Breathing Focused Yoga in Social Anxiety Disorder

The breathing focused yoga intervention is a manualized yoga protocol developed at CAMH by the Mood and Anxiety Disorders group, with yoga teacher, Ms. Tiffany Garfinkel, as the lead. BFY incorporates postures and meditation, but there is a special focus on controlled breathing at different rates, including Ujjaji or slow inhalation, exhalation and holding of breath; Bhastrika or Kapalabhati, two types of vigorous breathing with forced exhalation; and cyclical breathing or a repeated pattern of slow, moderate and fast breathing.