Restore Your Prana
10 Hour Workshop
Join internationally renowned Yoga Therapist, Robin Rothenberg facilitating this Program for the first time in Australia.
WHEN
Saturday 16 August 2025
—8:30am to 5:30pm
Sunday 17 August 2025
—8:30am to 1:00pm
WHERE
Ballina Surf Club
Dirrawong Room
65 Lighthouse Parade
Ballina, NSW
PRICING & PAYMENT
$595
$295 - Bundled with Essential Low Back Program
Payment by Installments are available.
Contact hello@abhyasayoga.com.au for details
Anyone experiencing Asthma, Long-Covid Bronchitis, COPD, Pain, Stress, Anxiety, Sleep Apnoea, Neurological Conditions or wanting to improve the quality of their breath.
CE/CPD points for professional bodies including Yoga Australia, IAYT and Yoga Alliance.
Who is this for?
MEET THE FACILITATOR
Robin Rothenberg
—Yoga Therapist, Board
President IAYT
Abhyāsa Yoga is hosting Robin Rothenberg, Author, BoardPresident of IAYT and Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) considered one of the top Yoga Therapists in the world on respiratory conditions.
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Robin specialises in supporting people with respiratory, immune, and structural imbalances to regain their health through the combined tools of yoga and therapeutic breathing practices. Since the pandemic, Robin has particularly focused her work on assisting people with Long-COVID. In addition to working with clients one-on-one, she trains yoga teachers and therapists to be better equipped to work with students with breathing issues, anxiety, and chronic stress. Her text Restoring Prana: A Guide to Pranayama and Healing Through the Breath, presciently released in early 2020, has been hailed as one of the most thorough and well-researched books on the topic of pranayama.
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Robin illuminates the true meaning of pranayama according to the original yoga texts and offers a roadmap and tools so you can breathe well for the rest of your life! Unique in its orientation, this pranayama program offers critical information for yoga teachers, therapists, and health-care practitioners.
What you will learn
Science and Yogic Philosophy underlying the 6 Myth Busters;
Respiration physiology 101;
Stress and the autonomic nervous system;
Functional vs. dysfunctional breathing;
Abdominal-diaphragmatic breathing;
Relationship between diaphragm and heart;
Teachings from the Vedas: no distinction between heart and lungs;
Diaphragm as a support for digestive, lymphatic health, emotional regulation and a sense of safety;
Diaphragm as a primary stabilizer;
Abdominal breathing to support:
— lower back and sacral stability;
— relaxation of the neck and shoulders;
— release of chronic tension in the jaw, head and pelvic floor.
6 Breathing Myths
Many common breathing cues and practices simply do not hold up to respiratory physiology or the ancient Yogic texts on pranayama. Many common myths include:
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Myth-Buster#1: More Isn’t Better
There is actually such a thing as the "right amount of breath." Similar to our calorie intake for food, breathing more doesn't necessarily make us healthier. In fact, it can add an additional burden for our system to process.
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Myth-Buster#2: Bigger Breathing De-oxygenates us
At the cellular level, the oxygenation process works optimally when our breath is gentle and appropriately regulated and matched to our body's metabolic need. If we breathe more than necessary – e.g., big ujjayi breaths while holding a forward bend – we can actually de-oxygenate our body by temporarily hyperventilating.
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Myth-Buster#3: Deep Isn't the Same as Big
When people say, "Take a deep breath," most of the time this is interpreted as a large audible swallow of air followed by a noisy sigh of an exhale. However, if myth-busters 1 and 2 are true, then bigger isn't better. In the training, we will reframe "deep" as signifying low in the body—that is, efficient use of the diaphragm without excessive activation of the accessory muscles of the chest and neck—but not big in volume. Low and light is optimal for health.
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Myth-Buster #4: Carbon Dioxide Regulates Our Respiratory Rate
Oxygen is necessary to sustain life. It is for this reason that our body has many systems in place to ensure our O2 levels stay stable, even in crisis. It is actually fluctuations in our CO2 levels that signal the brain to breathe more or less, according to need.
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Myth-Buster #5: Carbon Dioxide Is Critical for Maintaining Homeostasis (Health)
Your body makes CO2 and the human body requires a balance of both CO2 and O2 to maintain a balance of acid and alkalinity that allows for homeostasis and health. Without sufficient CO2 we cannot optimally utilize the O2. Increasing our tolerance to CO2 allows us to breathe less which has a profoundly pacifying effect on the nervous system and the mind. The ancient yogis increased their CO2 tolerance via their pranayama practices.
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Myth-Buster #6: The Lungs Always Maintain a Residual Volume (RV) of Air.
We were born with it and we die with it. RV ensures that the lungs do not collapse and keeps them expanded between breaths.
‘Like valuable packages in transit, the breath must be stamped “Handle with care!” because the breath can create problems in both body and mind if managed inappropriately.’
—A.G. Mohan
