A little help with lateral breathing...

Lateral breathing, a fundamental Pilates concept, can be a challenging practice to comprehend, let alone perform, as a beginner. So, here are a few helpful tips and exercises to try in between sessions:

What is "Lateral Breathing?"
Lateral breathing is a pattern of breath that allows the abdominal muscles to remain engaged, while inhaling fresh air into the body. To do this, the low belly (aka the TVA) must remain engaged during the inhale and exhale. Rather than breathing into the belly, think of breathing into the ribcage and using the thoracic and back muscles to breathe. Visualize the breath expanding the ribs laterally.

Why use "Lateral Breathing?"
A primary component of Pilates is to take advantage of every breath – to inhale as much fresh air as possible, oxygenating the blood, and exhale out every bit of stale air. Joseph Pilates believed in circulating the blood to awaken the cells of the body and carry away wastes related to fatigue. For the blood to do its work properly, he maintained, it must be charged with oxygen and purged of waste gases through the breath. Thus, breathing deeply is essential because it increases circulation and rejuvenates the body. But, when we use the diaphragm to breath deeply, the lower abdomen expands with air, forcing the deep core to disengage. With lateral breathing, however, the abdominal muscles remain pulled in and engaged, all the while garnering a deep breath at the same time.

Practice makes perfect:
This technique is different from what many of us are used to, but the best way to get it is to practice at home. So, here are a couple exercises/activities to try:

1. Hold a towel around your ribs, cross it over at the front.
2. Breath in and feel the towel expanding.
3. Gently squeeze the towel as you breath out

OR:

1. Get a long exercise band and wrap it around the lower rib cage or you can even place your hands around the area. With the band, close it in front of the chest area and hold it.
2. Breathe deeply upon inhalation and imagine the breathe scooting down your spine, into the back and sides. You will feel the exercise band stretching along the sides and back with each breathe you take.

OR:

Place your two hands over your ribs, so that your two middle fingers come together on the sternum (breast bone) Concentrate on your breathing, focus on staying centered and allowing your ribs to fill out in width rather than height as in regular breathing. Breathe in through the nose, and out through the mouth, always controlled breaths. The fingers should part as you breathe in, and as you breathe out, the fingertips should meet gently again.

See which method works best for you and let us know your thoughts or if you have any advise for others on ways to develop your lateral breath skills.

Be sure that during all these activities, you watch for doming – when your tummy rises as in normal breathing. Also, as you are practicing, imagine there are balloons under your ribcage expanding and deflating as you breath. As they deflate, visualize the ribs closing in and coming closer together.

Another great way to feel your lateral breath more deeply is when practicing your cat stretch with deep TVA engagement. From an all fours position, inhale, then, as you exhale, deeply engage the transverse abdominous, rounding through the lower back. Rather than exhaling to flat back, hold this engagement and inhale into your upper back and ribs. Exhale to deepen the contraction in the TVA once more, and then inhale to flat back. Do this two or three times a day to get a better feeling for breathing into the back, arm pits and ribs, rather than the abdominal region.

Try these methods to practice lateral breathing without conducting any exercises and then try to maintain this breath pattern in a couple exercises. You will notice how much easier the exercises are with the lateral breathing!

Maximizing Workouts - Visualization and Integration

All too often, folks at the gym isolate small muscle groups like biceps and triceps, while the rest of their body is disengaged, limp and out of alignment. Unfortunately, for most people (not all, but most of us), this is not the best use of our workout time. Functionally, the body does not use just one muscle at a time, so this does nothing to improve day-to-day strength, ease and grace. It burns far less calories than big muscle movement (or even isolation exercises done with the core engaged). And, this isolation ideology ignores all the muscles that are not in motion, creating an unbalanced body,

That is why, in STL mat work, it is so important to shed this single-muscle focus instilled by gym machines, and allow every muscle of the body to work simultaneously, in functional and balanced movements.

One affective way to do this is to focus on the muscles that are stabilizing, rather than the muscles that are moving, During the new Roll-Up series, try focusing on stabilizing the lower body and engaging through the inner thigh, while the upper body is in motion, facilitating a symbiotic and highly effective manner of working the whole body.

Visualization is another great way to focus and achieve full body engagement. Using visual images can trigger the muscles quickly, and help you to flow through the movements with heightened awareness and engagement of all muscles.

For example, in Roll-Ups, imagine there are thick leather straps buckled over the tops of your thighs, holding the legs in place. As you roll down, think of a strap wrapped over the top of your belly button, that is pulling the belly back towards the spine, leading you to roll down from your deep core engagement.

