New insights into the nervous system concerning the ‘Vagus Nerve’ are transforming our understanding of relationships between mind, emotion, body, and breath. And these insights illuminate the wisdom of yoga concepts, particularly of pranayama, all the more. In this webinar, Doug will clearly explain what the ‘Polyvagal Theory’ tells us about the role of the Vagus Nerve and other cranial nerves play in our emotional life and our patterns of breathing. This will include some simple, practical exercises having to do with the neck which ‘reset’ our nervous system to a more sattvic or parasympathetic state, while also relieving neck tension and freeing up the mobility of the neck. And he will explore how these insights both confirm and bring about deeper and meaningful understanding of yoga terminology such as Prana, the Gunas, the Vayus, and the emphasis in Hatha Yoga on overcoming ‘blocks’ in the flow of prana though its practices. Included will be exploration of breathing pattern disorders, their effect upon our health, and their relationship to what we discover about the Vagus nerve. He’ll explore true diaphragmatic breath, its relationship to the psoas and to the nervous system as described by the Polyvagal theory — and bring these insights into a deeper understanding of pranayama, surveying conceptions about pranayama and its purpose from the Classical Yoga of Patanjali emphasizing stillness, to the dynamic Hatha Yoga understanding. The webinar will not include an asana session, but will include some practices for opening to the experience of the breath, releasing the psoas through simple movements, and some fundamental pranayama practices — all of this in addition to the exercises directed at ‘resetting’ our inner state through understanding the Vagus Nerve and undoing neck tension. * The webinar will be simultaneously recorded with high quality video and audio, and an edited final version of the video will be available to you after the broadcast, which you can view again or even download, via Vimeo.