Frequently Asked Questions
A note on breathing exercises
We can never increase our total lung capacity (i.e. what we are born with), but we can improve how we use our lungs and increase our vital capacity (the amount of air that can be inhaled and exhaled). Emma’s ability to use her lungs to their full capacity meant that during an HSE diving medical she over-performed so much on one test that it skewed the results for the following one, giving the feedback that she had chronic asthma despite never having suffered in her entire life.
We spend our lives not being aware of what the diaphragm does, many of us not using it at all as we breathe predominantly and inefficiently from our upper chest, yet most of the time our diaphragm should be responsible for three quarters of our breathing.
The first way to become aware of your diaphragm is simply to breathe slowly in and out, as much as you possibly can. It is easier to do this lying on your back with your legs bent and knees flat on the floor by your bottom. Start by placing one hand on your tummy and the other on your upper chest. Begin breathing only into your belly, seeing if you can expand it like a balloon up to the ceiling without the upper hand on your chest moving at all.
When you’ve mastered belly breathing, breathe in and out in the middle part of your chest, activating your ribs at the front, side and back of the body. Then practice breathing into the top of your chest around your collarbones (this can be very tricky to isolate on its own). Then put it all together, breathing very slowly in, filling your lungs as much as you possibly can, and then breathing slowly out, squeezing every last drop of air out of your lungs.
A good trick to try is to sit up, place your hands on your ribs, and then, whilst holding your breath, move the ribs out and in. We are so used to thinking that the movement of our ribs is entirely connected to breathing that we don’t realise how much we can move them independently from the breath.
Once we’ve mastered control over how we breathe in and out, utilising the diaphragm as it is meant to be used, we can work on the strength, tone and flexibility of the diaphragm. The most famous exercise is the one children often do in the playground to amuse their friends, the Sanskrit term for which is Udiana Bandha and is the one where our tummy disappears…
Who is Emma?
As a founding member of the AIDA Education Commission Emma has written courses that are taught internationally, as well as her own speciality freediving and breathing courses.
Her work with gold medal winning Olympic and Paralympic athletes over the last decade has resulted in her unique Breathing Optimisation programme, which has helped people across the globe improve their breathing, lung function and health, no matter what their age, physical condition or ability.
An accomplished educator and public speaker, Emma has appeared many times on television and in print media, as well as acting as a consultant on short and feature films and documentaries.
Emma lives, works, and teaches in the West Country, UK and is available to travel for speaking and breathing workshop engagements throughout the UK and abroad.
Who benefits from Breathing Optimisation Classes?
A freediver wanting to improve apnea performance
An elite athlete looking for an edge over the competition
A sports enthusiast training for an event or looking to improve their pb
A triathlete wanting to improve breathing across all disciplines
A singer or musician wanting to improve your performance
Someone with breathing issues such as COPD, asthma or allergies who is looking for safe, natural and effective ways to improve their breathing
Struggling with stress and anxiety and looking for drug free strategies to bring calm control back to your life
Someone interested in learning more about their breath and just what their body is capable of
What benefits can I expect?
Here are the benefits you can expect:
Improve your lung function
Increase the flexibility of your rib cage and diaphragm
Increase your Vital Capacity
Decrease your Residual Volume
Improve your tolerance to carbon dioxide
Improve your bodies utilisation of oxygen
Increase breath hold capacity
Build your confidence
What is your class schedule?
The Breathing Optimisation classes are live online and run twice a week (as with all of our online classes) and no two classes are ever the same. If you are unable to make a session, you can still book your place and receive a recording to use at a time more convenient to you.
Our sessions are:
Tuesday evening 6.30pm – 7.00pm
Thursday evening 6.30pm – 7.00pm
You can attend classes once or twice a week. To see the most benefit, we recommend a minimum of two classes a week for six weeks or one class a week for twelve weeks.
We also have one hour classes running once a month for breathing optimisation and MDR (Mammalian Dive Reflex). Visit our Courses Page for more information.
What do I need to know about the classes?
The Breathing Optimisation classes are live online and run twice a week and no two classes are ever the same. If you are unable to make a session, you can still book your place and receive a recording to use at a time more convenient to you.
If more than one person in your household takes the class you only pay for one person (the cost is determined by the number of devices, so if you share a device for your class you only pay for one person). We even see children and pets join in!
No previous experience is required for these classes and they are suitable for all.
If you attend a class, we recommend you keep your camera on so that Emma ensure you are performing the exercise correctly, and guide you further if needed.
You should wear comfortable clothes and have somewhere comfortable to practise. We recommend using an exercise mat, but this is not necessary. Some students practise on carpeted floors or even their beds.
It is best not to eat or drink a large volume of liquid before a class as the exercises involve lung exercises that will need to be stretched. Eating too soon before a class can interfere with the success of some exercises and can make some students feel nauseous.
You should read the important information below.
