I recently posed for several pictures for a new book that's coming out soon--Take a Deep Breath, from Square One Publishers, co-written by me and my friend Dr. Sandra McLanahan.  The book offers information on how to deal with breathing disorders, such as asthma, and COPD.   Also, there are several yoga-based exercises that can be done by folks with lung disease, and it got me thinking about chair yoga.  

If you have a chair and you can breathe, you can do yoga at the chair.  It's easier than getting up and down off the floor as you do in a regular yoga class, but you can still improve flexibility, build your strength, and expand your breathing capacity when you do the simple exercises that are provided in the book.  The best thing is building your vitality!   

From our new book--

Laughing can be a kind of nutrient in its own right.
Have a five-minute hearty laugh break, taking a longer class or internet session, choosing comedies, or whatever makes you laugh regularly can help you take adeep breath! It can be an important  and joyful addition to a healthy lifestyle that helps to prevent and treat lung disorders. You may not feel at all like laughing, but once you get started, even fake laughter can act very quickly
to help you feel better. (It’s hard to sustain fake laughing for very long before you are really chuckling and then guffawing at yourself.)


Laughing uses the same muscles as exercise; strengthens your core
and lower back muscles. Laughing can get you breathing more deeply,strengthening your respiratory muscles; helping prepare you for the breathing exercises program given in this book, and bring a quick form of stress management into your life.