Yoga instructor and farrier spouse Suzi Shelhamer shares her insights about the system of poses and breathing techniques that farriers can benefit from.

Q: What advice do you have for building discipline and sticking with yoga?

A: There are all kinds of videos on YouTube if you want to start at home. But finding a good beginners class near you is ideal so your teacher can help you with your form. The group atmosphere is intimidating at first to some people, but yoga is a noncompetitive sport. It’s non-egoic. People don’t care what you look like in yoga because it is a personal practice. They are just glad you’re there. By the end of the class you feel so good and there is a definite feel of shared unity in the room. It’s what hooks people into coming back.

Q: The deep breathing process is an important part of yoga. What advice do you have to properly execute it?

A: Breathing practice is called pranayama. We start each class with five deep breaths concentrating on the air coming in and out of our nostrils and the warming and cooling sensation on the upper lip. Then there are some nice purification breaths we do that are basically internal workouts for our nervous system, our sinuses, our glandular…