A Manchester-based breathwork coach has offered a remedy to the gloom associated with Blue Monday.
Matt Bromley holds an hour-long breathwork class every Monday at 7:30pm in Castlefield – Breathwork with Matt – which he said will help battle the winter blues.
Blue Monday falls on the third Monday of January and is said to be the most depressing day of the year.
Bromley said: “A one-hour breathwork session, it’s a gift to yourself to just to be with yourself.
“It’s completely non-competitive, non-judgmental.”
Blue Monday has been dismissed by many as unhelpful pseudoscience, a marketing gimmick created in 2005 by Sky Travel Shop to sell more trips abroad.
Bromley said: “It [Blue Monday] can help to kind of normalize talking about health and our well-being, which is a real positive.”
The breathwork class begins with ten minutes of functional breathing, followed by 50 minutes of conscious connected breathwork.
Bromley’s teaching is trauma informed.
Bromley said: “The body will hold onto that trauma, and it usually does that through tension.
“These emotions and traumas that are held in the body can be released.”
Bromley has begun teaching breathwork in schools.
Bromley said: “17-year-old lads, you know, tend to be about the most sceptical with this sort of thing.
“So, when you start getting good feedback from them, you know, you’re onto something.”
The third Monday of January is also national hugging day in Finland.
The suicide prevention charity Samaritans have created a fresh take on the day, rebranding it Brew Monday.
Volunteers will hand out tea bags and offer to chat with people over a hot drink.
The link for tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/breathwork-with-matt-tickets-1573714996919
Featured Photo: Matt Bromley’s breathwork class in action.
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