breathing practices Archives

Bonnie’s Sleep Improves with Breathing Practices

Posted by Ellen Sichel on July 18, 2012

Bonnie’s Challenges

Bonnie had cancer and suffers with Fibromyalgia. She is active, but struggles with chronic pain and sleep disturbance. When I worked with Bonnie, we focused on a variety of breathing practices to help lesson her symptoms and improve her sleep.

What Worked

Bonnie states:

"As someone who has dealt with cancer, I am always looking for ways to minimize my stress level and to try to stay in a more relaxed state of mind. My times with Ellen have been very beneficial for me. The power of breath is something I knew little about, and through her instruction, I have learned what a valuable tool it is during times of stress. I have found myself doing the breathing techniques while waiting in a doctor's office. When I used to wake up during the night and couldn't get back to sleep, it meant being exhausted the next day. Now, I simply do a couple of breathing exercises and am able to go right back to sleep. Ellen's expertise and soothing manner enabled her to help me find a sense of inner calm that I had been missing in recent years."

What you can learn from Bonnie's Experience

There are simple techniques that sustain you in times of stress and discomfort. Much of our problems with sleep stem from the busy mind and when you can effectively quite your thoughts, you will enhance your ability to sleep. Custom Calm techniques work and are accessible to everyone.

Teacher Work Day Stress Management Program

Posted by Ellen Sichel on May 11, 2011

Teachers Challenges:

Teaching is a rewarding and stressful occupation. Supporting students, juggling tasks, extra meetings after school, standing for hours, rushed lunches are just some of the issues that lead to fatigue, back pain, headaches, stomach discomfort.

What was presented:

The group of 35 teachers experienced techniques for both the body and mind that could be done at school. Through working with the group with humor and presenting a program that was relevant to their work, the group participated in the following:

Breathing practice for stress
A few chair yoga poses to help with back and neck pain
A standing pose to release spinal tensions
Meditation techniques to find inner calm

What worked:

A note from the head of School, Sim P.:

Thank you so much for the wonderful stress management/yoga session with our staff during Planning Week. The response from our folks was resounding positive and appreciative. You managed in one-and-a-half hours to teach us so much about ourselves. Particularly impressive was how you successfully taught and engaged such a diverse group across a spectrum ranging from no experience to plenty of experience in yoga and stress management. We all learned and benefited.

What you can learn from the teacher’s experience:

Work is often stressful and to bring more productivity and ease into the day, there are simple practices that can be done. No matter how diverse the group is, Custom Calm includes everyone so they can be empowered with proactive techniques and can gain clarity of what creates stress and how to better handle challenging situations.

Tags: back and neck pain, breathing practices, calm, centering, chair yoga, meditation, stress management program for teachers, teacher stress

Posted in: This Stuff Works