Episodes
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In this episode, I welcome Dr Paul Dallaghan as a guest. He has been guiding me in my Pranayama practice for the past 14 years - so it's both an honor and pleasure to talk to him about breathing, yoga, and a well-rounded practice protocol for physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
We talk about Paul’s story of starting yoga practices (ashtanga vinyasa and Pranayama) in the 1990s in New York, his Ph.D. studies about the effects of breath and pranayama, and the importance of
- first developing a „base breath“before layering on particular techniques,
- pre-breath supportive practices that prepare the body for experiencing
- hyped breathing techniques on social media vs mature practices that develop through consistent regular practice under the guidance of an experienced teacher
- possible problems with hyping techniques that create a strong physical response (such as hyperventilation, strong pumping without proper technique)
- and much moreDr. Paul D. has devoted the last three decades to developing expertise in the field of breath-mind-body lifestyle. He has a specialized background that ranges from advanced practitioner of pranayama and asana to accomplished academic scholar, researching the effects of breath-related practices.
He is also the co-founder of Samahita Retreat, the first yoga-breath-meditation retreat center in Asia, where he runs teacher trainings and practice retreats.
Enjoy!
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Missing episodes?
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Today I sit down with Sebastian Pucelle from with-yinyoga. Together with his partner Murielle Burellier he offers workshops and teacher trainings around the world, sharing the practice and teaching of Yin Yoga since 2010.
We talk about his life's path, moving from busy London to Asia, how he recovered from a spinal injury using Ashtanga and Yin Yoga, Yin principles of Yoga therapy, the often missing Yin qualities in today's life, how to incorporate them into our daily schedule, how to assess and deal with pain and much more.
I hope you enjoy our conversation.
More info about Sebastian's work: https://www.with-yinyoga.com/
If you want to incorporate more Yin qualities of surrender, letting go, and simply being into your life, consider joining the upcoming MasterYourBreath course. More info:
https://tomrichter.yoga/learn-myb/
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Enjoy five minutes of breath exploration to connect to yourself, and get calm and present. You can use this as a reset when you notice your energy and focus fading.
Today's practice is focused on resetting your breathing rhythm.
Enjoy!
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Enjoy five minutes of breath exploration to connect to yourself, and get calm and present. You can use this as a reset when you notice your energy and focus fading.
Enjoy!
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How do you ideally breathe during your (vinyasa or hatha) yoga practice?
Many get the guidance to breathe voluminous, effortful, and noisy breaths with strong engagement and tension in the abdominal area.
In this episode, I talk about the benefits of breathing calmly, diaphragmatically, and rhythmically, but with less volume and noise.
Enjoy!
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Pausing the breath can be a peaceful moment - but many experience it as suffocation and have a strong reaction - physically, mentally, and emotionally.
This can drastically affect the way we experience our day. If the body has no capacity to calmly notice higher levels of carbon dioxide or to sustain a momentary breath hold (whether voluntarily or involuntary), anytime our nervous system is triggered, we will have an overshooting fight/flight response which makes it much harder to stay focused on solving the situation.
However, this situation can be improved as we can teach the body to remain calm during breath holds. All it takes is practice and a step-by-step approach so we don't overstimulate our body.
In this episode, I explain a simple approach to improving this sense of suffocation and guide you through a short exercise.
Enjoy!
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In this episode, I have my first guest: Marko Kovač. We talk about Meditation, Breathing, and living life with more awareness. In fact, that's what we always do, even if we just sit down for a coffee. That's why I thought that Marko was the perfect first guest because I always leave our conversations with a sense of joy and inspiration. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Marko is part of the ManCore team, offering retreats and workshops, helping men discover who they truly are: https://mancore.co/
Find out more about Marko's offerings: https://www.corecordis.com/
Marko is also a MasterYourBreath Instructor. Find out more about the training here: https://tomrichter.yoga/myb-academy/
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Tom talks about 6 aspects to consider when enrolling in one of the various forms of breathing courses to get the most benefits and get help with the exact challenge that you are looking to overcome through improved breathing.
