.jpg "Utkatasana (chair pose)")
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I am lying down on a comfy couch in a private treatment room in West London's Special Yoga Centre. But this is no massage session or body treatment: I am here to re-learn how to breathe.
Next to me, Alan Dolan is issuing clear, repetitive instructions in a soothing voice: 'Open the mouth wider', he is saying. 'Breath in and out through your mouth, using your abdomen. Keep focusing on the abdomen'.
It's
extraordinary, I note as I force myself to focus on his voice, rather than on the reality of what I am feeling (slightly ridiculous, slightly panicky), how little attention span human beings have. Or perhaps that's just me?
Re-learning the breath
I am decidedly out of my comfort zone. Though my eyes are closed, I can't shake the feeling of sounding, and surely looking, rather absurd.
My breath is loud and much faster than usual, and as a yogi, the technique Alan is teaching seems contrary to years of softer pranayama and yoga breathing, always practised through the mouth.
'Don't control the breath', says Alan every now and again - 'let it come freely. Resist any attempt to hold or control the way you breath.' Alan tells me to take each inhale in two stages, and then let the exhale release quickly. IN opposition to the pranayama I practice and teach, the focus centre on the inhale - and all the time, the mouth is open.
It all feels alien and a little comical, especially when I am told to start singing notes on the exhale; the aim being, to increase the tone and sound of the breath. This is especially important to me, as an ongoing jaw problem means I am unable to open my mouth as fully as most people.
'Just breathe', says Alan, reassuringly - yet this brand new way of breathing is harder work than I had anticipated. I focus as much as I can on the simple inhale, exhale rhythm, and note - perhaps surprisingly, giving how much yoga I practice - that breathing into my belly doesn't come easily.
Every now and again, Alan works on pressure points in the body - along the arms, legs and sides of the body. When he pressed on the back of my left calf, and a point in the right side of my body, I feel sharp pain that, even though Alan keeps returning to those spots, eventually subsides.
Things get easier once I flip onto my stomach, head to one side (supported by the pillow). Firstly, I feel less exposed and more relaxed. Secondly, I can feel myself breath into my belly.
After a while, I flip over to my back again, and am told to inhale through the mouth, exhale through the mouth. This comes much more easily, especially as it releases some of the constriction in my jaw. Later, Alan says I should focus entirely on this technique.
Relaxing into it
About half an hour into the session (which is an hour long) I begin to sink into the rhythm of things a little more. I no longer need to concentrate minutely on every aspect of my breath, though the process is still far more 'conscious' than the normal breathing process.
The method Alan is teaching is called Transformational Breathing. It was developed by American-based Dr Judith Kravitz and incorporates her knowledge of conscious breathing techniques as well as various other healing and spiritual principles, combined to form this technique.
It is not a pranayama technique, Alan tells me, though can enhance an existing pranayama and/or yoga practice hugely, by making is more conscious of the way we breath, and to work on shifting energetic or emotional blockages.
Transformational Breath Facilitators like Alan are trained to observe the breath and see physically where the breath is being held and where any energetic, emotional or physical blockages may be.
As the yogis of old understood very well, deep, full breathing is fundamental to human wellbeing.
With 5-10 minute regular periods of practice at home, the idea is that
the breath will begin to flow more freely at all times. Better health,
mental clarity and emotional freedom are some of the promised rewards.
Proper breathing is our life force. Perhaps this technique could simply be seen as a relatively new twist on an ancient practice and understanding.
I am certainly not used to the gentle hands-on pressure used by the teacher as an accompaniment to the breath in this technique, or the use of sound techniques and positive affirmations.
But once I have got over the slight 'weird' factor, the experience gets interesting - almost enjoyable.
Ancient art, proven by science
Since ancient times, yogis have known that the way we breathe - or in may cases don't breathe - is essential to our wellbeing and health.
In recent times, science has begun to back up what the ancient yogis have known for thousands of years: the oxygen is vital to the health of our bodies. Every cell in our body is dependent on high level of oxygen. When breathing is restricted, the amount of oxygen we receive is less.
As Dolan says, most of us are aware that we are not breathing to our full capacity. Astonishingly, on average we use, at most, only 25% of our respiratory systems.
These facts become even more thought-provoking when we consider that most of our energy comes from what we bring in through the breath and almost 70% of detoxification occurs via our breath.
Thankfully, the teachers behind Transformational Breathing stay clear of making sweeping, outlandish claims for the efficacy of the technique to cure disease.
This said, its application and use is spreading fast; the method is now practised in over 18 countries and four continents, and is especially popular in The States.
Transformational Breathing is increasingly taught to those suffering from a spectrum of physical and emotional illnesses - including cancer, asthma, hypothyroidism, depression, phobias, stress, insomnia, menstrual difficulties, asthma, panic attacks, heart conditions, respiratory difficulties, digestive problems, depression, headaches and infertility.
I certainly noticed a profound difference after my session. Immediately afterwards, I felt relaxed to the point of drifting off to sleep. After periods during the session when I had felt stone cold (due, apparently, to shifts in energy), I now felt warm and pleasantly tingling, as if my nerve cells had developed finely tuned antennae.
According to testimonials from others who have experienced the technique, a 'lightness of spirit' is a common feeling after a session. Other people talk of feeling as having undergone a 'spring clean'; and there's little doubt that I felt different - more alive - on an energetic level.
This feeling latest through to the morning of the next day - after I had experienced some bizarre, unusually heightened dreams (another common experience).
Alan had explained before the session that the breathing works on many different levels; for some people, the main experience is emotional.
For me, in a way that's just about impossible to convey through words, the session triggered a powerful energetic release that left me with a welcome feeling of freedom and clarity - also of joy.
More scientifically backed research is needed - and is indeed under way - to explain how people can benefit from Transformational Breathing. Yet the proof, as always, is in the pudding; and perhaps the best way to see if the technique can work for you is to book a session and try it.
Transformational Breathing sessions are available with Alan Dolan at The Special Yoga Centre in London. Taster sessions, workshops and retreats are another way to give the method a go: see www.transformationalbreath.co.uk