City Matters Edition 017

CITYMATTERS.LONDON 25-31 January 2017 | Page 13
Wellness Matters
Winter wanderings
The top 3 TfL tours
TRANSPORT for London’s will lead 44 free
guided walking tours across the Capital as part
of the annual Winter Wanders weekend on 28
and 29 January. Visit walklondon.org.uk to
book your spot.
Hidden Alleyways and Courtyards
This 1.5-mile tour takes in a slice of secret
London from St Paul’s to Chancery Lane,
exploring hidden alleyways, a monastery,
plus the history of London’s newspapers and
journalism.
28 January at 11am
Goodnight Mr Tom
Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian’s
beloved tale of Willy Beech, a young boy who
was evacuated from London during World War
II, inspired this tour that illustrates what life
was like for those who remained in the Capital
during the Blitz.
28 January at 2pm
The Spooky City
Do you like scary stories? This 1.1-mile stroll
around the Square Mile comes with a side of
gruesome tales of London’s most famous ghosts,
ghouls, body snatchers and public executions.
29 January at 11am
BREATHE EASY
STRESSED out? Lethargic? Struggling to
concentrate? There could be a fix right under
your nose; just take a deep breath.
Breathing is an automatic function of the
human body controlled by the subconscious,
but some health practitioners are promising
major benefits if we can all just put a little
more thought into the way we take air into our
lungs, a technique known as Transformational
Breath.
What is it?
A technique of ‘conscious connected breath
work’ focussing on improving breathing
patterns to open up the full potential of the
breathing system for better physical and
emotional well-being.
How does it work?
Everyone has their own individual breathing
pattern. Breath coach Aimee Hartley
describes this pattern as being “as unique
as our thumbprint”. “Some of us are ‘upper
chest breathers’, whereby we overuse our
shoulder, intercostal and neck muscles (the
upper respiratory muscles) to breathe, while
others are ‘belly breathers’, those who use the
diaphragm but are not accessing the upper
respiratory tract,” she explains. “There are also
an increasing number of ‘breath holders; those
who tend to ‘stop breathing’ when under mild
or extreme stress.”
During a Transformational Breath session,
a breath coach will analyse your natural
breathing pattern, then help you use your entire
respiratory system through a combination of
therapies involving conscious breath work,
movement, sound, acupressure and positive
mental affirmations.
Aimee runs The Breathing Room, a City-based
breath clinic offering private Transformational
Breath sessions for individuals, workshops
and corporate wellbeing programmes aimed at
stressed out workers. The number of sessions
required to develop the technique varies –
some people pick it up straight away, others
might need four or five sessions before they can
practice effectively without assistance.
Why all the fuss?
Learning and practicing to breathe fully can
have a hugely positive impact on your physical
health, which in turn does wonders for your
mental state.
Regular practice can relieve long-term
respiratory difficulties, boost your immune
system, improve posture by releasing tension in
the muscles, aid detoxification of the body, and
boosts circulation and oxygen to your organs.
You will also find it easier to relax your
nervous system, which promotes feelings of calm
and relaxation and reduces stress responses,
and improve your mental concentration and
productivity.
Aimee discovered the technique eight years
ago while teaching yoga, describing the effects
of her first session as “a calm high”.
Finding that the technique was overlooked,
even in yoga practice, she established the
Breathing Room five years ago to educate others
about the benefits.
“Many clients come to learn the technique with
the view to manage stress, overcome anxiety
(often when public speaking), recovery from
burnout; while others come needing inspiration
for a new direction in their work-life.”
How much?
One-on-one coaching is £125 for the initial
90-minute appointment and breath analysis,
then £75 for a 60-minute session thereafter.
Half and full-day corporate packages are also
available.
Where can I try it?
Breathing Room operates out of the Physical
Health Clinic, 33-34 Chiswell Street EC1Y 4SF,
and Stillpoint Meditation and Therapy Centre,
18 Devonshire Row EC2M 4RH.
take a stand: and
improve your health
Over-sitting ages cells
SITTING for too long can age women by up to
eight years, a new study has revealed.
Researchers at the University of California in
San Diego surveyed almost 1,500 women aged
64 to 95, and found that those who spend more
than 10 hours a day seated and get less than 40
minutes exercise have cells that are biologically
much older.
The study, published in the American
Journal of Epidemiology, linked the impact
of sitting longer to shorter telomeres –
protective caps on the end of DNA strips that
protect chromosomes from deterioration and
progressively shorten with age, increasing the
risk of disease.
Dr Aladdin Shadyab of the University of
California said: “Our study found cells age
faster with a sedentary lifestyle. Chronological
age doesn’t always match biological age.”
Sitting has been labelled ‘the new smoking’,
with studies linking a sedentary lifestyle to a
host of health problems, from obesity to heart
problems and diabetes, as well as early death.
Dr Shadyab said that just half an hour of
exercise per day will help reverse the effects of
sitting for long periods of time.
“We found that women who sat longer did not
have shorter telomere length if they exercised
for at least 30 minutes a day, the national
recommended guideline,” said Shadyab.
“Discussions about the benefits of exercise
should start when we are young, and physical
activity should continue to be part of our daily
lives as we get older, even at 80 years old.”