Dinesh Rai
Breathwork and Meditation
Seated · 45 minutes · 4 a week
Breathwork
Sitting still and learning to breathe.
Forty-five minutes of seated practice: lengthening the exhale, evening out the ratio, and a short silence at the end. No movement to hide in, which is why people find it either the easiest or the hardest thing on the timetable.
It runs in the Alcove with eight mats, so it stays small enough that the teacher can hear how everyone is breathing.
- Suits
- Best after you have been to a few other classes. Ask Dinesh if unsure.
- Bring
- A cushion if you have a favourite one.
- Sanskrit
- प्राणायाम
What actually happens
An hour of breathwork, in order.
-
First ten minutes
Sitting, and noticing what your breath does when nobody is asking anything of it.
-
The middle
Lengthening the exhale, then evening the ratio. Dinesh counts out loud until you do not need him to.
-
If it gets uncomfortable
You stop and breathe normally. That instruction is given at the start of every single class and meant literally.
-
The last five minutes
Silence. No counting, no guidance, no music.
When this is the wrong class. Breathwork is not therapy and we do not treat it as such. If you live with panic attacks or a respiratory condition, talk to Dinesh before booking — some patterns are unhelpful and he will say which.
Who teaches it
When it runs
Room
The Alcove — Eight mats, no mirror, the quietest corner of the building.
Before you come
Nothing assumed. Come half asleep.
Practice
Breathwork, 45 minutes. A cushion if you have a favourite one.
Taught by
Dinesh Rai — Breathwork and Meditation
Room
The Alcove — Eight mats, no mirror, the quietest corner of the building.
Before you come
Best after two or three classes elsewhere on the timetable.
Practice
Breathwork, 45 minutes. A cushion if you have a favourite one.
Taught by
Dinesh Rai — Breathwork and Meditation
Room
The Alcove — Eight mats, no mirror, the quietest corner of the building.
Before you come
Nothing assumed.
Practice
Breathwork, 45 minutes. A cushion if you have a favourite one.
Taught by
Dinesh Rai — Breathwork and Meditation
Room
The Alcove — Eight mats, no mirror, the quietest corner of the building.
Before you come
Ends in ten minutes of silence. Stay for it.
Practice
Breathwork, 45 minutes. A cushion if you have a favourite one.
Taught by
Dinesh Rai — Breathwork and Meditation
Questions about breathwork
It is the hardest and shortest thing on the timetable. There is nothing to hide in, which some people love immediately and others need three goes at.
No. This is the mechanics of breathing, not meditation, though the two end up in the same place.
Yes. Two of the eight places in the Alcove are chairs, every class.
The other three
Vinyasa
विन्यासMovement joined to breath.
Yin
यिनFew shapes, held a long time.
Restorative
विश्रामHeld up entirely by props.
Start here
Your first class costs nothing.
Pick an hour, tell us it is your first, and someone will meet you at the top of the stairs.
