Breathing Introduction

In this section, I'm introducing you to BASIC breathing concepts. In the next section, we will take a DEEP DIVE into 360 Breathing. If you learn anything from me, make sure it's 360 breathing!

I provide both videos and written explanations to help you learn. I suggest watching the videos and then reading the notes to help you solidify the concepts.

Breathing & the Nervous System:

The way we breathe will affect the state we are in:

• Nasal breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system (rest & digest).
• Mouth breathing stimulates the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight).

Breathing in and out through your nose keeps you in a flow state (it activates the PNS - parasympathetic nervous system). It tells you your body is safe. It’s like getting a warm hug from grandma. Nasal breathing is an important skill that needs to be honed for your training and activities of daily living.

Diaphragmatic Breathing & Core Activation

The diaphragm is the central muscle for breathing. Diaphragmatic breathing results in greater spinal stabilization (because you are activating your core). Chest breathing is a sign there is an underlying stability issue.

In the photo above, you can see that the diaphragm has myofascial connections to the psoas. This means:

• The position of the diaphragm influences the psoas. If the diaphragm cannot fully relax, then neither can the psoas. The key is to FULLY EXHALE and get the diaphragm to fully ascend.
• You can use your breath to massage and release your psoas.

If you think of your core as a can of soda, then the diaphragm forms the top of the can. The pelvic floor forms the bottom of the can. The deep core muscle, the TVA (transversus abdominis) forms the sides of the can. The pelvic floor functions rhythmically with your diaphragm.

I want to make sure you know how to use your breath to help you activate your core, so you can bring this functionality into your training and life.

Nasal breathing isn't just having air travel in and out of your nose. I want you to feel the pelvic floor, TVA and diaphragm connection to your inhalations and exhalations. This is a very important to master. If you don't learn how to properly engage your core, then your secondary muscles will take over (i.e. psoas, quadratus lumborum) and you'll feel pain and tightness when you exercise and do your daily activities.

Here is a breakdown of what happens (and I also explain all of this in the video). Note that these things all happen together, not in isolation.

Pelvic Floor:

• EXHALE: Gently squeeze and lift the pelvic floor. It will gently cinch and move upwards as if you are sucking a blueberry up into your vaginal canal (for women) or as if you are drawing your "nuts to your guts" (for men). Avoid squeezing the glutes.
• INHALE: Feel the pelvic floor release and move all the way back down to the starting position.

TVA:

• INHALE: Feel waist expanding when you inhale (The air expands your belly)
• EXHALE: Feel the TVA cinching in like a corset when you exhale, feel the low abs scooping. Envision the air emptying out of your lungs. Avoid generating tension in the upper abs.

Diaphragm:

• INHALE: Feel the diaphragm ACTIVELY move all the way DOWN when you inhale (so your lungs can fill up with air). Feel the diaphragm EXPAND 360 degrees as you inhale down. Bonus: you can use your breath to massage your psoas on the inhale.
• EXHALE: Feel the diaphragm PASSIVELY move all the way UP when you exhale (so the air can be expelled from your lungs). It's crucial to FULLY exhale as this sets the stage for a proper inhalation. Fully exhaling allows the diaphragm to move upwards and relax, and this allows the psoas to relax. So if your psoas is always jacked up, take a look at your breathing mechanics. Note: fully exhaling doesn't mean being quick and forceful, rather, envision yourself calmly and gently exhaling through a straw (or pursed lips), as if you are trying to blow out 50 birthday candles through the straw, or you can do a gentle sigh through an open mouth (sigh the word "Ha"). Avoid generating tension in the upper abs (I'll show you how to do that with "Ha" Breathing in the next section.

Rib Cage & Pelvis:

• INHALE: Feel the lungs fill up with air and rib cage expand 360 degrees. This requires a rib cage that is mobile to allow the lungs to fill up with air. Inhaling correctly will feel like a nice stretch in your back, sides and chest. Don't let your shoulders shrug up and don't let your ribs flare. Maintain your rib cage stacked over your pelvic bowl when you inhale (don't let the pelvis slip into an anterior tilt).
• EXHALE: Feel the ribs move in and down as you expire the air out of your lungs. Notice how exhaling helps you stack your rib cage over your pelvic bowl. One of the most common errors contributing to pain when we exercise or do our daily activities is losing the relationship between the upper and lower body. The pelvis and ribcage need to be stacked. So that means no rib flare and no anterior pelvic tilt. The rib flare puts you in a hyper-inflated state and makes it hard for the diaphragm to fully ascend and relax when you exhale. Make sure you are FULLY exhaling as this helps you bring the ribs down & engage the low core. I will teach you exercises to assist with your exhalation mechanics.

Key point: Getting into the habit of fully exhaling will improve the relationship between your pelvis and rib cage (it will fix rib flare and an anterior pelvic tilt, and help relax the psoas muscles).

Now we will put this all together. If all of this confuses you, then fake doing a COUGH or SNEEZE and notice how the pelvic floor magically moves upwards and how your TVA cinches in. Goal: when you exhale, make sure you can feel your pelvic floor squeeze and lift and your TVA cinching inwards (you'll feel the low abs scoop).

⚠️ Don't constantly hold tension in your abdominal area or constantly clench the pelvic floor.

TIP: How to improve your nasal exhalations: When you nasal exhale: imagine you have a glass in front of you and you want to fog it up with your breath, but do it with your mouth closed. This causes a small constriction to your throat. Maintain this feeling for the nasal inhale. When you breathe like this, it kind of sounds like the ocean or a soft snoring sound. Breathe like this when you are training.

Practical Application:

During the difficult part of an exercise, I like to exhale through my nose to ensure my TVA is activating.

Examples:

• Pilates roll-up: I nasal exhale as I roll up. (I nasal inhale as I roll down).
• L-sit prep: I nasal exhale as I slide my hips back into position
• Chin-Up: I nasal exhale as I pull myself up. (I nasal inhale on the way back down).
• Air Squat: I nasal exhale as I stand back up. (I nasal inhale on the way down).

For isometric holds: Breathe evenly and calmly in and out through your nose. Connect your breath to your core.

For concentric movements: Exhale through your nose and activate your TVA. You will feel your TVA tightening up like a corset.

For eccentric movements: Inhale through your nose

It's not a rule set in stone to exhale on the concentric and inhale on the eccentric. I like to exhale during the most difficult part of an exercise (as this really helps me fire my TVA). So feel free to experiment.

Chest & Mouth Breathing:

Chest and mouth breathing is what we want to avoid.

Chest and mouth breathing activates the SNS (Sympathetic Nervous System). If you breathe like this, your neck, shoulders and face will tense up. It disengages the core (bye bye core stabilization), glutes, pelvic floor, quads and hamstrings. This means you’ll default to compensatory movement patterns that can ultimately cause injury. Once you chest breathe, it’s pretty much game over. You can’t sustain this… you tank out faster.

Keep your neck and face relaxed when you move. If you tense up, you will lose core and glute engagement.

Don't hold your breathe. Take a look at the photo below to see how this can cause bearing-down on the pelvic floor (which can lead to urinary incontinence and other pelvic floor dysfunction). This is discussed in more detail in the "Bracing vs. Hollowing" lecture inside the TVA clinic.

Move to the next section on 360 Breathing. This is the most important section!!!