Exeter Yoga Workshop has launched a six-week course that moves breathing practice out of its usual supporting role inside a yoga class. Led by studio co-founder Chris Croft, Breathwork for Life began on September 16 and continues through October 21, 2026.
The program is being delivered at the independent Exeter studio and by live stream, with recordings provided to participants. No previous yoga experience is required, making the course accessible to people who want to study breathing techniques without first joining a broader movement program.
From following instructions to practising alone
Breathing exercises frequently appear for a few minutes at the beginning or end of yoga and meditation sessions. Students may experience a technique in that setting without learning how it differs from another practice, when they might use it or what happens when they attempt it without the teacher’s voice.
Croft’s course gives that learning process six weekly sessions. Each 75-minute meeting combines explanation, guided practice, questions and a home exercise intended to be explored before the group meets again.
The curriculum includes Viloma, Ujjayi and Bhramari, three practices drawn from the pranayama tradition. They involve different approaches to pacing the breath, controlling airflow, introducing intervals or using a humming exhalation.
The purpose is not simply to guide participants through six breathwork experiences. Exeter Yoga Workshop says the course is designed to leave them with a personal practice they can continue using independently.
A different task for the teacher
Teaching an independent practice requires more than leading a calming session. Participants need enough information to reproduce the technique, recognize uncertainty and bring useful questions back to the next class.
The six-week structure allows that feedback to become part of the course. Someone can try an exercise at home, discover which instructions were less obvious than they initially appeared and return for clarification before the curriculum progresses.
The studio connects the practices with areas such as stress, sleep, energy and mental clarity. These are the provider’s stated aims and reported benefits, however, rather than independently evaluated outcomes from this new course.
Small-group teaching with wider access
Croft founded Exeter Yoga Workshop with yoga teacher and acupuncturist Yulia Heaton. Although the studio serves a local community, the live and recorded options allow the new program to reach participants who cannot attend in Exeter.
This hybrid format does not change the central idea of the course. Its focus remains repeated instruction, practice between meetings and the gradual development of greater independence.
For yoga and meditation professionals, the launch highlights a meaningful distinction between including breathwork in a session and teaching someone how to practise it. Exeter Yoga Workshop has built its latest course around the second task, giving a familiar part of yoga considerably more time than it usually receives.
- Source: Exeter Yoga Workshop
- Web: https://www.exeteryoga.co.uk/courses/breathwork/
