The Practice, Exeter (Men’s Breathing, Walking & Stillness)

I have found that a steady hill is the best breathing teacher there is. The one above Ide is near enough perfect: two miles of even, continuous climb, no flat and nothing steep, so the work builds slowly and your breathing has to find a rhythm that holds. We walk it together, at one pace, breathing through the nose with the mouth closed, and the hill does the rest. I'll be there to show you how to use it, how to settle your breathing on the way up, and what to do when your nose stops being enough (shorten your step; don't open your mouth). It isn't a talking walk. Nobody will ask you about yourself, and the way up is mostly quiet; on the way down, talk or don't.

Good breathing underneath everything else is worth having, and a hill is the plainest place to practise it. That's the whole of it.

We meet in the top car park at Ide (what3words: sheep.goals.draw). New? Come at 5:35pm and we'll have five minutes; there are only two rules and I'll tell you both. At 5:45pm we set off up the lane. At the top we stand for a minute and look down over Exeter, then walk back down. Back at the cars by about seven.

Two miles up, about 570 feet of climb, tarmac the whole way, then two miles back down, walked at the pace of the slowest, so nobody is left behind. There's minimal talking on the way up, not as a rule but because the whole aim is to breathe through the nose only, and that takes your attention. The aim underneath is simple: better functional breathing, and learning to stay steady while you're moving and under demand. Because we all walk at one pace, the fitter men borrow a weight vest, so that the load on everyone's breathing is about the same whatever their age or fitness; there are poles too, and breathing techniques that go with the hill, and I bring the kit and show you how. My father does it at eighty.

Bring water, shoes you can walk two miles uphill in, and a jacket for the top. From October to March it is dark by the time we come down, so a head torch or your phone's light. It goes ahead in any weather.

I'm Alexei Janssen, and I run it; a learning and performance coach with 25 years of experience, seventeen of them with the Royal Marines. The Practice is new and small, and the walk goes ahead whatever the numbers, even if it's just me.

Free, every Monday. Not sure? Message me first and ask me anything: https://wa.me/447424799151

The WhatsApp channel confirms the week ahead each Sunday (one-way; nobody will message you): https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbCxatp0VycN8w2ynv0A

Full details: https://thepractice.works/hill

An hour on a weekday morning, before work, breathing slowly and sitting quietly with other men. Sitting in silence is hard to do cold; the slow breathing is what settles you enough to manage it, a few minutes at a time, and the silence is what the hour is for.

The doors open at 6:45am and there is tea. The first ten minutes are just that, tea and a bit of a chat, and if you're new that is when I'll show you the room and tell you what's coming. Find a spot and get comfortable: on a chair, a stool, a cushion on the floor, or lying down if you'd rather. At seven the room goes quiet and a soft light at the front of it begins to rise and fall, slowly, about five and a half times a minute. You breathe with it, in as it rises and out as it falls. There is nothing to count and nothing to get right.

After four minutes or so the light goes out, and you sit quietly, breathing however you like, with nothing to follow. After a few minutes the light comes back and you breathe with it again. The hour goes like that, breathing and quiet, breathing and quiet, with the quiet stretches getting a little longer and the last one running to ten minutes. At eight you're out of the door and on your way to work. Nobody speaks during the hour, including me, and nobody asks you anything afterwards.

Expect nothing in particular. For some it is calming from the first few minutes. For others it is the first time in years with nothing to look at and nothing to do, and the noise that comes up is loud. Both are the thing working. The light is an invitation and not an instruction; drop the pattern and breathe normally whenever you want. You are never holding your breath or straining for air.

The Hall, Stepcote Hill, Exeter EX1 1BD. Free, every Tuesday and Thursday, whatever the numbers, even if it's just me. Wear whatever you'll be comfortable sitting in; there's nothing to bring.

I'm Alexei Janssen, and I run it; a learning and performance coach with 25 years of experience, seventeen of them with the Royal Marines.

