ABOUT THE WORKSHOP:
I’m pleased to offer a 2 hour session on Respiration—including lecture, question and answer sessions and hands on/experiential learning. This will not be a yoga or pranayama class per se, but we will experiment with asana and breathing as we review anatomical and physiological principles, so please wear loose comfortable clothes.
In the first hour, we will review the anatomy and mechanics of breathing: the way the bones, joints and muscles of the spine, rib cage, pelvis and other areas move when we inhale and exhale. We will play with different asana to see how having a full or empty rib cage/lungs supports specific positions and movements of the body.
In the second hour, we will focus on the physiology: oxygen and CO2 exchange (including how our cells use oxygen and make CO2), how breath relates to our blood circulation and also on the control of breathing through the nervous system. We will experiment with controlling breath, and observe the effects of doing so.
ABOUT CHISA HIDAKA:
I have been teaching anatomy at Barnard College and elsewhere for the past 7 years. My teaching is informed by my practice and study of yoga (with Kristin, Barbara and others at the Shala, as well as Genny Kapuler), my experience and training in medicine (Weill Cornell Medical School ’94) and medical research (Hospital for Special Surgery), my 20+ year practice of dance and Contact Improvisation, as well as my experience free diving with wild dolphins as director of the Dolphin Dance Project.