Written By: Sky Yang
Like everybody, yogis experience the ups and downs in life, I have gone through my own depression. Unlike what others would think of us, we are not unfazed and zen all the time. As a matter of fact, I believe that we may even be more sensitive as we tend to feel more, you can’t have a tree growing upward to the sky without its roots growing downward beneath the earth.
Normally people would find solutions through medications, alcohol, cigarettes, other vices or perhaps the help of psychiatrists. Personally, I am sober from all forms of vices and I always opt for natural healing methods and holistic practices to support me through illnesses, so those options mentioned earlier were not an option for me. Luckily, as a yogi there is yoga.
The daily dosage of that natural medication really helped me through that phase of my life. Within the yogic system, Pranayam (controlling of the energy) was the key to the success of my recovery to transcending that mental space. Exploring breath control led me to “The Iceman”, WIm Hof. The first time I’ve tried the Wim Hof method (an intense form of breath manipulation method) gave me a jolt to the system. Not that other forms of breathwork didn’t work, but rather it gave me that necessary knock to the head to realize the true potential of the breath. 10 weeks practicing the Wim Hof method course and a few years later going through multiple different breathwork courses, I found myself slowly coming out of depression with the help of yoga. I continued to explore the support and supplementation that breathwork delivers in different aspects of my life from athletic performance, anxiety, insomnia and many others.
As a yoga teacher, I teach what has helped me and what worked. I want to help other people who are going through the same thing I went through. I am also exploring the potential of maybe helping others with other aspects of their lives which lead me to becoming a breath coach and then to Taoist Yoga (Qigong) teacher. If you are looking to explore inner alchemy, feel free to message me by simply sending a message through the contact form on my website, http://www.skyyang.yoga or join my classes on www.qiyoga.life.
“If one understands the art of Breath, he has the wisdom, courage and strength of 10 Tigers”
– Chinese proverb