Breathing

Breathing to Restore Emotional Resilience and Metabolic Health

Published: 15 February 2017
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
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Categories: Breathing, Community Classes

The Breath of Life

Learn about normal and paradoxical breathing, how the structure of your head can interfere with breathing, how to use your breath to calm down or generate more energy.  Hear Facts, revelations, and engage in practices leading to mastery of your metabolism via your breathing patterns. Take part in a 4 part series on Breathing to Restore Resilience and Metabolic Health.

Breathe in silently through every pore of your skin.  

Breathe out silently through every pore of your skin.  

You are your breath. You came in with a breath. You go out with a breath.

 

Learning to Let Go Exercise…

Go to the bottom of your breath and don’t breathe at ALL (until you REALLY want to). It can be an incredible relief to NOT HAVE TO breathe. It can also restore your access to the relaxation response.  Practice every night before you drop off to sleep.

Let Your Tongue Rest on the roof of your mouth….

Your tongue is the spacer for the cranial bones; it keeps your upper palate wide and the nasal passages open so you can breathe through your nose as we were designed to. Mouth breathing leads to hidden hyperventilation.   People who breathe through their mouth will think they have to because the nasal passages are blocked. Breathing through your mouth CREATES blocked nasal passages.   Asthma can be eliminated by correcting overbreathing and hidden hyperventilation. (Look up Eucapnic Buteyko Breathing.)

Breathing for Life 3.17  (pdf)

Did You KNOW?

The Diaphragm is your gear shift lever between the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous System?

It massages the vital organs and keeps them healthy?

It can get twisted and collapse?

That the problems with your feet can be a consequence of problems in your Diaphragm?

Watch this video (in French) and attend a 4 part series on Breathing to Restore Emotional Resilience and Metabolic Health at Healus Neuro Rehab Center

 

Roger Fiammetti

Tired? Depressed? Anxious? Can’t Sleep?

Published: 23 August 2014
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
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Categories: Breathing, Community Classes, On The Path

Test yourself for Metabolic Imbalance.

Here’s How!

Breathe in and out normally and then, at the end of an exhale, don’t breathe in again until you absolutely have to…COUNT the seconds until you feel you absolutely HAVE to take another breath. You should be able to get to 35 seconds. If you can’t, you likely have hidden hyperventilation and need to come to our next client education class: It Begins with the Breath.

It all begins with the Breath. Breathing is fundamental to our metabolic efficiency. Abnormal breathing patterns produce abnormal metabolism and a host of conditions no one thinks to relate to breathing.

What does the breathing mechanism actually accomplish?

Sarah Young of Women of Movement FaceBook group sent me an amazing link on breathing by Roger Fiammetti, author of “Respire! Respiration Totale Pour Tous”. I want to share it here for all who are interested in the breathing mechanism in all it’s glory. It’s in French, but I think the pictures tell the whole story.

Translation
Total respiration allows for the restoration of the perfect balance of our bodies. It allows the mobilization of the different diaphragms. The most well-known being the Thoracic Diaphragm, but also the Cranial Diaphragm, the Cervical Diaphragm and the Pelvic Diaphragm. These different diaphragms are going to stimulate the various levels of the nervous plexus that appear on the screen.

These four diaphragms have an expansive ability to manage the cerebral flax and the tentorium. The cervical diaphragm is made up of the tongue and the muscles of the Sternocleidomastoid. The well-known thoracic diaphragm is a domed muscle that separates the abdomen from the thoracic cage. The Pelvic Diaphragm is a big basket of muscles that ties the sacrum to the bones of the iliac and the bones of the basin. These diaphragms work together in synergy and stimulate the circulatory system as well as stimulate the central nervous system.

The Thoracic Diaphragm is a very interesting and very important muscle that descends upon inspiration and ascends upon expiration. This mobilizes the viscera; the intestines, the liver, the pancreas, the bladder. These viscera will descend and ascend and will stimulate the pelvic diaphragm. This dynamic illustration shows the mobilization of the whole lumbar spine during respiration.

The diaphragms and respiration play a role in brewing the viscera. All the muscles go into action during respiration: the back muscles, the muscles at the level of the throat, the muscles at the level of the jaw, the muscles at the level of the neck. The ribs mobilize and expand during inspiration and retract during expiration. And during respiration, the muscles of the abdomen are not only important for forced expiration but also provide a certain resistance to the diaphragm. This allows you to breathe slowly into the stomach and the perineum.”

The Importance of Breath for Healing and Structural Integrity

Published: 27 March 2014
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
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Categories: Breathing, Community Classes, Uncategorized

breatheBreathing with the diaphragm is crucial to healing from structural injuries, whether they are generated from injury or shock. When we get into accidents, arguments, or other physically or emotionally traumatic experiences, our initial response is to hold our breath. By locking the diaphragm, we signal our body to go into a state of shock. This shuts down many of our restorative physical systems, and re-routes energy to our muscles so that we can fight or flee as necessary to get through the situation we are in.

