Moving Into Harmony

MOVEMENT & BREATHING: HEALTH / PERFORMANCE PROGRAMS

The Breath

How to know your breathing’s functional capacities

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Tuning In requires feeling, a turning the dial of your attention and pointing to what you want to listen to. Knowing what to listen to from guidance is very helpful. I can recall when I started my meditation practice, I got lost in “silence.” As time went on my practice dulled and left me somewhat dull with life. Once I began to hear my teacher point at what we needed to pay attention to, my whole practice changed, and therefore my body and my mind….and my life changed.

Feeling, Sleep and the Breath are intimately connected and influence on another. Check out this article about this.

This is also true for the body. Having the right guidance does not mean something else may is wrong. The right guidance provides the right effort. In the Yoga right effort, means to bring together, which is the unifying principle in life. By bringing the mind in direct connection to qualities in the body one can make progress with their practice. The breath is housed in the body and all actions in the body happen because of the companionship with the breath.

So here are a few ways to fine tune your attention to the dynamics of the breath for your practice and your progress:

  • Feeling the breath move the ribs – volume
  • Noticing the rate
  • Noticing where in your chest the breath is
  • How you react to the feeling of breathlessness, the need to breathe – CO2 sensitivity

Feeling is a sense. Actually feeling, or sensing how you are being touched, is directly related to the dynamics of the life force energy (Prana, Qi, the Wind, and other names). Feeling is developed early in life, as early as being inside your mother, being held in a world of warm welcoming watery support (the 4 w’s I like to call it). This is one of our first impressions and it keeps us open and expanding in our development as a human being. The other is true too, that once the outside world is perceived as a threat, we begin to lose that powerful openness and expanding potential by withdrawing. I was shown this phenomena exists even before the heart is formed. (I’ll see if I can find some photos of the cells going toward the edge of the sac and collecting at the place where the umbilical cord will connect…..so, way early in our development.)

Sorry, I got a bit expansive in my awe of this phenomena and how much I desire to stay connected and open. I was also given the amazing wisdom from my teacher – “Feeling is the hardest thing to do as a human.” He would encourage me, when I was tied in a knot….a shape to allow my body through my interaction with the life force inside with each breath, he would kindly say “scratch the window.” Scratch the window……coupled with a poem during that time by David Whyte – Just Beyond Yourself.

Want to go a little beyond yourself and feel how the breath is working with you?

Start with Feeling. Most guidance will have you start with inhalation. I want to offer something different:

  • Start by feeling the ground that supports you. Can you trust and let go into that support below you and inside you?
    • Lying down on your back – feel from your head to your heels the ground supporting you. Can you let go into that support?
    • Sitting – feel the base of your pelvis centering on your sit bones without striving or holding AND feel aliveness in your ankles and feet (THIS is very important concept about the legs supporting you in sitting, and it comes from standing and squatting).
    • Standing – feel the feet on the earth and notice how they are on the earth (4POINTS); and how there is a descending support that comes from your letting the ground support you through the bones from the back body – tuft of skull to your heels; and front body, from your navel to your ankles….this whole region being allowed to descend into the feet. This is a practice within itself – a standing practice of finding what truly supports you. You can listen here for a guidance I give on standing.
  • In this descending process, letting go into sustainable support, can you notice your letting go in the breath? The exhale. Feel how the exhale comes from you letting go, descending.
    • The exhale can be felt in the physical body on the surface as a cascading descending feeling off the neck and shoulders – down the ribs into the belly.
    • A quality of spaciousness may be felt in the belly as you release. This keeps you from squeezing the belly and abdomen in attempt to move the exhale, and push it out. This will bring adaptations you do not want. Trust me, I did this for many years and the re-learning has taken some time and my body has had to adjust to unraveling what I thought was the way. I have learned from this BIG mistake (thank you!thank you!thank you!) in time and I know I can find my way back (I’m that little gnome at the edge of the trail whispering…..”go that way.”
    • The inhalation is determined by the exhalation and the space that is created. Then the inhalation gets invited into the doors of opening and in companionship with you fills you up where the body can take it. The mind has to observe this quality, because the mind can not comprehend all the intricacies and inter-related dynamics of what is going to happen on the next breath, so why use the mind to push the breath – why not be observant and feel what is moved and shifts with the motivation of the breath. This is the role of the life force, to move you and motivate you, and it will do what ever you ask for the activity you are in. Your true companion.
  • Then, at the end of the exhale, even when you don’t feel air leaving your nose, you might notice a pause. Please do not manufacture a pause. It is naturally occurring, and usually present when your BOLT score (see video below to measure) is above 15-18. So feel if that is present.
  • Then, in that pause, there is the origins, or initiation, of the in-breath. So from the belly, feel your breath originate below your navel and this motivation will give rise and expansion to the lower ribs. You can imagine your cup is being filled from the bottom up, but again please do not manufacture this, it is just an image not something your mind needs to do. This is your inhalation. From the low ribs to the tops of your shoulders and base of neck. Rejoice in receiving this breath and how it moves you.

