Welcome movers! This week's moved to heal practice is part one in a seven-part series of chair-based forms. The theme is welcoming movement.
Listen to "Chair Series TCTSY 1 Welcoming Movement"
About the Chair Series
Each episode in this series uses the same sequence of forms and movements (listed below) with a different theme or guiding principle. There is an element of progression in the themes offered. That said, it is not necessary to move through the series in sequence. You can choose to engage with any episode on its own or the full series in any order.
The forms and movements offered in this Chair Series
- Feet: point + flex or circle
- Knees: bend + straighten
- Hip rotation: ankle to ankle or ankle to knee
- Torso: twist
- Shoulders: rolls
- Neck: rolls
- Closing
You can participate in this practice by listening and/or moving. You're welcome to do or not do any of the practices, and in whatever manner or degree you choose.
Be moving, be healing, be you
PS. If you'd like to hear more from me, you can sign up for my newsletter.
photo credit miguel andrade, found on unsplash
A full-bodied approach to breathing
Last October, I started sharing some thoughts on an approach to "full" breathing, which you can watch here and here, and then created a series of practices to introduce this approach.
The series takes you through a process of becoming aware of the way you breathe now, exercising some conscious breathing and some controlled breathing. Below is an outline of the practices and an audio player with the episodes. I hope you'll take from it what is useful to you and let the rest fall by the wayside.
Engaging with your breathing
An introductory breathing series
1. what you do now
I'll begin by guiding you to become aware of some aspects of your current breathing patterns. I say some because there's a lot there to notice -- you might uncover a little or a lot. You could repeat this practice daily and discover new things each time!
2. getting used to effort
In the second practice, I'll invite you breathe in and out through your nose and/or lengthen your breathing and notice your response to any accompanying effort.
3. where is the effort?
We'll revisit the practices from the second practice with a new focus, noticing where in your torso you feel any effort that comes along with nose and/or lengthened breathing.
4. belly, sides, chest, back
Building on the previous practice, I'll guide you to direct your lengthened breathing into the major areas of your torso.
5. positioning your torso
In this practice, I invite you to repeat breathing into one major area of your torso at a time with the addition of limiting movement into other areas at the same time. This practice pulls together awareness, effort, lengthened breathing, and directed breathing to create a manner of breathing that can take a lot of work!
6. ribcage quadrants
In this session, I'll guide you to breathe into different quadrants/sections of your ribcage.
7. flexible ribcage
Once you've practice breathing into sections of your ribcage, I'll invite you make use of the flexibility of your ribcage to reshape the expand and compress action that goes along with breathing.
8. ribcage and pelvis connection
This session will be part anatomy lesson! I'll talk about the core abdominal muscles that connect ribcage and pelvis, support the spine, and can move in concert with the diaphragm when you breathe.
9. positioning your ribcage
In this session, I'll invite you to practice exercising the abdominal-diaphragm connection to encourage your ribcage to move into a "postural neutral" position.
Audio-led practices
An Introduction to the series is "featured" below and then the episodes are listed in reverse order. If you want to listen to them "in order," start with Practice 1 and work up to Practice 9. If you use a podcast player, you can use this RSS feed address to load the series into your player.
Listen to "Breathing Series Introduction"
Be moving, be healing, be you
photo credit mihail ribkin, found on unsplash
breathing into your back
This episode builds on #7 and #8. I offer the opportunity to practice intentional breathing as a vehicle for positioning your ribcage while keeping your spine neutral.
Practice #9 Introduction
Listen to "Breathing Practice 9 intro"
Practice #9
Listen to "Breathing Practice 9"
practice notes
If you found this practice useful, I encourage you to consider repeating it --perhaps in another week or as often as every day-- in between now and the next practice in the series.
a note on order
I'm presenting these practices in an intentional progression assuming little if any familiarity with breathing practices. You know yourself best; if you find it valuable to pick and choose practices or try them in a different order, I'm all for it!
If you would like to work with a different practice today, the player above includes a playlist with all the practices.
And as ever, if you have questions or feedback on how this practice works for you, I welcome hearing them!
