Breathe Freely with FlexAware
Posted on Tue, Jan 24, 2012
By Steven Shafarman
Please be aware of your breathing for a moment.
Are you breathing freely, fully, easily? Or does your breathing seem shallow? Is there some strain or difficulty? Do you sometimes notice that you are or were holding your breath?
Shallow or ineffective breathing is a common sign of a stress and a cause of stress. It may therefore be a significant factor in chronic pain of any kind; may increase the frequency of asthma attacks or the severity of COPD; may reduce the functioning of the immune system and digestive system; and may impair the efficacy of medical treatments for Lyme disease, cancer, MS, and other conditions.
We mostly take breathing for granted, except when there’s some difficulty, such as shortness of breath or an asthma attack. Taking it for granted, however, often leaves us without the skills and knowledge to respond effectively when there is some difficulty.
Here are two images for good breathing. And a simple way to improve your breathing:
A common idea is to breathe with or into the belly. The belly or abdomen should expand or protrude while inhaling, and retract while exhaling. Some people call that diaphragmatic breathing, referring to the diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle that divides the trunk. Those who recommend belly or diaphragmatic breathing often contrast it with breathing in the upper chest, which is presumed to be shallow, inefficient, and associated with stress, anxiety, panic attacks, and depression.
Is that what you’ve been taught? Are you doing that now? Is your belly protruding and retracting?
Another image, mine, comes from observing healthy young children. Recall a time when you watched a young child, perhaps your daughter or grandson. With every breath there’s movement in the front and sides and back. The trunk expands all around and contracts all around. It’s like a balloon inflating and deflating, or a sponge being squeezed and released. You’ve seen that; we all have. And you’ve felt it when carrying a child who’s sleeping.
Breathing, as both images show, happens with changing volume. The trunk expands, and air comes in to fill the space. The volume decreases, and air is squeezed out. The conventional focus is on the chest and belly. My image adds awareness of what’s happening in back, the muscles there and the way the ribs move; that, in my experience, is the key to breathing freely.
Touch your belly, please, and notice what happens as you breathe. Do you feel some movement there? If you’re not sure, breathe a bit more fully, slowly and comfortably. As you do that, also explore and touch different places. Can you detect some movement in your lower ribs? In your sides? In back, where your ribs attach to your spine?
A simple and remarkably effective way to improve your breathing, and a central feature of FlexAware, is to picture your trunk as a sponge. Exhaling is like squeezing a sponge; your ribs act like fingers, moving downward and inward. Inhaling is like releasing a sponge and letting it fill again.
FlexAware exercises use this image to increase the mobility of the ribs and, thus, the volume of the trunk. You can apply this image anywhere, anytime, sitting at your desk or in your car, for example, or walking down the street or lying in bed. Regardless of your age and health condition, you’ll find that the more you practice it, the more effective it is for helping you breathe freely and easily.
Steven Shafarman is a FlexAware teacher and Feldenkrais Method practitioner at NIHA, an integrative medicine and dental center serving the Washington DC area. He is the author of Awareness Heals and the FlexAware Fitness DVD. He is available for free phone consultations at 202-557-8384. More information about FlexAware is at www.FlexAware.com.
Next FlexAware Class: On February 4, 10am – noon, he’ll be teaching a basic FlexAware class, Breathe Freely, Move Easily at National Integrated Health Associates. Register here.