can’t do’ (though it does feel like there’s been a significant shift in this regard over the last couple of years - I’m definitely much more accepting than I used to be…maybe a sign than age is finally yielding some wisdom 😁).

It’s also important when we approach something new to ask ourselves ‘what’s my current movement capacity - and how does that map to my movement goals’?

Taking stock is so important as it then allows us to develop a strategy for approaching that movement or pose over time - it’s the approach I take in my teaching and when I’m working with students individually and the one I apply to my own practice as well.

But the key thing is to take that journey progressively - accepting where we’re at right now and not trying to rush the process. It makes for a much more enjoyable and rewarding practice over time…and perhaps it even helps us to have less attachment to the end result.

Practising Carefully vs. Practising with Care

Recently I've been pondering the difference between practising carefully and practising with care.

Personally I don’t wholeheartedly subscribe to the notion of ‘practising carefully’ - it suggests that there’s something to be afraid of, that the body is fragile and needs protecting  - whereas for most of us, the body is in fact incredibly robust and capable of remarkable adaptation to the demands that we place upon it.

Of course there’s a time and a place for being careful when working with the body - but as long as we approach our practice intelligently, I don’t necessarily believe that our yoga practice needs to be ‘careful’. 

Because if we’re always trying to ‘be careful’ it will start to inculcate a sense of fear when our practice should be something that empowers us, something that gives us greater confidence in the body and what it’s capable of - something that we enjoy.

On the other hand, ‘practising with care’ suggests an attending attitude to the body - cultivating the ability to tune into and listen to the body's feedback, and the skill to adapt our approach to practice accordingly so that it truly serves us. 

We can look to yoga philosophy for inspiration and guidance, in particular to the gunas (three constituent properties of nature): rajas (expansion), tamas (heaviness, inertia) and sattva (balance). Each of these constituent properties will exert an influence on us to varying degrees in each moment…sometimes we feel exuberant and energised, at times tired, and at times calm, centred and grounded. 

When we apply this understanding to our practice, it means that sometimes we’ll want to dial up the level of challenge in our practice, to test and expand our preconceived boundaries, whilst at other times we’ll want to ease back a little - to use our practice for restoration and balance.

There's no one way to practice and no right or wrong way to do so either - it will be different for each of us and it will also be different every time we take to our mat for practice. The key is to listen to the body's signals so that we can really meet the practice where we’re at in each moment. In this way our practice can feel truly nourishing and empowering rather than something that depletes us.

So be bold in your practice and be confident in your body - enjoy your yoga and let it  be something that really nourishes and empowers you. But above all practice with care…be attentive to sensation and to what the body really needs in each moment. And adapt your approach accordingly, without judgement and without any preconceived notions of what practice ‘should’ look like - for me this the is mark of a truly ‘advanced’ practice.

A Simple Stress Busting Breath Practice

Stress…sometimes it feels like we live life feeling perpetually ‘stressed out’, particularly in these challenging times.

In managed doses stress is necessary for us to function, perform and survive - it boosts our energy levels and immune system and helps us to achieve our goals in life. In fact the Mental Health Foundation simply defines stress as ‘the body’s response to pressures from a situation or life event.’

These physiological responses are linked to the sympathetic nervous system - the branch of the autonomic nervous system responsible for our body’s ‘fight or flight’ response - they’re extremely helpful when we’re facing an acute threat that we need to evade or defend against.

However, the problem that many of us face in modern life is the continual stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system through the various stresses, strains and challenges we encounter - the demands of work and family, paying the bills, overstimulation of the senses (TV, social media etc.).

This is being amplified exponentially by the critical situation we’re currently facing with coronavirus and in combination these stressors have the potential to lead us down the path to chronic stress.

Chronic stress is particularly pernicious because it’s sometimes difficult to recognise - the body and nervous system will continue to adapt to the demands placed upon them…until they can no longer cope.

The effects on our physical and mental health can be severe - exhaustion, emotional breakdown, panic attacks, anxiety, depression, immune deficiency and more.

And it’s a vicious circle too - the effects of ill health can then lead to more stress...and so it continues. 

Yoga practice offers us a space in which we can look to rebalance the nervous system - to dial down the sympathetic nervous system and dial up the parasympathetic nervous system responsible for ‘rest and digest’.

Simply taking the opportunity to rest in stillness and become more attuned to the body and breath has enormous value.

Moving slowly (even in ‘dynamic’ practice), paying attention to felt sensations and transitions will also help us to calm the energy of our inner environment.

And making sure that we complement dynamic movement with practices that encourage a further rebalancing of energies - restorative, yin, meditation etc.

One of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal is the breath.

Scientific research has identified many benefits of conscious breathing for stimulation of the rest and digest response - in particular slowing and softening the breath cycle and lengthening the exhalation.

So…here’s a simple breath practice for you. It can be taken at any time and is especially helpful if you notice that you’re feeling stressed out - I often use it when I’m struggling to drop off to sleep.

• Take a soft and light breath in through the nose for a count of 4 seconds 

• Exhale through the mouth for a count of 8 seconds (pursing the lips as if you were blowing out a candle)

• Repeat for 10 cycles of breath (or longer if you have the time)

And that’s it - super simple but very effective.

I’ve found it to be a very powerful tool to have in my armoury and I hope you find it as helpful as I have.

5 Reasons To Slow Your Yoga Flow

If you’re no stranger to my classes then you’ll know that I tend to encourage a ‘slow-flow’ approach to practice - one that’s centred around moving deliberately, with awareness, intention and attention. 

This philosophy is partly driven by a simple belief that yoga practice is an opportunity to counter the sometimes overwhelming busyness and pace of everyday life; to recenter so that we can move through life with a greater sense of ease.