Not sure? Message me first and ask me anything: https://wa.me/447424799151

The WhatsApp channel confirms the week ahead each Sunday (one-way; nobody will message you): https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbCxatp0VycN8w2ynv0A

Full details: https://thepractice.works/hall

I have found that a steady hill is the best breathing teacher there is. The one above Ide is near enough perfect: two miles of even, continuous climb, no flat and nothing steep, so the work builds slowly and your breathing has to find a rhythm that holds. We walk it together, at one pace, breathing through the nose with the mouth closed, and the hill does the rest. I'll be there to show you how to use it, how to settle your breathing on the way up, and what to do when your nose stops being enough (shorten your step; don't open your mouth). It isn't a talking walk. Nobody will ask you about yourself, and the way up is mostly quiet; on the way down, talk or don't.

Good breathing underneath everything else is worth having, and a hill is the plainest place to practise it. That's the whole of it.

We meet in the top car park at Ide (what3words: sheep.goals.draw). New? Come at 5:35pm and we'll have five minutes; there are only two rules and I'll tell you both. At 5:45pm we set off up the lane. At the top we stand for a minute and look down over Exeter, then walk back down. Back at the cars by about seven.

Two miles up, about 570 feet of climb, tarmac the whole way, then two miles back down, walked at the pace of the slowest, so nobody is left behind. There's minimal talking on the way up, not as a rule but because the whole aim is to breathe through the nose only, and that takes your attention. The aim underneath is simple: better functional breathing, and learning to stay steady while you're moving and under demand. Because we all walk at one pace, the fitter men borrow a weight vest, so that the load on everyone's breathing is about the same whatever their age or fitness; there are poles too, and breathing techniques that go with the hill, and I bring the kit and show you how. My father does it at eighty.

Bring water, shoes you can walk two miles uphill in, and a jacket for the top. From October to March it is dark by the time we come down, so a head torch or your phone's light. It goes ahead in any weather.

I'm Alexei Janssen, and I run it; a learning and performance coach with 25 years of experience, seventeen of them with the Royal Marines. The Practice is new and small, and the walk goes ahead whatever the numbers, even if it's just me.

Free, every Monday. Not sure? Message me first and ask me anything: https://wa.me/447424799151

The WhatsApp channel confirms the week ahead each Sunday (one-way; nobody will message you): https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbCxatp0VycN8w2ynv0A

Full details: https://thepractice.works/hill

An hour on a weekday morning, before work, breathing slowly and sitting quietly with other men. Sitting in silence is hard to do cold; the slow breathing is what settles you enough to manage it, a few minutes at a time, and the silence is what the hour is for.

The doors open at 6:45am and there is tea. The first ten minutes are just that, tea and a bit of a chat, and if you're new that is when I'll show you the room and tell you what's coming. Find a spot and get comfortable: on a chair, a stool, a cushion on the floor, or lying down if you'd rather. At seven the room goes quiet and a soft light at the front of it begins to rise and fall, slowly, about five and a half times a minute. You breathe with it, in as it rises and out as it falls. There is nothing to count and nothing to get right.

After four minutes or so the light goes out, and you sit quietly, breathing however you like, with nothing to follow. After a few minutes the light comes back and you breathe with it again. The hour goes like that, breathing and quiet, breathing and quiet, with the quiet stretches getting a little longer and the last one running to ten minutes. At eight you're out of the door and on your way to work. Nobody speaks during the hour, including me, and nobody asks you anything afterwards.

Expect nothing in particular. For some it is calming from the first few minutes. For others it is the first time in years with nothing to look at and nothing to do, and the noise that comes up is loud. Both are the thing working. The light is an invitation and not an instruction; drop the pattern and breathe normally whenever you want. You are never holding your breath or straining for air.

The Hall, Stepcote Hill, Exeter EX1 1BD. Free, every Tuesday and Thursday, whatever the numbers, even if it's just me. Wear whatever you'll be comfortable sitting in; there's nothing to bring.

I'm Alexei Janssen, and I run it; a learning and performance coach with 25 years of experience, seventeen of them with the Royal Marines.

Not sure? Message me first and ask me anything: https://wa.me/447424799151

The WhatsApp channel confirms the week ahead each Sunday (one-way; nobody will message you): https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbCxatp0VycN8w2ynv0A

Full details: https://thepractice.works/hall