This week's lecture was very informative, and helped me tie together the module work! My relationship with breath practice has evolved into one of awareness, rather than control. When I first began practicing yoga, I felt like I needed to control my breath as much as possible, rather than actually listening to what my breath was trying to communicate, and modifying how I push myself to accommodate that. I have recently found that internally connecting with my breath helps me become more grounded and less panicked. While I have practiced basic pranayama techniques before, including Ujayi breath (which is one of my favorites), today's lecture really put into perspective how to appreciate what breathwork truly has to offer, and made me realize that "breath" is not a one-size-fits-all experience. I was also surprised to learn that certain breathing techniques, especially those involving long breath retentions or forceful patterns, can feel overwhelming or activating for individuals with a history of trauma or anxiety. It expended my perspective by reminding me that yoga is all about meeting people (and ourselves) where they/we are, not expecting everyone to have the same experience. I can better understand and appreciate the importance of offering choices, encouraging autonomy, and recognizing that simply noticing the natural breath can be just as valuable and impactful as practicing a traditional/structure routine. This has further reinforced the idea that creating a sense of safety and empowerment is an essential part of teaching yoga, as it beigns within onesself. 

I feel like there is so much to say about this session! After the introduction to the yoga sutras, I did some deep diving into one that stuck out to me from the slides- 4.25, which was translated as: “A person of extraordinary clarity is one who is free from the desire to know the nature of the perceiver.”

This really stood out to me, so I wanted to find other interpretations and break down its meaning. After doing some more research, my general understanding of this sutra is that our thoughts, feelings, emotions, experiences, memories, etc. are constantly changing and aren’t truly who we are. Who we truly are is the pure consciousness or awareness that observes all of those things. Once we have this realization, there is a profound sense of freedom as the false sense of self begins to dissolve.

One interpretation breaks it down like this:

The Seer (Pure Consciousness): Your inner, unchanging, silent observer. This is your true, limitless self.

The Seen (The Mind & Body): Your thoughts, feelings, memories, ego, and physical body. These are constantly changing.

As someone who struggles with anxiety, I find a lot of comfort and power in this sutra. When I look at anxiety through the lens of this teaching, the excessive spiraling thoughts and worries can feel a little less overwhelming and honestly, almost insignificant at times. There’s a recognition of, “Oh, my brain is just doing brain things, and my nervous system is simply trying to keep me safe. I am not these thoughts. I am not my anxiety.” That awareness creates space between my true self and the spiraling thoughts.

I think often with anxiety, I almost identify with it. Like, I have anxious thoughts, therefore I am an anxious person. But this sutra offers the power of de-identifying from that. I think the freedom comes from realizing that if my thoughts are always changing, then they don’t have to dictate my who I am. Even on days when my mind feels chaotic, there is still a part of me that remains steady enough to witness it. This awareness is not a magic wand or cure for anxiety (sadly lol) but there is comfort and peace in that bit of stillness and de-identification from thoughts. 

One interpretation I saw phrased it as, “You are not the storm; you are the sky,”… I think I’m going to keep that one in the “quote arsenal” in my brain as a personal reminder. 

-Allison 

I attended this week’s training Live, except for the breath practices, which I just watched the recording of.  This part of the training was so powerful for me.  In my lived experience as a competitive swimmer for much of my life, I am so amazed at my tendency to hold my breath.  This, coupled with lived experiences of trauma, really impacts my breathing.  This past week, I worked on being curious about when it was that I was holding my breath.  I found that I held my breath sometimes as I was driving (I was in a car accident last December 2025), and even while I was cooking or having a conversation with someone else, while I was the one listening.  I was curious, especially about holding my breath while I was the one listening, and I thought, hmm….what is this about?  Am I having a fear surface?  Not wanting conflict or confrontation?  Am I not feeling understood in this conversation?  It gave me so much room to reflect by simply noticing the breath. 

As I practiced the different breath practices, I also noticed which ones felt “easier” to me than others.  I have broken my nose several times and still have a deviated septum, and some of the nasal exhales felt like I was not getting enough breath or air in.  I very much resonated and appreciated Jen’s invitation to try the breathwork, NOT to count, but to demonstrate and to invite individuals to do what felt best for them.  In the scenarios with me personally, I felt like it would take me some time to get used to not breathing out my mouth, knowing that indeed I was okay, and getting enough breath in through doing the exhale practice this way.   

I learned so much!

-Molly Evans

i was sad to miss this session because breathwork is so important to me personally, and i was eager to learn more about trauma-aware practices in this area specifically. i REALLY appreciated the conversation about how some of the movements and gestures of breathwork can be activating for those with histories of addiction. my husband is in recovery and this had never occurred to me at all. i will be paying special attention to my awareness of this as i continue using breathwork with folks in my therapy practice. 

my own experience with breathwork has required a lot of tailoring because for whatever reason, the counting and holding of breath is super activating for me. it touches on feelings of being trapped, controlled, etc. i felt the points about letting someone find their own rhythm/box were very validating to my own personal experience and i was grateful to have language around that, both for myself and my clients. 

I appreciate Jen pointing out that through this lens of practice we are exploring, the importance of acknowledging individuals aren’t always arriving ready to be in stillness — the physical practice allows us to settle into our bodies and become present. This is something that I have been practicing integrating and incorporating into guiding, because I find it so valuable to from the very beginning, use movement as a way to offer autonomy and self-inquiry about where we are arriving energetically in order to receive the most from the practice-I really feel that laying this groundwork of offering choice through movement and verbal cues at the start can allow participants to feel more connected to the practice and help set the tone for the rest of the practice, rather than starting with stillness. The deeper understanding I've gained through this training about how to integrate all this into teaching and the how the nervous system functions feels so valuable to how I feel called to guide and I'm so grateful for this.

I appreciate Alejandro's words about this practice offering the opportunities to pause and make a new choice-a way to support the rewiring of our nervous system through this practice is so powerful, and I am grateful to understand this lens as a facilitator, to be able to have the intention to hold space for creating these opportunities.

The breath practice discussion was so informative and supportive in understanding how to hold space for the many variations of people's experiences. I really appreciate how it helped me to understand the language of how to offer choice in each technique, in the same way it's offered in the physical practices.

❤️