Let’s discuss Rhythm. I mentioned above feeling the sequence of the breath. Now like the bass of the band, or the drummers beat, there is a rhythm. This is a rate, or pulse in the breath. In exercise physiology (and respiratory physiology) the rate is counted and described per minute. Best measured by a device or someone counting your breaths without you knowing they are watching and counting your breaths. The mind will get involved and your rate will not be accurate the moment you watch it or feel you are being watched….just the way of the mind. So, your respiratory rate (RR) is best measured by a device. I am working on a way to link into what you might feel is your natural rhythm and rate…..stay tuned.

Nasal breathing vs. Mouth breathing. This article can help. For now you can inquire into your way of breathing – through your day do you nasal breathe or mouth breathe? and, as you walk or exercise or get into a bit of an intense level of activity (can even be mind), do you mouth breathe or nasal breathe?

Your sensitivity to CO2 (the by-product of your metabolism) is a very important gas to understand how it works in your body….it is not bad for you.

I offer this simple measure for you to discover your sensitivity to CO2 and your breathing functions and capacities.

Want to learn more about how you can harness the power behind each breath you take, and how to make the most out of your health & fitness program?

Article by Shawn M Flot, MPT. He is now a Certified Oxygen Advantage® Instructor. Combined with his 28year experience in Exercise Physiology, Physical Therapist for health and performance, and a dedicated Yoga practitioner is making for a power-house to help many people succeed in re-discovering their own health, healing and well-being.

The Amazing Health Benefits of the Breath – Nitric Oxide

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Nitric Oxide was originally discovered in 1986 by Dr. Louis Ignarro in his lab. And he and two of his colleges were awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1998. This naturally produced gas is as important for the health of the human body as Vitamin D. YEP!!!!

From Dr. Ignarro are the key benefits he found with Nitric Oxide. Through nasal breathing this substance is stimulated and circulated from the paranasal sinuses into the respiratory tract. The lining of the respiratory tract has a strong affinity for nitric oxide for support with immune function, tissue health and healing, and circulation/exchange of respiratory gases. WOW! NOW you know how smart the body is, and how the nose is intimately tied to your health.

Here is a lecture by Dr. Ignarro

As for the importance of healthy nasal passages – the ole osteopaths, Dr. Andrew Still & Dr. William Sutherland, referred to the ethmoid bone (the passages from which the air through the nasal passages pass into the skull to vibrate the pituitary gland) are the “lungs of the cranium.” BOOM!

Here is another video/podcast with Dr. Ignarro with some great insights:

Are you strong enough and ready for your adventure?

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Breathing is essential to Men’s Health

A vital question for men and men’s health – Is your tent still erect at sunrise?
Are you up and ready to meet the the adventure of the day?
Or is it too much effort to rise to what’s lies ahead of you?
For men’s health this has many levels of relating to your health, vitality and feelings of security in your relationship. Even in the field of physical therapy, Men’s Health magazine explains how erectile function is impacted by breathing and the pelvic floor.

