Why would anyone want to go to a converted old school to learn how to breathe? Surely, if we don't breathe we are dead? Breathing is a reflex action which each of us takes countless times in our life - an effortless process, which allows oxygen to deluge every cell of our body with life-giving oxygen. However, it's suggested there is more to breathing than that.

The red sandstone building is home to The Phoenix Centre, the first major inner-city voluntary project to offer a Stress and Fear Management provision for the community. It was the dream of its founder Anne Shearer.

''We don't consider ourselves to be an 'alternative' centre because we have not yet discovered an alternative to correct breathing. Many therapeutic treatments are dealing with the symptoms of the problem rather than the cause. We believe it is essential the person is eventually able to take full responsibility for a subsequent healthy lifestyle in a way that is sustainable.''

Sitting in the room which doubles as her office and a treatment room, furnished by donations from supporters of the project, I ask her how we should be breathing and what we are doing wrong.

''We do not teach breathing techniques because we consider that there is only one correct breathing pattern. This was understood by all of us at our birth, no-one had to teach us.

''Babies use the respiratory pattern perfectly at birth. They naturally breathe through the nostrils and find it painful to do otherwise. We limit that way of breathing by physical restriction of the muscles caused by tension in the body, which, in turn, restricts the expansion of the lungs. This comes about through anxiety or fear, which produces a 'holding of the breath'.

''However, to repair this process - we took many years to become imperfect - takes its own time to reverse, so that eventually there is no restriction in the lung capacity. People come to us from all sectors of the community, with a wide range of problems, such as phobias, fears, burn-out, broken relationships, work stress, post-natal depression, hyperactive children, digestive problems and general fear about life. Doctors are referring patients to us, which is encouraging.

''Many people find they can't relax because fear may come to the surface. This fear may come from childhood, if the child has stressed parents who are so tense they can't give the child the love it needs. This results in a limitation in breathing.''

She demonstrates how people can relearn their breathing. I lie on a bed and have a heavy book placed on my stomach. I'm asked to breathe in through my nose, and watch the book rise on my stomach, then I breathe out sharply, again through my nose. If the book doesn't rise very much it illustrates a need for deeper breathing. I'm informed that 70% of human waste is expelled through exhalation, or toxins can develop. A good reason to breathe correctly, if ever you needed one.

I ask how many treatments would be needed, and how long they would take. ''One session can take between one to three hours, during which a person is guided back through correct breathing exercises to establish the natural respiratory pattern. Each session allows us to rediscover the changes which happen as we bring oxygen into an other part of our lungs which may previously have been in a state of non-use.''

Jean tells me what changes the sessions has made for her. ''I started ten months ago. What I have found is difficult to put into words. I work part-time as a teacher, and I was looking to improve my classroom control, and find a strategy for coping. If I feel over-aroused psychologically, breathing grounds me .

''It has helped me reach a part of myself I hadn't accessed before. Long breath sessions seems to help me remember things from the past, which others have verified since. The long breath has also helped my skin clear up. I suffer from irritable bowel syndrome and this can now be kept under control.''

Anne's parting words are: ''We need to take responsibility for ourselves - relaxation is a skill which needs as much practice as any other creative gift.''

l The Phoenix Centre, 201 St James Road, Glasgow G4 ONT. Telephone: 0141 553 2353