Or, during Open Leg Rocker exercises, after you have rolled back, imagine you are sitting in a high-backed rocking chair that is about to tip over and you quickly have to pull yourself up into a balanced position.

There are many others to try. Let us know if you have an especially good visualization tool you like to use for STL exercises.



Be the ball....

New STL Session 3!

2009 STL Session 3 starts Monday, February 16 through Thursday, March 19, 2009!

Session Focus: Introduction of blood pressure cuff
No, we’re not measuring blood pressure! We are starting the third session with simple tests to determine how much (or little) we are actually engaging our TVA (Transverse Abdominal muscle) while moving through our Fundamental exercise curriculum. Want an instant “data feed?" You’re gonna get it! So get excited, because you will soon have IMMEDIATE, REAL TIME awareness of where you are in relation to initiating all basic exercises when attempting to fire first, from the TVA. (Yes, it is exciting.)

Fundamental:
In addition to blood pressure cuff work, we will be digging into Roll Ups - perfecting our strength and release in this challenging exercise - as well and introducing Rolling Like a Ball, Spine Stretch with Arm Circles and continuing our practice of both Single Leg Stretch, and modifications on Double Leg Stretch. Pilates rings will be utilized as the session progresses.

Fundamental Intermediate:
In addition to integrating Roll ups and Rolling Like a Ball, FI clients will be focusing on Open Leg Rocker, full Single Straight Leg and Double Straight Leg Stretch (we’ve been modifying these two exercises), Spine Stretch Forward, the Tree and (modified) Shoulder-Bridge Leg extensions.

Intermediate:
All of the above will be covered in the Intermediate Thursday class, as well as Shoulder-Bridge leg extensions and the Saw.

Stretch Component All Levels:
More shoulder/chest opening, Spine twists, and inner thigh release

Relaxation:
Ever work with colors when relaxing? Working with color and breath enhances our ability to transport ourselves into deeper realms of relaxation. Our guided visualizations will include color and light.

FUN STUFF… WE CAN’T WAIT!!

First class is free, so tell your friends to come check it out!

Location and Time:
STL Fundamental: Monday 5:00 - 6:00 pm (HS)
Wednesday 5:00 - 6:00 pm (HS)

STL Fundamental Intermediate: Tuesday 4:00 - 5:00 pm (HS)

STL Intermediate: Thursday 5:30 - 6:45 pm (Mecca Studio, soon to move so stay tuned for updates!)

Click below for directions:
HS - Home Studio

* Make-up classes will be held on Saturdays at 2:00 p.m., by RSVP only. There is a six person maximum for make up classes, so make sure to make an appointment in advance. If current students would like to use this time and space for an extra drop in session, they are welcome to do so, if the class is not filled. Locations for make-up classes will vary.

To enroll in the session or schedule a make-up class, contact Lee Vallely at:

Ph: 512.415.5078

lee@cwstex.com

Session Focus: Deep Transverse Abdominus Engagement

(Image from Wikipedia)


Since the Session 2 focus is deep TVA work, let's take a deeper look at the abdominal muscle most neglected, yet perhaps most important, in strength and core training...

The transverse abdominus (TVA), named for the direction of its fibers, is the flat, innermost layer abdominal muscles, located beneath the internal obliques. It is a major muscle of the functional core of the human body and is responsible for the shape and definition of your stomach, your core stability, breathing, posture and organ support. Developing this muscle is key to maintaining proper posture and alignment (not only during exercise, but also in daily activities), to relieving/preventing lower back pain and injury, and to getting the desired results from your workouts!

To strengthen and improve your awareness of the TVA in between STL sessions, you can try these two activities at home or work. (Just make sure you have a quite space to focus on connecting with your breath and muscles, because deep TVA work requires concentration!)

The Vacuum: In a seated position, lengthen your spine and roll your shoulder blades back and down the back into proper alignment. Take a full, deep inhale. Then, exhale SLOWLY, pulling your belly button up and back towards your spine. The muscles around your lower abdominal region and pelvis will engage. Hold this engagement for three to five seconds. Pull deeper once more, exhaling fully. Inhale again and repeat. Perform three times.


Angry Cat Stretch (with TVA deep contraction): From an all-fours position, with neutral spinal alignment, inhale and allow the belly to relax. As you exhale, draw the belly button in, towards the spine, rounding deeply through the low back and allowing a gentle curving in the upper back. Let the head drop naturally and the pelvis tilt in towards the body. Hold for two to three seconds. As you inhale again, release the back to a neutral position. Repeat three times. Each time think about drawing you belly button up and back, as if trying to reach through to the spine. Focus on feeling the deep engagement of the TVA.