Body by Breath...Here we go!
What's your intention?
As we dive into Body by Breath together, I’d love to know: What do you hope to learn from this book?
On page 10 Jill lists some of the benefits of breathing with more awareness and intention, including:
Improved sleep quality
Better digestion (reduction in acid reflux and GERD)
Stronger core, better postural control
Supercharged recovery powers
Relief from physical pain
Emotional attunement with self and others
Enhanced cognitive function
An enlarged capacity to sense your body’s thoughts and feelings — a “seventh sense”
Obviously, we all want all of the things! But, I’m curious — what’s your reason for being here? Why does the thought of learning to roll on balls and increase your breath awareness appeal to you?
Here’s mine: I’d like to truly understand my own personal, unique breath so that I enjoy breathwork more. I don’t think I’ve ever shared publicly that I tend not to enjoy breathing practices. There were a few times that I was led by Richard Rosen, (holy moly he is the pranayama master), but I’ve never been a great breather.
I got recurrent chest infections as a small child (croup) and was hospitalized twice. I’ve had allergies my whole life, a deviated septum, and anxiety. This combo means that breathing practices don’t feel liberating to me; they feel laborious. Last year, I had a septoplasty and turbinate reduction in hopes that I’d see improvement. The first few months felt very promising. But I’m still plagued by environmental allergies that are persistent and stubborn to treat.
All of this is to say that I have a small repertoire that I enjoy (Nadi Shodhana or Alternate Nostril, Viloma, and Box Breathing), but I always find an excuse to do some other practice instead of breathwork.
Given how well I tend to respond to Jill’s writing and teaching style, I feel genuinely excited to learn more about the breath and to practice some of her techniques with the Coregeous ball. Oh la la that one is my favorite.
So, back to YOU. What are you hoping to learn/hone/explore as you dive into the book? Will you share it in the comments below please and thank you!
I’m still waiting on my book and new set of toys (ball set) to experiment with. As a yoga teacher I would love to learn and incorporate more breath work into the practice. Personally, I have been using breath to co-regulate my nervous system. I have found it to be the gateway into a deeper and grounded meditation practice. I’m excited to learn about the use of the balls to tap into the nervous system. I think it will be a fun way to explore and share the book with my family. I’m not sure I would have made the time if it wasn’t for the book club. Thank you for the offering it. I agree with your wish to have this work reach a wider audience. I think that people are under chronic stress and fatigue. Despite there being more chatter about it, I feel that there lacks real action steps to address the underlying issues of stress. 👍
Hi Andrea,
My book just arrived and I'm reading it in my postpartum bubble with a sleeping baby on my lap. (Man, it is difficult to find a good position with this massive book 😀) Mostly, I nap along, but this book gives me a sense of my neurdy-booklover-yoga-self. Happy to be able to surf along this club to keep me at it.
I'm a teacher with a long selfpractice of breathwork and a love for fascia. But I rarely share this in class. I hope this book will make me understand why I love it so much and by doing this, giving me tools to share more in class in a way that makes sense.
Glad to be here!