workshops
The exact content details can be tailored depending on the size and requirements of the team.
exercise performance workshops
The two-hour workshop will start with a short practical experience discovering how your breath can change the way you feel. This will be followed by a presentation on the biomechanics and biochemistry of breathing. Practical exercises will help cement these foundations. The session will conclude with a focus on the bidirectional impact between breathing and psychological presentations.
At the end of the workshop, you will be equipped with the know-how to improve your breathing mechanics and be ready to implement short practices to reduce stress, improve sleep and increase performance.
During this workshop you will learn how to
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Improve respiratory muscle function and endurance
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Recognise the influence of biochemistry on your breathing and performance
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Prepare your respiratory physiology for exercise
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Manage intra-workout breathing
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Manage Inter-workout breathing
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Recover after exercise
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Recognise signals for readiness
Optional: cold exposure.
Breath and ice
group workshops
Ice bath experience are very popular. It is a great tool to learn how to respond to stress signals in the body in a safe and controlled environment. Make no mistake, cold immersion is an acute stressor psychologically and.
The autonomic nervous system is broadly divided into rest-and-digest and the fight-flight-freeze parts. For the most part, the physical responses are not under our direct control. For example, when we get a fright, sympathetic innervation causes our pupils dilate to focus our vision on the threat. Heart and breathing rates increase as well. Hyperventilation is a symptom of stress and anticipation of stress. After the threat has been removed a healthy stress response will see a decline in the sympathetic signaling. This allows the underlying parasympathetic tone to be the dominant force. Many times, this rebound effect create a profound sense of calm accompanied by dilation of pupils, decreased heart and breathing rates. Neuromodulators are also powerfully influenced by cold immersion. The initial shock leads to a spike in stimulatory signaling molecules, adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol. Studies have demonstrated a profound dopamine (the molecule of motivation) spike lasting for many hours post immersion. As part of the decline in sympathetic neuronal signaling, we also breathe a big sigh, signaling the state transition – from stressed to relaxed.​
Cold immersion creates an opportunity to experience acute stress without physical danger. With guided and deliberate breathing, we can teach our nervous system to recognise the physiological response stress signals (adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol). The controlled and calm breathing sends a different message. It tells our brain that we are safe and in control despite the acute stress signals released. So the next time we encounter a stressful situation and our body release these signals, our brain can respond in a calmer manner.
Benefits of cold exposure
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Encountering an acute stress in a safe, controlled environment
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Modulation of stress signaling molecules: cortisol
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Increase in neuromodulators: adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine
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Better tolerance to cold (with repeated exposure)
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Increased stress tolerance
CORPORATE programS: high-pressure composure
A 1-hour presentation provides your team with the foundational awareness, tools and skills to manage stress, feel better and perform better.
The session will
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Introduce the anatomy of breath mechanics
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Illustrate the role of biochemistry
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Provide a practical breath work session
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Provide take home tools and strategies
Content can be tailored to specific topics.
In-person or on-line
Optional: cold exposure. (see above)
Nutrition and longevity:
A 1-hour presentation provides your team with the foundational knowledge of what, when and how you eat play a role in how you perform and recover in the workplace and at home.
A typical presentation cover:
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How much should you eat
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What you should eat
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Essential nutrients
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Common nutrition myths
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Managing food choices in the work environment
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Take home tools and strategies
Content can be tailored
In-person or on-line
Contact Estelle to discuss your team’s needs.