Sunday, June 28, 2009

Teaching D.C. How to Take A Breather

About 200 people are sitting on yoga mats in a Washington hotel ballroom trying to learn how to do something they already do about 21,600 times a day: breathe.

This "automatic breathing" they've been doing all their lives? No good. So they're learning to breathe deeply from their diaphragms and hoping that benefits -- such as stress reduction, better sleep and increased mental focus -- will follow.

"If you're angry and you want to be calm, what do you do? Breathe how?" asks senior teacher Rajshree Patel from a stage at the front of the room, a white orchid at her side. "The breath of rest and relaxation. And you will see the mind will shift. If you switch the rhythm of breath, it will switch the emotion." Read More

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