Once that moment passes, it is necessary that we consciously release the contraction from the diaphragm. If we do not, the contraction (at this point, a fixation) in the diaphragm will persist, and will continue to keep us in a state of shock, during which the body cannot heal tissue or perform vital functions.

The diaphragm has 3 essential functions:

1. It provides a platform of support between the top and bottom of the body.
It is at the diaphragm that our body twists to accomplish contra-lateral coordination between our shoulders and hips as we walk and work. When it is fixated, not toned, or not working properly, our structure collapses and twists, creating weakness in some places and stress points in others.

2. It regulates the shift between the state of alarm and the state of relaxation. When it locks or collapses from having “the breath knocked out of you”, the nervous system can become stuck in the alarm response. This is called Sympathetic Hyper Arousal. SHA shuts down many restorative functions of the body (like digestion, immune system function, and detoxification of chemicals in the liver) in favor of emergency functions. This condition will not resolve until the diaphragm is unlocked and able to function properly.

3. It is the one autonomic nervous system function that we can consciously control! Though you can’t think your way into digesting food more quickly (wouldn’t that be nice) it is possible to speed or slow the breath just by thinking about it. We can use this mechanism to self regulate our nervous system and shift ourselves into a more relaxed state. woman-breathing2It is only in a state of relaxation and slow breathing that our body performs important tasks like repairing muscle and joint tissues, nourishing and hydrating the skin, actively absorbing nutrients from the food we eat, deeply relaxing into restorative sleep, and allowing the body to enter a state of sexual arousal. That’s right, beauty, health, and a great sex life, all by taking some time out to breathe! No wonder the disciplines of yoga and meditation incorporate a focus on the breath as a steppingstone to personal mastery.

Try it out! Down-shifting the nervous system by slowing the breath is not as complicated as some make it seem. Start simple. Count to 2 on the in-breath, and then 2 on the out-breath. Do this until your breathing evens out and becomes comfortable. Then, count to 3 on the in-breath, and 3 on the out-breath. Continue this for about 10 breaths, until it is comfortable. Then, increase to a count of 4 on the in-breath, and 4 on the out-breath. This is the frequency that dials in what is called the “Therapeutic State”. You may notice some changes as you slow your breath, like gurgling in your tummy (organs releasing and draining), or a softening of your vision. You may also begin to yawn, or feel sleepy. These are all positive changes. If it’s uncomfortable, just stick with it! You may experience moments of discomfort or anxiety while you slow your breath. This is normal, just stay with it and the feeling will pass. And remember, just 5 minutes of slow breathing each day can enhance your body’s ability to heal and stay healthy.

Few people understand the significance of shock to our body’s healing processes. It is the most consistent measure by which we can project a quick and easy (or a drawn-out) recovery. Shock can create or exacerbate a whole host of imbalances in the physical structure, including digestive disorders, constantly torqued (or subluxated) vertebral segments, brain function problems such as focus, concentration and organization, psychological anxiety and depression, ADD, low energy, constant low back pain, and persistent muscle weakness (even when exercising).

breathe-you-are-aliveThe breath is the most important tool that we have to shift ourselves out of a state of shock, and is vitally important for the recalibration of metabolic and structural imbalances. It is one of the easiest things that you can do for your body, today and everyday, to nurture a state of vibrant well-being.

At Healus, we incorporate abdominal massage and stress reduction techniques into our treatments to address diaphragm fixations, organ stagnation, and SHA (Sympathetic Hyper Arousal). Click Here to find out how!

 

 

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Test Yourself for Hidden Hyperventilation

Published: 25 July 2013
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
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Categories: Breathing, Community Classes, Techniques, Uncategorized

Holding breathHidden Hyperventilation is a state of metabolic imbalance that produces a felt sense of worry or anxiety. Test yourself by following these simple steps:

Sit quietly and observe your breathing. How fast is it? Is it shallow or deep?
Now see if you can slow it down to a count of 3 on the in-breath and 3 on the out-breath.

At the end of a regular out-breath, hold your breath with no air in your lungs and count the seconds. Don’t breath until you absolutely have to. Relax if you can, you’ll last longer. The goal is 35 seconds.

If you can’t make it to 35 seconds, your blood chemistry is NOT normal. If you hit the panic button at 15 or below you do not have enough carbon dioxide retained in your blood and your body has shut down your oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange rate. This is a crucial problem for many metabolic activities. Thus when you hold your breath out, you quickly run out of oxygen… And survival becomes a question. Hence the panic response right below the surface. Some people experience regular panic attacks. This is why. Their metabolism is out of control.

If you can’t push past the first limit to get to 35 seconds, you should call the Healus Center clinic and schedule a FREE NEUROMUSCULAR Assessment/appointment.

Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise

Published: 19 February 2013
Written by Jocelyn Olivier
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Categories: Breathing, Community Classes, Techniques

Breathing with the diaphragm is crucial to healing from structural injuries, whether they are generated from injury or shock. Find out how to do simple diaphragm exercises to facilitate healing and structural integration.

Did you know that improving diaphragm function can reduce healing time and even improve skin tone? Click Here to read more about the Diaphram and it’s many important functions!