excerpt from The Guidebook of Somatic Transformational Exercises

COORDINATING MOVEMENT AND BREATHING
introductory ideas

    Breathing problems usually involve arrested (or restricted) movements of breathing. The muscles involved —- the diaphragm, the abdominal muscles, and the muscles that move the ribs (including the scalene muscles of the neck) --  hold residual tension.  As a result, people either exhale incompletely or inhale incompletely.

    Instruction for improving breathing often emphasizes abdominal breathing.  This instruction is important for people who have developed the habit of holding their belly tight; a “tight gut” reduces breathing capacity and increases the load on the heart.  However, breathing involves more than the diaphragm; it also involves the inflation of the rib cage.  Therefore, it is also necessary that the ribs move freely and that the neck be free of habitual tension.  To hold the ribs immobile to breathe with the diaphragm reduces breathing capacity and adds stress to the body; tight neck muscles pull up on the ribs and reduce the ability to exhale.

    Free breathing looks like inflation of the entire torso and feels like inflation of the entire body.  If this is not your experience, feel where the restrictions are as you inhale if you can, then choose transformations that enable you to relax those restrictions.  If you cannot feel where your restrictions are, start with the beginning exercises.

    The following transformations progressively free and coordinate the movements of breathing.
 
 

PREPARATION FOR BREATHING MANEUVERS


 


THE ESSENCE OF THIS MOVEMENT:  slowing down and smoothing out your breathing

EXPECTED RESULTS:

  • more relaxed breathing, more relaxed ribs
  • longer neck, more erect posture
  • a sense of calm

STARTING POSITION: lying on your back, knees up & together

If reading aloud to a partner or to a group, present the following instructions twice, as rehearsals, until people get the picture.

PREPARATION: 5 slow breath cycles (work comfortably within your capacity -- no need to force!)

  • 6 seconds inhale, 2 second pause
  • 6 seconds exhale, 3 second pause
  • 6 seconds inhale, 4 second pause
  • 6 seconds exhale, 5 second pause
  • 6 seconds exhale, 6 second pause

  • Rest and breathe naturally.
Perform four (4) times, total.

ARCH & CURL (T. Hanna/L. Gold/L. Contier)

THE ESSENCE OF THIS MOVEMENT:  equalizing strength and smoothness of control of the muscles of the back and front of the torso, and of breathing

STARTING POSITION:

  • lying on your back
  • knees up
  • feet near your buttocks, legs balanced upright

  1. Interlace your fingers and place your hands behind your neck.
  2. Lay your elbows out flat on the floor.
  3. Arch backward:  SIMULTANEOUSLY:
    • Inhale.
    • Gently and gradually arch the small of your back off the floor.
    • Press your elbows, the back of your head, and your tailbone down.
      Þ Pull your heels toward your buttocks by tightening the backs of your legs.

      Do this a few times, tightening and relaxing, until you feel what it does to the rest of your body.

      Þ Shrug your shoulders.

      Do this a few times, tightening and relaxing, until you feel it in your neck.

  • Curl forward:  SIMULTANEOUSLY:
    • Begin to exhale.
    • Flatten your back by relaxing all efforts in Step #3.
    • Bring your elbows together.  (pause)
     NOW:
    • Continue to exhale.
    • Gently squeeze the sides of your head with your forearms.
    • Point your elbows at your knees.
    • Lift your head and look at your knees.
    • Exhale completely.
      Þ Slide or push your feet away from your buttocks, to help your back flatten.


    While curled:

  • Inhale until you can get no more air in.

    Then, (SIMULTANEOUSLY:)

  • Continue to inhale as you gently let yourself down.
  • Spread your elbows, arch your back, and press your head down. Repeat four times more or until the feeling becomes familiar to you.


     


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    		 The Guidebook of Somatic Transformational Exercises
    by Lawrence Gold, C.H.S.E.
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