Esther Nagle

My Story

Throughout the last few years, I have discovered some amazing tools for managing and soothing my emotions, healing old emotional wounds, and growing into the person I am becoming.

These tools were shown to me when I did Yoga teacher training, and it is no understatement to say that they saved me, and continue to save me from myself to this day.

A lifelong asthmatic with a dust allergy, who decided at 17 that cigarettes were a great way to deal with anger, and at 19 that marijuana was amazing (if it is good enough for The Beatles…..), I never really took very good care of my lungs, and was never able to use them properly.

I lived a life of endless stress and drama. Lurching from one disaster to the next, extreme highs and lows were the norm for me. When I was stressed out, which was very often, I would abuse my body in numerous ways, attacking my lungs with toxic fumes from the things I smoked thinking they were helping me. I developed a very destructive relationship with alcohol, not recognising for years that I was addicted.

Learning to breathe as part of my Yoga teacher training was such a revelation. Following advise to cut out dairy products cleared the permanent blockage in my nose, and I was able to take full, controlled breaths. Immediately my stress levels reduced, I was able to sleep and relax naturally instead of anaesthetising, and I was able to get a grip on my emotions. I became better able to respond instead of react to situations that triggered or angered me…. not always, I don’t get it right all the time, but most of the time I handle life, and myself, much better.

In 2014, 5 months into my training, I was able to step away from cigarettes, marijuana and alcohol, and have been sober and smoke free ever since. I credit this entirely to Yoga, and especially to learning to breathe.

Learning to breathe gave me a powerful tool I can always access when life threatens to overwhelm me. Which it does often. Getting sober, and practising yoga doesn’t mean that life doesn’t get challenging, it means that you have the tools you need to cope with the challenges.

How you breathe is how you live. If you take care of your lungs, and breathe in a conscious, mindful way, then it impacts your whole life.  You become more connected to your body, more present in the moment, and more able to manage your emotional responses.

You have to breathe all day, every day, until you take your last. What have you got to lose, and what have you got to gain, from learning to do it well?