Discover the Power of Your Breath

Written by Tamara Frankel

Don’t hold your breath. Breath is life, and each breath we take optimizes our health. This is what I learned at Jewish Seniors Alliance third Empowerment session Discover the Power of your Breath on May 4th. Gyda Chud, co-president of JSA, warmly welcomed the 75 zoom participants, explaining that the overarching theme for the empowerment series is Be Inspired.

Fran Goldberg introduced the speaker, yoga therapist and teacher Tianne Allan, who was involved for two decades in the world of aquatics and high-performance athletics. After a car accident, her yoga practice became her pathway to healing, both physically and emotionally. She now specializes in pain care and in the treatment of anxiety and insomnia.

Allan guided the group in movement, breathing while opening the arms and bringing them back to the chest. She explained that the foundation of our breath is comprised of three steps:

1. Sit up straight and breathe through your nose.
2. Low and slow, take a breath down into your belly.
3. Smooth and steady, inhale and exhale.

Other types of breathing are the relaxation breath where you sit back, relax and exhale with a sound; and the humming breath to relieve anxiety, where you inhale through the nose and exhale through a hum.

Correct breathing can also help ease pain. And it can help us sleep better. The sleep exercise involved imagining ourselves looking through the ceiling to the blue sky and letting the sun fill our bodies with warmth. This exercise actually lulled some of us to sleep.

Shanie Levin thanked Tianne for getting us involved in using our bodies and minds and reminded the audience of our next empowerment series on June 28 featuring classical pianist Libby Yu.

For more information on Tianne Allan, see  www.yogatianne.com