Just Breath

Take a deep breath.  Are you sure you did the best you could?  You should be standing or sitting with good posture while you do it.  So, back straight, head on top of your body, shoulders back, pelvis in neutral, stomach in, knees soft and fingers and toes relaxed.  Now for some of you this is a delicious position of release and for other, TORTURE.  The latter group should read on. 

      The body prefers a neutral posture like the one I just described.  And when you start any breath or movement from that position you will find it so much easier.  But for now the goal is just to breath. 

      First, tackle the back.  Make yourself as tall or long as you can be, reaching up toward the ceiling and down toward the floor at the same time with the opposite ends of your spine.   Once you are convinced you cannot stretch any taller or longer release the tension without losing any of the length.  In doing this you probably bent your head forward so please replace it back on top of the shoulders.  And the shoulders, notice that with the head now neatly on top of the neck, you can easily see both of them in your peripheral vision?  Well this is wrong.  You see them because they are in front of you, and their place is at the side almost aligned with each ear (almost but not quite that far back).  You will want to “roll” the shoulders slightly (we call this direction outward, and when I say we I mean the <cough> experts - doctors, therapist, trainers, dancers, movement specialists etc).

If you are having trouble rolling the shoulders, here is a tip: first straighten both arms in front of you as if you were about to imitate a zombie walk, then bend them both at the elbows (your elbows should be touching your sides).  Turn the forearms so that the palms are turned up without moving the elbow.  Now again, without moving the elbows, move the hands, right to the right, left to the left, to the sides of your body in a horizontal motion.  Voila, this rotated the shoulders.

     Top done, here comes the trickier parts.   Without formal dance training, many people have issues with the concept of pelvic neutral.  Forget everything else for a minute and focus just on your hips.    Standing is probably preferred here but you can do this seated.  To find your neutral pelvic position, arch your back as hard as you can pushing your hips backwards (do not move your head or your feet) and then relax.  Next, curl your hips under you, pushing them forwards as far as you can, again without moving your head or your feet and then relax.  Do this a few times.  That place that the hips comes to rest every time?  That is your “pelvic neutral” position.  Tadah!  With a little practice you learn what that position feels like and you just know when you are in it.  It becomes easy to assume “the position”. 

        Stomachs prove another trouble area for many, compromising so many simple motions unnecessarily.   Dancers brace and this is a worthwhile trick everyone should learn.  To brace you pull the stomach in as you inhale (nice deep breath).    As you exhale, let the air out but keep the stomach in (keep the muscles contracted, the stomach flat).  I know, yet another thing that will require some practice but well worth it.  Practice moving around after bracing and eventually you will find it quite simple.

The term “knees soft” refers to knees held in a position slightly bent so that there is no tension in the legs at all.  If you try standing on fully straight knees and then bend then just slightly you will see the difference.    When isolated a straight knee does no work, but in conjunction with a braced abdomen, a neutral pelvis, a straight back etc, etc more work is needed to keep the legs completely straight, and so a correct posture requires soft knees.

      Finally. We must not forget, after all this work, that our endpoints, the fingers and toes should not be gripping at those last bits of tension we subconsciously cling to, so always take a second to remember to relax the fingers and toes.

      

Now, you have your posture and can take a breath.  Inhale through the nose.  Take a nice forceful breath of air that fills your lungs.  Your chest should move and should lift your arms a bit.  Your spine will feel as if it gets a little longer. When you cannot comfortably take in any more air, pause for a second and then with an even flow of air, exhale through your mouth.   Do not be afraid to purse your lips slightly.  Feel your shoulders slope downwards as you exhale.  Your arms lower and your hips sink slightly.  If you have done this all correctly you may even feel your body sway slightly.   That makes sense.  If you fill something with air, it gets lighter, right?

      

         Good Luck!