The Infinite Breath

My Conscious Stretching Class for The City is ending this week after a two-year run.  It has been an amazing experience teaching for large groups like this - generally 20 or 30 people for the whole first year.  Lately, the class has been shrinking - the move to City Hall did not help, even though the North Light Court is a beautiful, spacious room.  It’s a little too wide-open for the comfort of my students, I think, and teaching here has made me realize the importance of the PLACE (in the Eudora Welty sense) to the success of the class. But now, of course, I have more time for this blog.  Stay tuned!

The past week has seen a severe deterioration in air-quality in the whole Bay Area.  At least in San Francisco proper, we are protected by a steady breeze from the ocean.  Unfortunately, on warm days when the atmospehre “inverts,” the breezes die down and even come from inland.  My experience has been that the early morning is the best time for running, breath work and any strenuous outdoor activity.  Until about 8 am, the breeze comes in from the ocean.  It seems to shift, or die down, at around 8.  Also unfortunately, there seems to be no restriction on oil-fired roofing, a popular summer activity for California builders, since it rarely rains between June and September.  And there are just as many cars on the streets (bridges, freeways, etc.) as on any clear day.  I recommend to my students that they buy a simple flu-mask at any drugstore, and wear it as much as possible when outdoors. I also recommend that they try to avoid places where the pollution is compounded - busy intersections (whether driving or on foot), constructions sites, freshly painted or freshly carpeted rooms or buildings and anywhere where their senses (smell, taste, touch, etc.) tell them that the air is bad.  

Welcome to my Infinite Breath blog. We will be exploring the wonders of the breath, the sensation of the movement of breath, Sensory Awareness, The Alexander Technique, LearningMethods, and many other stimulating topics. Stay tuned - and, please, feel free to comment on anything you see here. I welcome input from clients, colleagues, students and friends. This is an open forum for the exploration of the wonders of The Infinite Breath!