Breathwork Grew On Me. Like a Fungus.
Basic breath pattern — and yes, it gets more complicated from here.
I spent my first breathwork session waiting for it to end. I was at my daughter's violin camp; the kind where the parents have to go too. One of the mothers was a yoga instructor and decided to lead us through some alternate nostril breathing.
That was almost 20 years ago.
Fast forward through two decades of Sivananda yoga practice, where breathwork, pranayama is baked right in. You don't get to skip it. And somewhere along the way, it grew on me. Kinda like an old leather jacket.
I hear it’s becoming a trend. I’ve done a few “Breath with Sandy” sessions online; a Brooklyn-based breathwork teacher who sounds like Arthur Fonzarelli. His take is user friendly and feels like a breath-a-long. You half expect him to say ayyyy between rounds. Now if only Satsang (chanting) would grow on me the same way.
Still, I kept it to the basics. Until I ran into some people from the Art of Living and ended up taking their Part 1 course. They cite research suggesting reductions in cortisol, improvements in immune function, deeper sleep, better cardiovascular markers, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and meaningful reductions in stress and anxiety. Big claims, yes; but intriguing enough to make me curious.
Over three days, they teach a proprietary breathing technique. It starts with warm-up exercises, but builds toward something called SKY breath — Sudarshan Kriya. This is the signature technique of the founder, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who intuited it (not invented, important distinction) after fasting and meditating for 10 days.
We had a fairly small class. One of the participants spent a lot of the time coughing and blowing her nose. Not ideal in a “breathing” course. Half the time I was trying to avoid the trajectory of her out-breath. Felt like Covid all over again.
We practiced three times during the three days. On the final day, it finally landed. What felt as close to inner calm and peace that I’ve had in a long time. My body felt dropped into the mat, and far away. I felt like I could stay like this forever.
I'm about 6 weeks in. There's a daily practice, and a weekly gathering of course graduates that I haven’t attended yet. I do the breathwork before meditation, and it does help ease in rather than going in cold; but honestly? Other breathwork I've done online does that too.
What's different is the support. Instructors. Classmates. Accountability. A structure that keeps you showing up. A structure that you can memorize easily and repeat even when “online Sandy” isn’t available. And isn't that where we all tend to fail?
So I'll keep at it. That feeling on the final day is worth showing up for. Check back in a month or two. Maybe it’s still just a warm-up. Or maybe it’s one of those things that keeps growing on you if you let it — like a fungus.