Belly Breathing

Hi Bonnie

The instruction for sucking in the stomach is an odd one. Many misconstrue it for being THE way to encourage core strength. So consequently you hear it again and again.

When you can manage to draw in your core it is more subtle than a full-on suck-in-the-stomach action! It involves the deep abdominal as well as perineal muscles (and others!). One of the ways that ‘sucking in the stomach’ helps is by holding firm the spinal muscles due to the hydraulic pressure of the organs against these supportive structures. Or thinking of it in another way, if you have no abdominal tone then you have a whole raft of fluid filled structures sloshing around down there. You may be getting a sense of how important it is to have some ‘control’ in order to gain the required stability.

So drawing in the belly in one part and then letting the rest stick out may be a difficult way of visualizing what you need to do. Be patient with yourself BonMar! When you try to activate these deeper abdominal muscles with the aim of stabilization rather than sucking in the stomach you may find you have a greater freedom with your abdomino-diaphragmatic breathing. Hopefully your breath in Half Moon will flow more easily.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Yes Bonnie, it is amazing how the best answers to our problems are often the most simple. I am happy the ideas in the video are helping you.

I imagine you feel quite disappointed with news of the delayed studio opening!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