However, unlike all the other autonomic systems in your body, such as the beating of your heart, you can override the automatic breathing impulse and take full control of your breath.

When we are stressed – we breathe with a rapid shallow breathing pattern. We use the muscles in our neck and shoulders to assist the breathing and this allows for a quick response. This would have been vital to our ancestors in their “fight or flight” scenarios (such as running away from a hungry Lion), but once the threat had passed, they would have returned to a relaxed and slow breathing pattern.

However, the “fight or flight” response is of no use to you whilst sitting at your desk or sitting in your car, feeling generally stressed and anxious. You might find that you are breathing with the neck and shoulder muscles all the time and don’t know how to return to a relaxed, slow and deep breathing pattern.

On the flip side, when you breathe slowly and deeply, you activate the parasympathetic nervous system which has a calming effect on the body, reversing any stress responses which might have been activated. By learning to control your breathing, you can begin to take control of negative emotions such as anger, restlessness and stress, as well as begin to develop a solid grounding, gently restore your energy and to slowly create healthy rituals in your life.

Prolong your life and unlock the power within you with classic Pranayama taught by BNS Iyengar, the eldest living teacher of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga who studied directly with Sri T. Krishnamacharya and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.

I created tweak-u.com to help you get all the benefits of the teachings and practices I learned, without spending hours practising complicated breathing techniques. I can teach you how to breathe correctly so you can unlock this powerful tool to help you feel more relaxed, resilient, energetic and grounded to the world around you.