Have you ever noticed the breathing patterns of someone you are in bed with?
You can tell when that person (or dog) falls asleep because their breathing changes. Suddenly, their breath becomes fuller, there is increased mobility in their ribs, and their breath is much more rhythmic.
This full, rhythmic breathing is one main reason sleep refreshes and revives us. So why not live our waking lives breathing as close to this pattern of breath as possible?
First, I will demonstrate with the skeleton how the joints for breathing are in your back, so you don’t waste time trying to breathe into your belly. As Noelle Perez, the creator of Balance (Aplomb in French), so rightly pointed out, “There’s no lung tissue in the belly.”
Years ago, I attended a talk by Barbara Marx Hubbard, who described herself, at that time, as a futurist and political candidate. Her main point was that the defining aspect of any person is their belief system.
It stunned me. But now from my elevated perch of having lived 78 years, I know in my heart of hearts, that she was totally correct.
What we believe determines how we behave and what we do.
So it’s important that we understand that breathing does not happen in our belly. The belly moves as the diaphragm goes up and down, but you mainly breathe in your thoracic spine and ribs, where there is lung tissue.
Once you absorb this new understanding you will feel the difference between sending your breath into your belly and sending your breath into your back.
When you breathe into your back the struggle stops. Yes, it takes practice. But like musicians and athletes, students of Balance understand the importance of practice.
To learn more about this, we’ve completed a course for this material. Feel free to peruse our Self-Study store.
