Functional Breathing
Photo Credit: Dominic Bennett
Group & Individual Classes
Nourish and protect: yoga for the cold season
Xenia is starting a new online class incorporating yoga and Oxygen Advantage breathwork with traditional Pranayama. Join us to work on getting centred, relax and encourage optimal functioning of the body’s natural healing mechanisms for physical and mental wellbeing. We will focus on soothing held yin yoga poses to enhance circulation, deep tissue stability and organ health. We will supplement the physical work with relaxing breathing to boost our immune system and warm up during the colder months. Each session will end with a short mindfulness meditation to relieve stress, calm down and build resilience. All are welcome regardless of fitness level or prior experience.
Dates and times: Wednesdays 27 November; 4, 11, 18 December; 8, 15, 22, 29 January; 6-7pm. More details are here.
About the Instructor:
Individual and group Training, Functional Breathing
Dr Xenia Pestova Bennett is an internationally active concert pianist and composer. She combines her research and experience in performance anxiety with extensive accredited training as a yoga, breathwork and meditation instructor. Having studied in the UK, The Netherlands and Canada, Xenia holds a Doctorate in Performance from McGill University. Her wellness training includes Hatha Yoga Teacher Training, Yin/Yang Yoga and Mindfulness with Sarah Powers, Oxygen Advantage® functional breathing and Buteyko Method instructor training with Patrick McKeown, and Yoga Mindset Coaching training with Karina Ayn Mirsky. Xenia is in demand as lecturer and coach on wellbeing and anxiety management for organisations including the British Association of Performing Arts Medicine, British Institute of Verbatim Reporters, Contemporary Music Centre (Ireland), Facebook London, Moving on Music, Sound and Music, Triyoga UK, and numerous tertiary educational institutions around the world. In 2022 and 2023, she presented 66 workshops in schools across Ireland reaching 580 participants in an ambitious "Befriending Anxiety" programme with The Music Network.
The Buteyko Method is used to successfully treat and assist with a range of respiratory conditions, neurological problems including anxiety, sleep issues and childhood development (dental, craniofacial, ADHD). The Oxygen Advantage® method devised by Patrick McKeown simulates high altitude training to improve and enhance performance for athletes and other performers such as dancers and musicians. Xenia supplements these methods with ancient yoga pranayama breathing approaches to create bespoke graded exercises based on your individual health and/or performance goals. The sessions can take place in-person or online and discounted package deals are available. Please contact Xenia for more information or to arrange a free taster meeting.
Course Feedback
“Thanks so much for the breathworks session: you don’t know how much I have used this recently when coping with the demands of work emails and meetings. It’s kept me balanced, so thank you.”
“I've been sleeping erratically but I'm glad to report that using some of the techniques we've learnt in the breathwork sessions has helped me get back to sleep when I've been wakeful at strange hours of the night.”
"Thank you so much again for these weeks of functional breathing! It was great to be taught by you in such detail and the very clear and calm ways of explaining did help a lot."
"This course has been fascinating, so interesting and potentially life changing. It just worked so well and for the past few weeks has been my favourite hour of my week… it’s definitely resulted in improved circulation following the exercises and together with the Befriending Performance Anxiety course I have so many more tools to draw on than I did just weeks ago… and to pass on to students, too!"