Breath; it is your most natural resource. It goes with you wherever you are and will be with you as long as you are alive. It’s also one of the few things that we can both consciously alter, harness and use to help us. Unconsciously it has the power to harness us, altering our mood and our physiology. In yoga we use the breath as a tool to stay present to what we’re experiencing but is your yoga breathing harming you? Allow me to lay some context for this by sharing my personal experience with breath…

When I was 24 and in my first teacher training my teacher at the time saw me in a pose with my belly “sticking out” and quickly cued “Kim, pull in your belly”. I was not fat mind you, I was actually extremely underweight and in the throws of an eating disorder. I was simply allowing my belly to relax but promptly pulled it in tight, which gleaned the approval of my eagle eye teacher. I would later learn this was to protect my lower back and strengthen my abs. I wanted those things and so I did pull my belly in corseting my back for protection. I would continue to be (and hear others) to be cued to pull their low belly in repeatedly over the next few years.
My teacher was big on pulling the low belly in or down while expanding the ribs up and o
ut. This breathing pattern was deeply ingrained in me as the correct and necessary ways to breathe properly. Doing so repeatedly drastically changed my posture – as eventually I began thrusting my ribs forward to accommodate my habit of drawing up and in. A celebrated move in some styles of yoga, this posture is often called “heart opening” and coupled with dramatic backbends. For me however, it was creating postural imbalances that eventually led to much confusion in my body.

This impression of my first teacher training stayed with me for years, as was tucking the tailbone down (but that’s another post for another day or just attend my upcoming workshop Happy Hips; Tips & Tricks). This pulling the belly in while expanding and telescoping the ribs during challenging poses is the reason believe I got addicted (more on that in a moment) to asana and the grounds for much discomfort, digestive issues and eventually this habit created much body confusion with my spine, ribs and tailbone.

I know I’m not alone in this practice, many people walk around with their stomachs constantly held in. Especially in the fitness industry where many a midriff are showing we constantly bombarded with the messaging to get “flat abs” or “banish belly bloat” we might be told to “suck it in” or “hold the abdominals tight” to help protect our spines, and look good while doing it! There is so much confusion around these ideas and beliefs and I hear many students share their inquires around what they’ve been taught and what should they do. Should I suck it in? Should I contract my core when standing? How about sitting? I have low back pain and was told to use my abdominals at all times to protect my back. I know I’m not alone in sharing – there is a lot of perplexity about the core!

Over the past 15 years, I’ve been on a journey to understand the human body with more awareness. In the last few years, my studies have deepened significantly and I’ve dove into the world of not just anatomy but the biomechanics of that anatomy. What I’ve learned has forever changed the way I practice yoga, the way I teach yoga and the way I breathe and lead others to breathe.

Remember how I shared I was addicted to asana ?

I was an intensity junky. The harder the pose the more I wanted to do it. It turns out the breath and the core are intrinsically connected. I now understand why I became so addicted to the up regulating state of my old yoga practice. You see, when the belly is pulled in and the breath primarily expands the ribs, it sends an up-regulating signal to the nervous system. It’s good for being alert or focused – for a short time but it is neither suitable nor sustainable over long periods of time as it created internal stress. The very reason most of us make our mat time a priority in the first place is to let go of stress, isn’t it? When living in a constant state of hyper vigilance the nervous system adapts and even learns to thrive there at the expense of other systems in the body (like the adrenals!)

Ok, back to the core and breathing. Because I know you’re now wondering, ok, then what am I supposed to do with my belly, my breath and my yoga practice?
I’m getting there! But first, stop what you’re doing and relax your belly. Good. Now, relax it again and noticed if even when you thought you were relaxed you were still holding. Why so much holding? And one more time, really let it all hang out. If you’re used to pulling your belly in to hide your goodies then this might be very uncomfortable. I want you to know, it’s ok. Now, take a deep breath in allowing your abdomen to swell with the inhale and then expand the ribs. We call this abdominal thoracic breathing. Abdominal breathing is deeply relaxing to the nervous system. It’s the stuff that makes deep sleep happen. We don’t want to put you to sleep just yet – I’d rather teach you to harness the relaxation of the abdominal breathing and couple it with the alert and focused state of the thoracic breathing. Now, pull your belly in how and try – just try to take a deep breath. What happened? You couldn’t, could you? Can you feel the different in the quality of your breath when you abdominal thoracic breathe? You can be relaxed and alert. Calm and focused – together!

When should you engage your core? It depends on what your doing. The corso, not just the abdominals but also as the entire soft tissue canister of the torso including the muscles of the back, ribs and even into the neck all help with respiration. One of my teachers, Jill Miller refers to this as the “Corso” (core + torso). The “Coreso” (not an official anatomical term so don’t even think about looking it up!) responds to the load that is presented there- be it above or below, the core really needs to have efficiency to respond appropriately.

If you’re out trail running you will need to implement different stabilizing actions when compare to driving in your car or sitting at your desk.

Here’s the deal, the constant upward movement caused by pulling your belly in or sucking in your gut creates a shift of pressure that pulls your whole abdominal content up, displacing your entire gut against your respiratory diaphragm. Try this on for size. Suck your cheeks (on your face!) into your mouth – growing up we called this fish lips. Feel how your cheeks go into the hollow cavity of your mouth? Well when you suck your belly in, there is no hallow cavity in your corso – all you’re important stuff is in there. There is no space, so when you pull your belly up and in all your important stuff gets totally crammed and constricted. How’s your digestive tract supposed to move sh*t around if it has to do it under direst? The answer is, not very well.

