Hey there,
I’ve just finished a great 2 day workshop with Drs Richard Brown and Patricia Gerbarg from the States. I don’t know where to start other than to say it was just excellent!
I’ve been wanting to deepen my understanding of the breath work we already use in FCMA and so was really pleased to hear Richard say he has a long history in Aikido, on top of his years practising Qigong.
There was a lot to cover over the two days. We explored and practised the Ha Breath, 4-4 Breath, 4-4-6-2 Breath, Coherent Breathing, Relaxation Body Scanning, Tapping, Ha Breath 2 ways, Qigong 4th Golden Wheel Sky and Earth, Breath Moving and Body Scanning with Open Focus.
In addition, there was as a lecture on the neurophysiological effects of Breathing Practices on our stress response systems, with a focus on sympatho-vagal balance, heart rate variability, emotion regulation and intereoceptive social engagement. There was also lots of discussion on trauma symptoms, PTSD and of course our responses to the Coronavirus Crisis.
Some of the practices, such as alternate nostril breathing, were novel (and difficult for me) but there were also some fantastic new (to me) ways to work with the breath such as the Great Harmonizer, which I'm looking forward to honing over the next few months (and beyond).
Overall then, a great weekend of specific training that will be directly useful to us here at FCMA central, as we focus more and more on the embodiment of safety and safeness and draw on ideas from multiple sources.
I'd thoroughly recommend this training, if you get a chance to see Dr Brown and Gerbarg in action.
Breath slowly and safely,
Syd