But there’s more to it than that…so I’ve explained my thinking in a little more detail below by outlining my top 5 reasons for ‘slowing the flow’ in your own yoga and movement practice.

1. It cultivates a mindful connection to practice

“There is a secret bond between slowness and memory, between speed and forgetting” Milan Kundera 

The Pali word ‘sati’ which is often translated as mindfulness can also be translated as ‘to remember’ i.e. to remember what is occurring in the present moment and to continually come back to that experience. By slowing things down, we’re really able to deepen our connection to the ‘memory’ of our present moment reality and our experience of practice as it arises.

Of course it is possible to bring mindfulness to fast or quick activities too (and just for the record I’m not at all averse to fast movements - in fact I love them, just not in the context of my yoga practice)…but it’s much easier to build our ‘mindful muscles’ by moving slowly.

“When we move slowly, observing movements and sensations as they arise, we create time and space to observe the conditioning arising in the body-mind. And in seeing this conditioning we can begin the process of freely choosing how to respond, rather than blindly react.” Frank Boccio, Mindfulness Yoga

2. It teaches us to move better

When we take a slow, focused yoga or movement practice, we become more connected and embodied; cultivating greater awareness of our body and the ways in which we move and breathe.

Slowing our movements and deepening the mind-body connection in this way increases the amount of time we have to drop awareness into the body and process sensory information. We become more attuned to the QUALITY of our movement experience and how it lands in the body; whether it feels effortless or challenging, easeful or uncomfortable.

This in turn creates space for exploring different ways of moving and developing 'movement maps' for the body; these help us to become more proficient with our existing repertoire of movements and also to expand that movement repertoire over time. 

Once skill has been acquired, this expanded repertoire can then be progressed to faster expressions of the movements (if we wish)…but if ’fast’ is our starting point and we only ever jump from one movement to the next then we simply don’t create the right conditions for learning to move with a greater sense of ease

3. It helps us get stronger (through greater ranges)

Our bodies respond and adapt to the forces, loads and demands placed upon them. Simply put, when we load the body (providing we don’t exceed its capacity to withstand that load!), it will adapt by getting stronger, specific to the ways in which that load has been applied. This is know as the SAID principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands).

When we move slowly we are effectively increasing both internal resistance and resistance to gravity…in turn increasing the load and demand that we place on our body. This  maximises muscle activation and increases the feedback we send to our nervous system, causing it to create more adaptation in the body's tissues in response (i.e. by developing more strength!).

‘Putting on the brakes’ in this way (thanks to Jules Mitchell for the analogy) is primarily achieved by engaging muscles eccentrically (i.e. lengthening them under tension) and, where appropriate, by ‘irradiating’ internal tension through the body to maintain the integrity of our movements (e.g. when we wish to isolate single joint movements).

In combination with end range isometric loading (i.e. static stretching with applied load), eccentrics also help us to increase the ranges of movement available to us, as well the functional control that we have through those ranges.

4. It improves postural control, balance and co-ordination

In addition to improving motor control, slowing our movement practice down also teaches us how to better maintain a controlled, upright posture. Once again this is in part due to the fact that moving slowly provides us with the space to become more centred and grounded in our body; with both a greater awareness of the position of our body in space (proprioception) and a more acute sensitivity to the inner environment and experience of our body (interception)…which in turn helps to improve our balance and co-ordination.

Moreover, moving slowly is an optimal way to engage our muscles in the ‘right ways’ to improve postural control. This is explained expertly by Todd Hargrove in ‘A Guide to Better Movement:

“Slow movement preferentially recruits motor units with fewer muscle fibres, which have control of force output…[and] is an effective way to improve postural control which should be provided by tonic slow twitch postural muscles, as opposed to phasic fast twitch prime mover muscles.”

5. It promotes beneficial adaptations in the nervous system

Moving slowly helps to teach our nervous system that it’s ‘safe’ to move in new and novel ways. If the nervous system perceives a movement as threatening then it may try to restrict our ability to take that movement (e.g. by creating ‘stiffness’ in the body or inhibiting muscular engagement) - but if we move in ways that teach the nervous system that these movements are in fact perfectly safe, then over time those movements will become more accessible to us. Todd Hargrove explains:

“Moving slowly reduces the perceived threat associated with movement because it decreases mechanical forces to their minimum. Thus, slow movement is an important tool in a plan of graded exposure that can allow you to explore and try movements you may have neglected for years because they are perceived to be unsafe and involuntarily restricted.”

This can be helpful not only when we’re recovering from an injury, but also when we want to explore new movements that we may find challenging or movements that we haven’t taken in a long time.

Further to this, moving slowly can help to dial down nociception - the sensory nervous system's response to harmful (or potentially harmful) stimuli. This may help to reduce any pain previously associated with movement, once again teaching the nervous system that it’s ok to allow us to move more freely. And it may also have a ‘soothing’ effect on the nervous system in general; dialling down our fight / flight / freeze response, dialling up our rest and digest response and thereby reducing stress levels by helping us to find a greater sense of internal balance.

So there you have it - 5 reasons to slow your flow. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments - and if this is an approach to yoga and movement that resonates with you then I look forward to seeing you in class or on retreat soon.

References + Further Reading:

• Mindfulness Yoga - Frank Boccio

• A Guide to Better Movement: The Science and Practice of Moving with More Skill and Less Pain - Todd Hargrove

• Recovery Strategies: Pain Guidance - Dr. Greg Lehman

• Yoga Biomechanics: Stretching Redefined - Jules Mitchell

• Functional Range Conditioning Lectures - Dr. Andreo Spina