Inhale, Exhale

Yesterday, a student stayed after class to ask me a question.  This was Renee's second class with me, and she had told me she was new to yoga.

Her question was: "When you say 'inhale, and then exhale,' am I supposed to hold my breath until you say 'exhale'?" Then she added "I need to work on this breathing thing."

I thought, "Wow."  Having been a musician all my life, being connected to my breathing was second nature long before I started practicing yoga.  To find someone, roughly my age, who didn't have a conscious connection with her breath was a bit of a shock.

I explained the idea of matching the breath to the movement, and could see from the look on her face that this was a new idea to her and she didn't quite know what to make of it.  I said "Don't worry, we'll work on that.  If you need to breathe at a different pace than I'm instructing, just do it."

I'm looking forward to working with her to see how she adapts, now that the idea is in her head.