Natural Awakenings Fairfield & Southern Litchfield Counties will host a Virtual Breathing Workshop with Alexia Clonda, a Mindset & Breathing Mentor and Coach, on April 5, from 6:30 to 8pm, via GoogleMeet. In the virtual workshop, Clonda will explain what good breathing is, how to do it and how to use it to help reduce stress; become more relaxed, centered and calm; and open your mind to the limitless opportunities to turn your life around for the better.

Today, our lives are filled with stress. These stresses, exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, affect every aspect of our lives: relationships, work, finances and health. 

We are living our lives on high alert, constantly dealing with fear, worry, fatigue, burnout, uncertainty and anxiety.

Stress changes our breathing pattern, which has a direct effect on our nervous
system. Breathing shallowly and quickly turns the nervous system into hyperarousal—the fight-flight-freeze response. This was very effective for us in prehistoric days when we came across a saber-toothed tiger. In the 21st century, the saber-toothed predator has been replaced by the pressures and overwhelm of things like: work, relationships, studying, being constantly on the go, sickness, confusion, worry, fatigue, anger, burnout, frustrations, being stuck, fear—and on and on. Life has become troublesome and a chore.

The breath is the core feedback loop of the nervous system. Bad breathing switches on the stress response, while good breathing switches on the relaxation response. Science is now showing us why and how good breathing is a key in and to good health. In fact, becoming aware of our breathing and changing the way we breathe initiates a relaxation response in our bodies, part of a number of physiological changes which in turn have a measurable impact on our mental and emotional states.

A 2017 study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology found that diaphragmatic breathing practice can “improve cognitive performance and reduce negative…consequences of stress in healthy adults”, while a 2018 review of literature published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience went even further, proclaiming that “breath-control can change your life”. According to the study’s authors, researchers from the University of Pisa, slow breathing techniques trigger changes in our cardiovascular, respiratory and central nervous systems, which lead to “increased comfort, relaxation, pleasantness, vigor and alertness, and reduced symptoms of arousal, anxiety, pain, depression, anger and confusion.”

Clonda is also a Spiritual Energy Healer, ThetaHealing practitioner and teacher, Motivational Coach, speaker and a former Champion Squash Player. Self-described as a “chronic, steroid dependent asthmatic with an encyclopedia of health issues”, Clonda’s life changed when she learned the Buteyko Breathing Method in 1996. “My doctors ask me, ‘How are you still alive?’ They say, ‘With everything that you have been through, you should be dead.’ I am still here to tell my story and help you to help yourself transform your life for the better.” She now educates and teaches people how to breathe properly and how to transform their mindset for better health and quality of life. She is available for: classes, workshops, one-on-one consultations, online consultations, webinars, mentoring, coaching and motivational speaking.

For more information and to register for the event, visit  Tinyurl.com/NAVirtualBreathwork. Cost for this event is $18. Connect with Alexia Clonda at TheMindBreathingEdge.com. See ad, page 2.