IMPORTANT: If you have not yet attended an online breathing class then please read the below before your class.
It is important to do these classes on an empty stomach. make sure you time your meals to be after the classes, and avoid fizzy drinks or drinking a large volume of liquid before the class.
One of the core exercises in the breathing optimisation classes is called The Pumping Breath, also known as Kapalabhati. It usually requires practice before it can be done correctly.
We advise you to watch Emma’s ‘how to’ video of the pumping breath by clicking on this link. Please practice this in front of a mirror to make sure you are doing it right.
You can also see more of Emma’s breathing videos by clicking here. These include a short upper body stretching session and a session of the pumping breath with three rounds.
How to do Udiana Bandha
For safety, this exercise should be done on an empty stomach, bladder and bowel. Take it very gently as it is easy to injure yourself and strain the heart if you do this exercise aggressively.
Sit on the end of a chair, or cross-legged on the floor and bend forward slightly, placing your hands on the tops of your thighs for support. You can also stand up, however your legs must be bent and you must lean forward, placing your hands on your thighs as above
Take a deep breath into your belly and then exhale all the air out of your lungs. When there is no air left, hold your breath and pull up your diaphragm to make a space under your ribs.
Hold this for a few seconds and then gently release the diaphragm down and breathe deeply and gently to recover. To start, do this no more than three times. You can slowly build up the time that you hold the stomach in, up to 30 seconds to begin with.
The second stage to this exercise is to roll the tummy out after you have pulled it up and repeat until you stop the exercise and breathe in. It is also possible to roll the tummy and make a line with the abdominal muscles that you move from side to side although the first two stages of this exercise are the most beneficial.
How to do Kapalabhati
Sitting on a chair or on the floor with your spine straight, close the eyes and inhale deeply into the belly and then exhale gently. Do this two times and then inhale deeply and begin the pumpings:
Contract the abdominal muscles quickly, causing the diaphragm to move up into the thoracic cavity and pushing the air out of the lungs forcefully. The rest of the body (particularly the throat) should be completely relaxed.
Then relax the abdominal muscles, allowing the diaphragm to descend. The effect of this will be to draw air back into the bottom of your lungs without any effort. Do not actively inhale.
Repeat for the count specified, (out and in counts as 1). At the end of the count, exhale fully, pushing out every last bit of air. Then inhale deeply, exhale gently, inhale deeply and exhale completely.
Then (if doing a retention), inhale to ¾ of your full capacity and hold your breath for the time specified. After the retention, do 3 relaxed breaths and then start the next round of pumpings.
When you first begin your practice, start with 3 x 20 pumpings and 20 second retentions. Keep the pumpings slow to ensure you are doing them correctly. Slow is better than fast! Then build up to a practice of 40 pumpings followed by a 40 second retention, 50 pumpings followed by a 50 second retention and then 60 pumpings followed by a 60 second retention. When this is completely comfortable you can slowly build up the pumpings and retentions. Just always make sure that you are doing the exercise correctly.
Do you have any incentives for group bookings?
If you want to introduce breathing optimisation to the wellness programme for your business, or you are a sports club looking for a breathing optimisation guest workshop or private mini-course, contact us at emma.farrell@gmail.com and find out more about our special discounts and options for group bookings.
Classes can be held at a single location (for example, suitable club or workspace) or members of the group or club can sign in from home individually.
Classes are very flexible and if your business/club has employees or members who are shift workers or simply have a very busy work/life we will always provide a recording of the class so they can remain motivated and practise at a time more convenient to them.
Do you have any affiliate/referral incentives?
We have a very generous Loyalty Referral Scheme. A way to reward our loyal students with free classes. Here is how it works:
You refer us to a friend, family member, work colleague (anyone, in fact) who has never purchased a pass with us and they sign up for ANY of our packages (taster class, 4 session pass, 8 session pass, complete course, 1hr session, MDR class) we will reward you with the equivalent package too.
If you refer someone, simply let us know and we can credit your account.
Terms and conditions:
You must be an existing student with a valid pass
You may refer us to as many friends as you wish. You will continue to earn a matching pass for each person you refer. which can be tagged on to any existing pass you have.
You only qualify for the first package they purchase. If they purchase further packages later, these will not be eligible.
The person you refer must not have purchased a pass with us before (this means any person who may have attended a free class IS eligible)
Our standard class terms and conditions apply for the referred and the referrer (in short, classes must be taken consecutively and recordings will be provided for any classes where a person is unable to attend).
Your referral reward cannot be transferred to anyone else
Your referral reward cannot be exchanged wholly or in part, for cash
Your referral reward cannot be used to request a refund/discount on any package you have already purchased
If the person you refer to us, later refers someone new to us, the reward will be issued to the referrer, not you.
You are permitted to purchase passes for others, and these will qualify towards your referral rewards.
We reserve the right to withdraw or adapt this scheme at any time.