Enjoy!
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We release Carbon dioxide (CO2) when we breathe and our body is set up to prevent too high levels of this gas. However, we need a balanced level - not too high, not too low - for the body to work optimally.
That's because the right levels of Carbon dioxide come with plenty of benefits such as anti-inflammatory qualities, open airways and blood vessels, relaxed muscles a calm nervous system, and increased oxygen supply to tissues, including the brain.
Listen to this episode and learn about how even slight over-breathing can lead to chronic problems and how improving the way you breathe lays the foundation to relieve tension, improve focus and strength, allows the body to recover better, improves your sleep, optimizes blood circulation and oxygen supply, and allows the body to reset and heal itself.
More info on how to master your breath you can find at https://tomrichter.yoga/learn-myb/
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Pain is a complex topic. However, breathing affects how we experience pain in many ways and in today's episode, I share some aspects of how improving your breathing can improve how well you can manage pain.
If you suffer from pain and want to dive deeper into the ideas I share in this episode, join my free 4-day workshop from 11.-14. March 2024.
You will learn how to step-by-step break free from overwhelm, pain, and anxiety with the power of your breathing. Find out more and sign up here: https://bit.ly/3BtlP1b
Enjoy!
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Systems of breathing give you a clear set of tools or techniques and defined steps to apply them.
Principles of breathing are general conditions, alignment cues, qualities, or mechanics, that support an efficient breathing process and can be applied to almost any moment, system, or condition.
Systems of breathing (just like systems of movement, eating, communication, therapy...) come with many benefits. But we also tend to discuss or even fight over which is best.
But when we understand the difference between principles and systems, we can stop arguing and ask the real question: Which system is the best for YOU and why haven't you mastered the principles not yet? Because they ARE the foundation.
If we declare a system superior, we get dogmatic thinking and judgment over other (supposedly inferior) systems.
If we use a system without understanding the underlying principles, we miss out on benefits and risk injury and long-term problems.
Listen to my thoughts on this topic in today's episode.
Enjoy!
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Is there a way we can use our breathing to remain calm even in stressful situations?
You may have gotten the advice before to "just breathe", whenever you are in a demanding situation. However, in reality, it will be almost impossible to think about breathing let alone change our breathing pattern when we are already under pressure.
The reason it doesn't work is that we never practice our breathing patterns or know how to shift them to feel better.
That's where breath snacks come in. By taking three to four breath snacks of 1-5 minutes each throughout the day and intentionally shifting the breathing pattern, we not only re-center ourselves and calm body and mind but also learn to control our breathing and get skilled in creating an optimal breathing pattern.
Furthermore, the benefits last as the body keeps the improved breathing pattern even when we continue with our daily activities and forget about our breathing.
And it takes us practically no extra time - you can do it while waiting in line, watching your coffee running through the coffee maker, sitting in the train or car...)
If you want to remain present, alert, and centered in all life situations, then listen to this episode and start to add some breath snacks to your life.
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Breathing is life. Without breathing we die within minutes. But we rarely look at the quality of our breathing. Yet, how we breathe deeply affects us physically, emotionally, and mentally.
With breathwork getting more popular, people want to practice breathing but often use singled-out techniques which limit the benefits drastically.
In today's episode, I give an introduction to why breathing is so relevant to improving anything in life and why it's best to improve the 3 pillars of breathing - optimizing breathing patterns in daily life, releasing tension, and training your breathing through breathwork and pranayama techniques.
Enjoy the show.
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A stronger connection to your breath will deeply affect how you experience life and the presence you bring to every moment.
In this podcast, I will share ideas and ways to use your breath to improve your life on many levels.
This will include deep dives into understanding the way breathing affects us physically, mentally, and emotionally, actionable tools and exercises as well as inspiring interviews with people that shifted their well-being through improving the way they breathe.
