Do you want to learn a simple, effective and totally awesome tip for optimal wellness? Just breath!
Yes, it’s true, the breathing part is the secret to your best workouts and if you don’t believe me, ask your yoga or pilates teacher, your personal trainer or even your voice coach.
A full, well-placed inhale fuels your body…cells and all…with lots of nutritious oxygen. As Blandine Calais-Germain, says in her groundbreaking book “Anatomy of Breathing”, “The cells in the tissues need oxygen to function properly, and it is brought to them from the lungs and the heart.” A long and vigorous exhale triggers your reflexive core connection, protecting and stabilizing your organs and spine.
Inhale, we breath in.
Exhale, we breath out.
When we breath in air, our heart takes it and alchemizes it into oxygen (which we need) and carbon dioxide (which we do not need). Via the blood vessels, the heart sends the oxygen to the body (“yea…dinner!) and expels the carbon dioxide with an exhale.
We benefit the most from our inhales if we start by filling the lowest lobes of the lungs. If you think of expanding the bottom edge of your ribcage all around your spine, you will get that air into those lowest lobes. Practice this in the mirror – you should see your low ribcage and belly expand. You should not see your shoulders raise up by your ears.
When we breath out, our insides (muscle and connective tissue) tighten a little around our belly, contracting what Sue Hitzmann, creator of The MELT Method calls the Reflexive Core. Try taking a nice inhale through your nose, expanding your ribs and belly and now blow the air out through your mouth with a shhhh or ssss sound (it feels like you are pushing air against your teeth). Notice how your belly deflates, your belly button pulls in and your ribs knit down and together. Voila! A little core connection that your body does automatically. Says Sue Hitzmann, “…The Reflexive Core mechanism’s purpose is to support and protect your vital organs and spine.”
These two simple, but foundational breath exercises give your cells a boost of oxygen and protect and stabilize you in the safest and most efficient way so you are ready for anything!
There is one final piece of wisdom that we need to respect when it comes to our breathing, and that is that our body breathes for us automatically and it does a good job of it. In “Yoga: Fascia, Anatomy and Movement”, renowned author and anatomist Joanne Avison reminds us that “…the elastic breath is designed as an exercise to be done consciously for a few minutes…The breathing body is instinctive and it is not designed for us to think it through the day’s activities.” In other words, let your body do the breathing for most of day, and utilize these breath techniques during workout or mindfulness sessions.
