Doctors and wellness gurus have long encouraged me to try meditation. And as a yoga teacher, I know that meditation is incredibly helpful for so many people—but I’ve never been able to get into it. When I sit down to meditate, my thoughts always begin to wander to my to-do list, recent situations that I could have handled differently, or what I’m going to eat for dinner. Call it coincidence, but I soon started to notice that people were talking about breathwork outside of class too: My younger brother said he was practicing it as an athlete at the University of Oregon as a way to cope with the high-pressure environment. Co-workers were talking about how Wim Hof’s breathwork method led to superhuman strength. Andrew Weil’s 4-7-8 breathing technique for relaxation was put on my radar, as was David Elliott’s mouth breathing to activate your heart space and calm obsessive thinking (yes, please). There were clearly so many different types of breathwork techniques out there, and I was curious about all of them. So I got to thinking, why did I have to wait until Thursdays at 7 p.m. to feel good and grounded? Now, I always incorporate breathwork as a grounding practice in my yoga classes, too, and I’ve noticed that it helps my students (oftentimes, busy New Yorkers rushing to and from work) let go of their stress at the door and be fully present on the mat.