The results of continually displacing your gut stuff can lead to some pretty serious stuff. The biggest one in my book is the disruption of the diaghram and the inability to take a deep breath in. We just tried that out in the exercise above. The second biggest concern is that of the digestive system. Hold your belly back and imagine your digestive system doing what it’s supposed to do against the restrictive pressure of engaging your abdominals at all times.

Holding the belly in can harbor a whole host of digestive issues such as sluggish digestion, constipation, belly bloat not to mention lower back pain as the pressure of pulling the belly in can create excessive pressure in the lumbar spine and rib thrusting of the upper spine.

Your abdominals do help protect your vital organs and there are times you’d want to engage them! Like bracing for impact when you’re about to wreck your car or taking a blow to the stomach. But seriously people, you don’t want to HOLD your stomach in ALL the time!

If you’ve been told that you need to strengthen your core, please know that pulling your belly back or in doesn’t do that. It creates confusion, and constriction.

If you’ve been told to pull your belly back to get better posture, please know that it decreases your bodies’ ability to do its work effectively and efficiently.

With the holidays often comes an unexpected package – stress. An extra busy schedule and increased social engagements can be deliciously stimulating, though it can also deplete your down-time and let stress creep in at the very moment you’d most like to be at ease with family and friends. What better time to give yourself the gift of self-care with a Restorative Yoga session?

Restorative Yoga is the ultimate practice to sooth your nervous system, slow your heart rate, and calm your mind. Using a sequence of special poses supported by props, you are transported to a place of deep and deeper relaxation. In 8-10 minute increments, your body’s parasympathetic system kicks in, offering a chance to recover from the fatigue that comes with chronically revved-up adrenal hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.

While the body might appear still, a flood of activity is taking place inside. Up goes the activation of the neurotransmitter serotonin, influencing improved mood and sleep. Oxytocin gets a boost as well, which reduces anxiety and increases happiness. Sounds pretty great, right? Oh yes, and let’s not forget that we can trim down while relaxing. A study by National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that restorative yoga burns subcutaneous fat.*

During this season of “doing”, don’t forget the importance of simply “being.” Join us to rest and rejuvenate with Restorative Yoga.

Read More: Restorative Yoga and Subcutaneous

I recently experienced an “Ah-ha! This-puzzle-piece-fits!” moment in my own life. It stemmed from a comment my teacher Jill Miller said in my recent teacher training with her. She stated, with conviction and a long pause afterwards to let it sink in, “The way we do one thing is the way we do everything.” Several students nodded in agreement and I agreed too. I mean, it sounded powerful and brilliant. However, I had NO IDEA WHAT IT MEANT! It was like someone pointed out a distant place on a map and stated “This, this place is amazing”, and I believed them, and I could feel that it was meaningful and deeply impacting on them, knowing full well that I may never get to that particular place on the map myself. Fast-forward a few months and I continue to hear this particular phrase uttered by other teachers and even see it hash-tagged quite a few times. “What does that even bleeping mean???” To my surprise, I was about to find out for myself.

It started, not on my yoga mat, but on my couch!

I started a new knitting project. I dub myself a “seasonal knitter” because when the leaves begin to turn, I turn to find my knitting needles. So I’m busy knitting away on a beautiful new project, being careful to count my stitches, to keep track of my rows and my place in the pattern. A few hours into the project, I noticed that when I joined the project to knit in the round, I twisted it. For those of you who knit, you know that there is no fixing this and you have to start over. For those of you that don’t knit, it basically means you were F*%$ed from the beginning AND you have to start over. I didn’t. I convinced myself it wasn’t necessary and that I could go on as it was. Then as the project really began to take shape I saw clearly that I couldn’t go on as I’d F*#%ed up. Still, I convinced myself that I could make it work and that I already had like 7 hours into this thing there was no way I was going to begin again. Why did I knit anyways? This is stupid, right? I mean who knits for 7 hours to get 4 inches done (sorry knitters – this is my process…every damn time) Then like a flash “the way we do one thing, is the way we do everything” popped into my mind. Oh. My. God. I got it. I totally got it now. The way we do one thing, the way we create the story and then convince ourselves, the way we try to avoid the messy part by side-stepping our integrity and being true to the path (or the pattern). This phrase, suddenly had very personal meaning to me.

Brene Brown, author of The Gifts of Imperfection, talks about how knowledge isn’t knowledge until it’s a personal experience for us. It’s like finally visiting the place on the map to see it for yourself. The experience of which will be different for each one of us. I shared this particular phrase with a dear friend over tea. She looked at me and was like “yeah…. no.  That doesn’t mean anything to me.” Then she took it here: “Do you mean the way I poop is the way I do everything?” We laughed and then both got real quiet as we both pondered that for a moment. Then I went on to share my “Ah-ha” moment with her. We sat in a long, reflective silence and I pondered the journeys in my past, following the trail of how I have done and currently do things.

“Damn” she said. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she got it.

I can’t get this phrase out of my head as I’ve experienced the “belief busting” moment. I can no longer look at the way I do things the same.

I ripped out my knitting and started over. I noticed it was twisted. I started my knitting over… again. I also realized that this is why I knit – because it tests my patience requires persistence and in the end, the payoff is creating something beautiful for someone else to wear and enjoy. The way we do one thing, is the way we do everything.

We want to hear from you! Our studio is full of inspiring conversations on a daily basis. Please join us on Facebook to share your thoughts and comments!

What is your personal experience with this phrase “the way you do one thing is the way you do everything?”

Where in your life have you experienced an “Ah-ha” moment?

What is your creative process for hashing out the inner workings of your life experience? Is it knitting, journaling, painting, singing, dancing…?