Belly In/Belly Out

Coming Soon

Better Breathing for Trauma Thursday, October 3, 3–5pm ET with Laura Beth Wenger and Jennifer Snowdon

Pranayama 101, Weekly Meetings and Daily Live Pranayama Practices begin Monday, September 16 with me (Jennifer)

When it comes to breathing, I’m all about options. Yes, there are more efficient ways to breathe, but even working at those all the time can restrict our ability to breathe in all the ways. Sometimes we work at “diaphragmatic” breathing so much, that we can’t recruit the upper chest when we need to. And sometimes we work at soft breathing to the detriment of our diaphragm’s strength. (I know folks who’ve had both issues.)

Another thing I see often is the tight belly. The belly that’s so practiced at being strong. The one that is all about navel-to-spine. There’s so much to say about this, and if you’d really like to dig into intra-abdominal pressure, go read Laura Beth Wenger’s post on Strengthening Your Core. (Finish reading this first — it’s short.)

Here’s a quick thing for you to try.

Get on your hands and knees. If your knees need padding — go for it. If your wrists don’t like this, put your elbows on the sofa. Get comfy. Then, let your belly go. Just drop it. Nobody’s looking. Nobody’s going to judge you. Soft, hanging belly. Look at the photos here — in the top picture, belly is “strong” (restricted, and held); and in the bottom picture, my belly is soft and dropped.

When we are on high alert, there’s a good chance we are holding that belly. Letting go can be scary. Be gentle with yourself, give yourself time, and celebrate any bit of letting go that you are able to do.

The thing is, when the belly is able to be soft, there is room to breathe. Now you can go read Laura’s post (it’s pretty great).

And then get ready to join us on October 3rd to learn more, and to do more things that will help reset your breathing patterns in Better Breathing for Trauma.