With her body relaxed, eyes closed and feeling refreshed, Auriyana Patillo looked peaceful. She opened her eyes and was ready for the day.
“Breathing in the morning impacted me to feel better and start off better.” she said as the sigh of other exhaling students filled the room.
Auriyana was among nearly 40 Camp REACH teens participating in Elizabeth Tallman’s morning breathing sessions. Tallman is the Mary Walker Foundation’s executive administrator. She’s also a yoga instructor and breathing coach.
On Monday she led a five-minute exercise teaching a zen breathing technique.
“This very short session is designed to fire you up and bring a lot of chill to your bodies,” Tallman said.
Then she lowered the lights and played calming music. She instructed the group to close their eyes and slow down their breath. In everyday life breathing helps people get through the day. Breathing is an important factor in life that allows many people to establish new opportunities in their everyday lives. It can help people control their anger, think more clearly and have more energy. Tallman is a breathing coach who studies breathing and makes a living by helping others control their breath.
Knowing how air rotates in and out of your body can be life changing. Breath is the life inside us and it is powerful, said Tallman.
“The moment when you were born and breath enters us, that’s really what life is,” she said. “The spirit we all share and the same breath we share in our lives and when it ends, we take our last breath.”
By McKenna Germany, 14
Camp REACH student journalist
(Camp REACH is a program of the Mary Walker Foundation)