Be moving, be healing, be you,
photo credit kensuke saito surf photography, found on unsplash
ribcage and pelvis connection
I begin this episode discussing how your spine, ribcage, and pelvis move together. In the practice, I offer the opportunity to consciously engage your abdominal muscles while breathing and notice any connection that might establish between your ribcage and pelvis.
Practice #8 Introduction
Listen to "Breathing Practice 8 intro"
Practice #8
Listen to "Breathing Practice 8"
practice notes
If you found this practice useful, I encourage you to consider repeating it --perhaps in another week or as often as every day-- in between now and the next practice in the series.
a note on order
I'm presenting these practices in an intentional progression assuming little if any familiarity with breathing practices. You know yourself best; if you find it valuable to pick and choose practices or try them in a different order, I'm all for it!
If you would like to work with a different practice today, the player above includes a playlist with all the practices.
And as ever, if you have questions or feedback on how this practice works for you, I welcome hearing them!
Be moving, be healing, be you,
photo credit hennie stander, found on unsplash
ribcage alignment
I begin this episode with a discussion of ribcage alignment (your ribcage is flexible!). In the practice, I offer the opportunity to explore noticing your own ribcage alignment through full, intentional breathing.
Practice #7 Introduction
Listen to "Breathing Practice 7 intro"
Practice #7
Listen to "Breathing Practice 7"
practice notes
If you found this practice useful, I encourage you to consider repeating it --perhaps in another week or as often as every day-- in between now and the next practice in the series.
a note on order
I'm presenting these practices in an intentional progression assuming little if any familiarity with breathing practices. You know yourself best; if you find it valuable to pick and choose practices or try them in a different order, I'm all for it!
If you would like to work with a different practice today, the player above includes a playlist with all the practices.
And as ever, if you have questions or feedback on how this practice works for you, I welcome hearing them!
Be moving, be healing, be you,
photo credit hermann wittekopf, found on unsplash
noticing regions of your ribcage
In this episode, I'm offering a practice of breathing "into" your ribcage and then perhaps directing your breathing into eight different regions of your ribcage:
- front top right ribcage
- front top left ribcage
- front bottom right ribcage
- front bottom left ribcage
- back top right ribcage
- back top left ribcage
- back bottom right ribcage
- back bottom left ribcage
Practice #6 intro
Listen to "Breathing Practice 6 intro"
Practice #6
Listen to "Breathing Practice 6"
practice notes
If you found this practice useful, I encourage you to consider repeating it --perhaps in another week or as often as every day-- in between now and the next practice in the series.
a note on order
I'm presenting these practices in an intentional progression assuming little if any familiarity with breathing practices. You know yourself best; if you find it valuable to pick and choose practices or try them in a different order, I'm all for it!
If you would like to work with a different practice today, the player above includes a playlist with all the practices.
And as ever, if you have questions or feedback on how this practice works for you, I welcome hearing them!
Be moving, be healing, be you,
photo credit mitchell luo, found on unsplash
"shaping" your breathing
In this episode, I'm offering a practice of "shaping" your breathing by allowing and restricting movement in different torso regions while breathing (e.g., allowing your belly to bulge while minimizing the rise of your chest as you inhale). You can pick and choose where to allow and where to restrict movement.
Practice #5 Introduction
Listen to "Breathing Practice 5 intro"
Practice #5
Listen to "Breathing Practice 5"
practice notes
If you found this practice useful, I encourage you to consider repeating it --perhaps in another week or as often as every day-- in between now and the next practice in the series.
a note on order
I'm presenting these practices in an intentional progression assuming little if any familiarity with breathing practices. You know yourself best; if you find it valuable to pick and choose practices or try them in a different order, I'm all for it!
If you would like to work with a different practice today, the player above includes a playlist with all the practices.
And as ever, if you have questions or feedback on how this practice works for you, I welcome hearing them!
Be moving, be healing, be you,
photo credit paolo chiabrando, found on unsplash
breathing into your torso
In this practice, I'm offering a practice of "breathing into" different regions of your torso: belly, chest, ribs, back, and the whole torso. If you like, you might draw on the intentional breathing practices from episodes 2 and 3, as well as the noticing of sensation or effort while "shaping" your breathing.
