connecting through breath

connecting through breath

The older I get, the more I appreciate the power of breath. Intentional breathing is one of the esoteric secrets of all cultures that has been lost in the homogenization of awareness in the grey mass indoctrination of our species. Amidst the polluted air and polluted thought, we have literally forgotten how to breathe. I remember when I first started doing yoga. I was lucky enough to be able to work with the world-renowned Tim Miller, one of Ashtanga’s luminaries and among Pattabhi Jois’ first western students. I knew not who Tim Miller was, of course, when I was 16 in Encinitas and inexplicably gravitating towards a free after-school yoga program for at-risk teens. But the breathing blew me away. I had never been so high before. And relaxing after a 2 1/2 hour Ashtanga series 1 session, the shivasana was a dreamy realm of true peace and surrender. When I was in college, however, somehow I forgot about the breath, and despite training in capoeira and then yoga and acroyoga again, breath seemed ancillary, tacked on as an extra rather than the fundament of the practice. It would be a long time before I found myself paying attention to breath again, as I got wrapped up in movement practices as if they somehow were separate from this fundamental activity.   For me as for many others, its only when something is gone do you begin to notice it. So it was for me and my breath. I was having a hard time breathing, a stuffed nose, and I realized that my brain wasn’t operating properly. That it was...
Upcoming events: August

Upcoming events: August

2 August Events: Somatic Partner Yoga @thecentersf August 18th and DJing ecstatic SF August 21   Somatic Partner Yoga Thursday, August 18 at 7 PM – 9:15 PM The Center SF 548 Fillmore St, San Francisco, California 94117 Most people think of yoga as a sedentary activity, performed in one’s own bubble. This workshop will defy those conventions, and get to the heart of yoga: the slow deep opening and releasing of old patterns of holding. This workshop will approach partner yoga and acrobatics through the slow warm-up process that enables the fascia to unwind. Working balance, flexibility and strength, we connect with ourselves, and then extend this anchored connection to work with other bodies, integrating elements of yoga, tai chi, meditation, thai massage, and acrobatics. No partner necessary. Bring a yoga mat! $20 in Advance $25 at the door About the teacher A certified yoga teacher and AcroYoga teacher since 2008, Yogi Prateado first fell in love with the art at Burningman 2006. After years of Capoiera training, AcroYoga was the perfect continuation of a dynamic partner physical artform, without the injuries. Prateado has taught and performed widely internationally at private events, acrobatic, yoga, and music festivals, at virtually every California music festival, as well as at weekend workshops and regular weekly classes. Prateado’s love for the adrenaline of acrobatics, combined with the alignment of yoga, and the salve of Thai massage keeps him returning to AcroYoga each time fresh – attentive to the needs and abilities of his current students.     Yogi Prateado (Ecstatic Dance Berlin) will be DJing Edance SF Sunday, August 21st, 2016   www.Edance.org/SF...