For women who care about their man’s health & well-being – how does your man rise in the morning? How is the tent post…..under the covers? or is he groogy, slow to move, run down and unable to be motivated for the day’s adventure?

This is a subject a lot of men and women are shy to talk about. Erectile Dysfunction, or ED as the mainstream try to streamline the taboo and insecurities around the word – erect. And if you shelter up in the wild backcountry, exploring great adventures, you understand the importance of a secure erect shelter, or tent.

For men’s health, the morning of a good erection is the sign of a healthy pelvis, and a great day of adventure ahead. How can this be you ask? Let’s explore this vital topic.

Rear view of two young people holding hands enjoy the morning scenery of the mountains on which the fog descended. View from inside a tent

And one the repeated message I hear when studying with Patrick McKeown – breathing expert, master teacher and author of several books on Breathing Health & Performance – is one sign of a man’s good health can be measured by the natural erection that occurs in the morning upon waking. Yes, a good sleep allows dependent on your breathing determines your ability to rise to all occasions and adventure ahead of you.

At this point in the interview Patrick McKeown, founder of the Oxygen Advantage, talks about breathing and erectile dysfunction

Sleep is the number one vital component for a successful and enjoyable adventure. It out-weighs the weight of the pack on your back, the food you prepare and devour, or how many miles you travel that day. Without the proper sleep, your body will not recover and the consequences of less than vital capacities leaves you at risk, less that able to perform, and worse …. unable to rise to the occasion when the adventure needs you the most.

What makes for good quality sleep? Let’s unpack the components that can make sleep optimal for you:

Quality

“I had a good night’s sleep”

How do you know? You may feel okay because you have habituated to the quality of sleep you are missing!

Do you wake up with a tent propped? Doesn’t have to be every morning but more than not, I suggest your erectile nature in the wakeup is indicative to your body getting the rest and circulation it needs. You can’t make love, have sex, when you are running from a tiger!

Refreshed feelings, clear head & eyes, flexible body, moist mouth, and a great BOLT score (click here to measure) are good measures to a good night’s restorative sleep. The BOLT score is especially important if you are exploring at altitude to see how well you are acclimatizing to the higher terrain and thinner air.

Breathing & Sleep

How your breathing at night has a major effect on how you recovered during sleep AND how much resources you have available for the day ahead.

How you feel and the circulation in your pelvis relates directly to how your breathing was in the night.

You may want to ask your partner you are sharing a tent with if there was noise. It can be from the mouth….VERY BAD!!! or it can come from a shut mouth……GOOD! but a very turbulent nasal breath……BAD!

I suggest to everyone to trial mouth taping during the day, to avoid freak out at night pulling the tape off your lips….ouch! and then mouth tape at night and compare how you feel….and perhaps if something is now holding the tent up.

Deep recovery and deep restoration during sleep require quiet and soft breathing. This is often a very under-valued part of your adventure. It can make or break your trip. Nocturnal hypoxia is the number one factor in people who get high-altitude sickness and don’t do well.

Day =>>> Night

How you breathe during the day determines how you breathe at night. The biggest change you can make is to breathe thru your nose unless your activity gets very intense. Surprisingly your ability to breathe thru your nose, especially at night is directly related to your pelvic health…. men’s health.

If you had a very taxing day and there was a lot of labored, heavy breathing, then the night time will be somewhat more turbulent or even loud.

It is best to cultivate a daily functional breathing pattern that incorporates the appropriate type of breathing for the level of the activity.

The gears of breathing are related to the intensity of the exercise or activity. If you can address habitual tendencies with awareness of how your breathe AND know what types of breathing to match the intensity instead of default you can remarkably improve your capacity and your ability to minimize the suffering, that unfortunately gets accepted when you are exploring the great outdoors with everything on your back.

Breathing is primary, and if it suffers the fate of unconditioned response, then you will suffer unnecessarily; your confidence goes down, AND more importantly you loose the memory of a good trip because your mind had to deal with you suffering; and surviving your unnecessary suffering does not make you a great explorer.