Practice #4 Intro
Listen to "Breathing Practice 4 intro"
Practice #4
Listen to "Breathing Practice 4"
practice notes
If you found this practice useful, I encourage you to consider repeating it --perhaps in another week or as often as every day-- in between now and the next practice in the series.
a note on order
I'm presenting these practices in an intentional progression assuming little if any familiarity with breathing practices. You know yourself best; if you find it valuable to pick and choose practices or try them in a different order, I'm all for it!
If you would like to work with a different practice today, the player above includes a playlist with all the practices.
And as ever, if you have questions or feedback on how this practice works for you, I welcome hearing them!
Be moving, be healing, be you,
photo credit satyajeet mazumdar, found on unsplash
noticing effort
This 12 minute practice revisits some of the offerings from the second practice in this series. In addition, I'm offering the opportunity to notice where in your body you experience sensation or effort within your intentional breathing practice.
Practice #3 Intro
Listen to "Breathing Practice 3 intro"
Practice #3
Listen to "Breathing Practice 3"
practice notes
If you found this practice useful, I encourage you to consider repeating it --perhaps in another week or as often as every day-- in between now and the next practice in the series.
a note on order
I'm presenting these practices in an intentional progression assuming little if any familiarity with breathing practices. You know yourself best; if you find it valuable to pick and choose practices or try them in a different order, I'm all for it!
If you would like to work with a different practice today, the player above includes a playlist with all the practices.
And as ever, if you have questions or feedback on how this practice works for you, I welcome hearing them!
Be moving, be healing, be you,
photo credit roma kaiuk, found on unsplash
Welcome movers! This week's moved to heal practice is part seven in a seven-part series of reclining forms. The theme is taking effective action.
Listen to "#7 Reclining TCTSY Series - Taking Effective Action"
About the Reclining Series
Each episode in this series uses the same sequence of forms and movements (listed below) with a different theme or guiding principle. There is an element of progression in the themes offered. That said, it is not necessary to move through the series in sequence. You can choose to engage with any episode on its own or the full series in any order.
The forms and movements offered in this Reclining Series
- Leg fold in
- Leg lift and fold
- Arm lifts
- Knees side to side
- Side-lying
- Closing
You can participate in this practice by listening and/or moving. You're welcome to do or not do any of the practices, and in whatever manner or degree you choose.
Be moving, be healing, be you
PS. If you'd like to hear more from me, you can sign up for my newsletter. If you'd like to support the podcast with a donation (thank you!), you can do that here.
photo credit aziz acharki, found on unsplash
Welcome movers! This week's moved to heal practice is part # in a seven-part series of reclining forms. The theme is noticing rhythm.
Listen to "#6 Reclining TCTSY Series - Creating Rhythms"
About the Reclining Series
Each episode in this series uses the same sequence of forms and movements (listed below) with a different theme or guiding principle. There is an element of progression in the themes offered. That said, it is not necessary to move through the series in sequence. You can choose to engage with any episode on its own or the full series in any order.
The forms and movements offered in this Reclining Series
- Leg fold in
- Leg lift and fold
- Arm lifts
- Knees side to side
- Side-lying
- Closing
You can participate in this practice by listening and/or moving. You're welcome to do or not do any of the practices, and in whatever manner or degree you choose.
Be moving, be healing, be you
PS. If you'd like to hear more from me, you can sign up for my newsletter. If you'd like to support the podcast with a donation (thank you!), you can do that here.
photo credit marra, found on unsplash
breathing with intention
In this 10 minute practice, I'm offering the opportunity to breathe intentionally through your nose only and/or with longer breaths. I offer time to notice whether or not you experience any effort within your breathing practice.
Practice #2 Introduction
Listen to "Breathing Practice 2 intro"
Practice #2
Listen to "Breathing Practice 2"
practice notes
If you found this practice useful, I encourage you to consider repeating it --perhaps in another week or as often as every day-- in between now and the next practice in the series.
a note on series order
I'm presenting these practices in an intentional progression assuming little if any familiarity with breathing practices. You know yourself best; if you find it valuable to pick and choose practices or try them in a different order, I'm all for it!
If you would like to work with a different practice today, the player above includes a playlist with all the practices (just one prior so far!).
And as ever, if you have questions or feedback on how this practice works for you, I welcome hearing them!
Be moving, be healing, be you,
photo credit ricardo gomez angel, found on unsplash