Breath practice
Breath practice is a body work with focus on the breath. Since the body is the vessel for the breath it involves getting in touch with one‘s body, through literally touching oneself, moving in ways that allow the body to open up to the breath and bringing sensation and attention together in body and breath awareness. Breath practice supports the natural breath movement, connecting to one’s own breath rhythm and thus to one’s own resources, physically and psychically. Nicola Caroli‘s practice is interlaced with scientific information, for example the architecture and physiology of the ribcage, in order to link the individual sensory experience of the ribcage to the physiological view of it.
Creative Breathing
In Creative Breathing, the breath practice is combined with creative writing. It doesn‘t matter what comes first, writing or touching or moving. The sensory and cognitive aspects are part of one and the same experience and through verbalising it can be communicated with oneself and others. The written words are something concrete one can take away and act as a reminder of the experience and/or as inspiration for doing breath practice.
Creative Breathing sometimes also involves art work like drawing and sculpting as another layer of expression and to build a bridge to language, especially in working with children. With adults the art work is usually done after the session at home.
Biofeedback Breath Practice
Breath Practice with the use of biofeedback instruments like a capnometer and an EMG/ECG device. The capnometer is a tool for identifying breathing behavior. It shows whether breathing meets metabolic demands by measuring the carbon dioxide (CO2) levels during breathing. This is critical because the CO2 levels at the end of the exhale have a direct effect on pH levels and oxygen transport. The capnometer also measures the flow of the breath phases, the breath and heart rate per minutes and heart rate variability (HRV) – the intervals between heart beats.
The EMG (electromyogram) measures the electrical activity of a muscle at rest and during contraction. In the context of breath practice it can measure the activity of the diaphragm, the main breathing muscle, and accessory breathing muscles. The ECG (electrocardiography) measures heart muscle activity and is used for HRV.
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