Has your body forgotten how to relax?

Reprogramming Anxiety

Over the summer my fascination with the phenomenon of anxiety has led me to investigate additional approaches to handling the problem. In my enquiry I came across a compelling, albeit low tech, lecture by Dr. Leon Chaitow of the University of Westminster, London on the wide-ranging negative effects of incorrect breathing and the link between breathing and anxiety.

Chronic incorrect breathing causes an imbalance in the level of carbon dioxide in the blood, which leads to:
• Triggering of the stress response (sympathetic arousal)
• Feelings of anxiety and apprehension
• Bowel problems (diarrhoea or constipation)
• Exacerbating PMS symptoms
• Lowering of pain threshold
• Fatigue, tiredness and brain-fog

This discovery had me seek to correct of my own breathing. To achieve correct breathing, it was clear I needed to release the chronic tension in my back, chest and diaphragm. My search led me to the amazing Tanya Fitzpatrick.

Tanya is a certified Somatic Movement Educator, an advanced yoga teacher trainer, and a Body-Mind Centering Professional. Her speciality is helping her clients to retrain their brains to tell their muscles to relax correctly and to learn to move in an effortless fashion.

Tanya explains that through habitual patterns of tension, muscles in the body learn how to remain tight, and the brain develops what she terms sensory motor amnesia.  This means the brain literally forgets how to relax these muscles at all, leading to chronic tension, pain and restricted breathing.

Tanya and I quickly realised what a beautiful synergy our work has. She helps clients release physical patterns of anxiety and I help clients release the mental patterns that hold anxiety in place. Imagine the power of experiencing the effect of both!

We are so excited to share with you our brand new workshop, Reprogramming Anxiety, which will be held on Sunday 19th October at 10am at Clerkenwellbeing, 178 Goswell Rd, EC1V 7DT.

In this two-hour introductory workshop you will:
• Identify your habitual patterns of anxious thinking
• Understand how anxiety affects you physically
• Learn skills to counteract anxious patterns
• Discover how to restore a sense of calm and comfort to your daily life

The cost of the workshop is £35. You can purchase tickets in advance by clicking the button below. To keep the group intimate, spaces are limited, therefore we encourage you to book in advance to guarantee your place.

Reserve your place by purchasing your ticket below:

Reprogramming Anxiety Workshop 10am Sunday 19th October 2014

I look forward to seeing you in October!

Image credit: Fayez via Flickr