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
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
engaging with your breathing: an introductory series
The practices are here! I've been sharing a lot of concept and theory and now am ready to begin sharing a series of breathing practices that might help put some of the ideas of becoming more engaged with your breathing into practice.
In case you're stumbling on to this for the first time or just want a refresher on the intention of this practice series, I recorded an introduction that you can listen to here:
Listen to "Breathing Series Introduction"
ready to practice?
Below is the first in the breathing series practices. It's an observation and awareness-building practice. It's about 10 minutes long.
If you'd like to give this practice a try, please do as you need to feel prepared, whether that's in setting up your space or finding a quiet moment to yourself or pre-listening to make sure you want to go through the practice at all.
Listen to "Breathing Practice 1"
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, which I'll release on Dec 12.
And as ever, if you have questions or feedback on how this practice works for you, I welcome hearing them!
Be moving, be true, be you,
photo credit jesse martini, found on unsplash
starting with the perfect plan
When I get excited about an idea for a new project or objective, I make a plan that is full of hope and idealism. I tackle something new with the same confidence in my ability to follow through as if it were old hat, counting on expending only the time and energy it would take to do something solidly in my wheelhouse.
You might think about your daily responsibilities (at home or work or elsewhere): probably there are tasks that you can get done satisfactorily even if you're tired, unfocused, or just not feeling it.
Those are the kinds of tasks that are easy to put in a plan. You know how long they take, you know what resources you need, you know your mood or energy or motivation isn't a critical factor in getting them done.
But when you're doing something new or imposing a change on your patterns, there will almost surely be a lot of surprises, emotion, and learning to contend with. Even if it's in a field in which you have experience, establishing a new skill, knowledge, or habit takes extra time, effort, and creative energy. You're building something new in yourself; it's not going to go according to the first plan.
there won't be just one plan
These days when I plan out a new project or schedule, I start out with the ideal. And then I double the time allotted. This is to make space primarily for *anticipated* realities of the process: days when I am too tired to be productive, days when I'm distracted and don't get enough accomplished, something taking twice as long to learn, or wanting to go back to the drawing board with a particular question or idea. These are all things that almost *always* happen during a new project.
Planning for these is my least favorite part, even though I've been doing it for years. I like responding to changes in a plan, but planning for them is frustrating because you can't know when or where or how these anticipated twists and turns are going to show up. It is a bit like going step by step into the unknown... pretending like you are in control.
So, when embarking on a new project or objective, like, say, exploring your breathing and building a practice of focused breathing, it might be worth sitting with your hopes and expectations not only for an outcome, but also for the process.
finding what pulls you in
In every big project I've ever done, there's been a period during which I just lose interest. I get bored with my own ideas and question the validity of what I'm doing. And I've learned that this lull is a phase like any other. It's always been worth sticking with it through the days or weeks of stalled progress to take stock and look deeper into the original motivation and where things are actually at, usually through reflection or research (rather than actions steps on the plan, because at this point, it's not the right plan anymore!).
I am motivated by interest and joy, rather than, say, accomplishment or reward, and so staying the course is about continuously exploring what's pulling me in.
With breathing work, for example, I am drawn in by the ways it feels. The experience of feeling my body change in the moment because of something I'm doing. Other ways one might be motivated could be by the way you feel after doing a breathing practice or by believing that you're doing something good for your health and longevity. You might find yourself motivated by one or several factors.
It's helpful, when bringing a new idea into action, to reflect on and come back to whatever it is that pulls you in and makes you want to learn, to build a new skill or knowledge, or to shape a new way of being, because your sure-fire plan will most certainly shift and change with the journey.
Here's to letting it be an enjoyable, if complex, process!
Be moving, be true, be you,
photo credit roma kaiuk, found on unsplash
defining your "better"
Some of us have a general sense that we want to breathe "better" --but what does that mean? Because of the way breathing works, it is going to mean different things for different people. It involves both where you want to end up and where you are now. I share more about that in the video below, enjoy!
A full-bodied approach to breathing
Last week and at the end of the above video, I mentioned an approach to breathing that I've referred to as "ribcage breathing," "directional breathing," and "core-connected breathing" --and all of these names are clunky and limiting. Sometimes words just aren't the best means of communication!
And because this is an approach that brings in a few layers of awareness and skill, drawing on any one element for the name is selling it short. Perhaps it should remain nameless?
In the next series of recordings, I'll guide you through a process of becoming aware of the way you breathe now, exercise some conscious breathing, and some controlled breathing. I hope you'll take from it what is useful to you and let the rest fall by the wayside.
And instead of naming the breathing, I'll just give this series a label: An introduction to engaging with your breathing. Below is an overview of my plan for what that introduction will include!
Engaging with your breathing
An introductory 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 video two 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 video, 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 video will be part anatomy lesson! We'll look at 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 video, I'll invite you to practice exercising the abdominal-diaphragm connection to encourage your ribcage to move into a "postural neutral" position.
10. bringing awareness into all shapes
In this final practice of the series, I'll guide you through some familiar yoga / exercise movements while referring to some of the breathing principles covered in the series, taking your new knowledge and skill into form and movement!
That's the plan anyway... we'll see how it turns out in practice!
Be moving, be healing, be you
photo credit kensuke saito surf photography, found on unsplash