move well | breathe well | live well
Breathe Well
Master Course on Breathing for Yoga Teachers
This 40-hour course on breathing will help yoga teachers develop a deeper understanding of the art and science of breathing and how to teach effective breathing skills to their students.
This master course for yoga teachers and yoga practitioners is a complete course in the theory, science, and practice of breathing.
Although breathing is mostly involuntary, it is unique in that we can consciously change the pattern of our breathing and by doing so, positively impact our body and mind. Good breathing promotes a greater sense of mental clarity and generally helps maintain homeostasis within the body’s systems.
Breathing plays a central role in the yoga and well-being pathway and as teachers, we are in a perfect position to help our students breathe more effectively in group and one-to-one settings.
The knowledge you gain in this course will help you dive deeper into your own breath practice and provide you with tools and skills to help your students access greater well-being through their breath.
This course is a part of the Svastha Yoga Therapy Program and can be attended as part of the 300-hour Yoga Therapy foundations course or independently, as a continuing education program.
Course Content:
During this course, participants will:
- Learn the skills needed to breathe well, lifelong.
- Receive guided exercises, observation and assessment, and teaching practice for those skills.
- Understand the necessary functional anatomy of breathing techniques.
- Learn decision pathways to work with imbalances of the breath.
- Understand safety and contraindications of different breathing skills.
Topics include:
- Charting the parameters of breathing.
- Observing the breath as it is.
- Finding comfort with the natural breath and understanding its uses.
- Regulating the cycle of breathing skillfully.
- Managing the effort of breathing: decreasing the effort of breathing with ease, increasing the effort with arousal.
- Working with deep breathing and shallow breathing.
- Understanding the anatomy, principles, and practice of physical patterns of breathing and their uses, including abdominal breathing, lower rib breathing, upper chest breathing, and breathing into the back.
- Appreciating the connection between breath and body movement and its practical uses.
- Lengthening the breath with care and comfort.
- Safely using fast breathing.
- Cultivating the inhalation: including using movement, position, touch, visualization, sound, and sequencing.
- Cultivating the exhalation: including using movement, position, touch, visualization, sound, and sequencing.
- Developing breath suspension, safety, contraindications, benefits, sequencing and more.
- Using breathing ratios and stepped breathing in asana and pranayama.
- Using ujjāyī breathing in asana.
- Working with sound to enhance breathing.
Traditional Frameworks
1. prāṇa, deśa, kāla, saṁkhyā, dīrgha, sūkṣma
2. sama-vṛtti, viṣama-vṛtti, vairambha
Modern Science
- Functional anatomy of the respiratory system.
- Functional anatomy of breathing cycle.
- Physiology of respiration, including:
- control of breathing
- gas exchange and transport
- energy generation
- metabolic impact, acid-base balance
- hyperventilation and hypoventilation
- Introduction to visceral regulation and breathing:
- interoception, homeostasis
- vagal tone, heart rate variability, regulation through breath
- connections based on polyvagal theory
Participants in the Breathe Well course have the option of also attending the Respiratory Disorders Course that will be presented in early November.
Dates:
The program is held over 5 days, 8.30am – 4.30pm daily
6th – 8th April 2024 (Saturday – Monday) & 10th – 11th May 2024 (Friday – Saturday)
Location:
TBA
Fees:
$880.00
Barbara Coley is an experienced and skilled yoga teacher, educator, & certified yoga therapist. She has a deep passion for sharing sound yoga practices that empower and promote well-being on all levels.
Barbara has been practising yoga since 1992 and teaching since 2007. She has deepened her understanding of yoga, and continues to do so, through extensive studies with A.G. Mohan and Indra Mohan of Svastha Yoga & Ayurveda. She has also studied online with a number of renowned international teachers specialising in various fields including Vina Shah, Jean Campbell, Jivana Heyman, Amber Karnes, Tom Myers, Marlysa Sullivan, Amy Wheeler, Dianne Bondy, Tiffany Cruickshank, and more.
Barbara began her studies in Yoga Therapy with Dr Ganesh Mohan in 2010 and has been a practicing Certified Yoga Therapist since 2016. She is certified with with the International Association of Yoga Therapists, Yoga Australia and Yoga New Zealand.
Barbara is grateful to be a personal student of A. G. Mohan & Indra Mohan and continues her studies and mentoring in yoga and yoga therapy with them and their son, Dr Ganesh Mohan. Barbara presents the Yoga for Svastha Yoga Teacher Training Program and the Svastha Yoga Therapy Training Program in Aotearoa.
Barbara’s yoga qualifications include:
- Certified Yoga Therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), Yoga Australia and Yoga New Zealand
- E-RYT500 with Yoga Alliance
- Registered Senior Teacher with Yoga Australia and Yoga New Zealand
- Svastha Yoga Aotearoa is a Registered Training Provider with Yoga New Zealand and Yoga Alliance.
