Frequently
Asked Breathing Questions and the Answers
© Betsy Thomason 2008
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Why don’t we learn to
breathe more effectively as children?
A: SHORT ANSWER: School curriculums have
never included the personal aspect of breathing. Health curriculums may
talk about breathing, without any practical application and training.
A: LONG ANSWER: Breathing is a process
that is automatic, a process that does not require our attention for
survival. Because most people in our culture lack understanding of the
personal effects of their breathing, there is no awareness of the need to
pay attention to the process of breathing. Physical education is
disconnected from the need for effective and efficient breathing habits
for normal function, not to speak of the high function required of
athletes.
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If breathing is an
unconscious process, why do I need to change the way I have
been breathing for my
entire life?
A: SHORT ANSWER: In the process of growing
up, all human beings become inefficient breathers. We lack understanding
of the power of breathing.
A: LONG ANSWER: After the very first
inbreath, human beings are BreathPlaying. The new-born baby is putting
effort into the out-breath with strong belly action. This is the
active-out-breath that BreathPlay teaches. When the new-born stops
contracting the belly muscles at the end of each out-breath, the natural
recoil of the chest wall and diaphragm pulls in the same amount of air as
was pushed out. This is the BreathPlay passive in-breath – no action
required! This is an unconscious process.
As the infant grows why does this
change? Ian Jackson, who developed BreathPlay, explains that infants
learn from their caregivers. As mammalian infants tend to do. When an
infant is held, it experiences the breathing pattern of the holder, most
probably an adult whose breathing is shallow and focused on the
in-breath. The infant feels the vibrations and rhythms and starts to
mimic them. As the child grows, the focus turns to sucking in air.
Add to this the fact that in our
culture expression of feelings is discouraged, ignored, or punished. The
body responds with defensiveness, which translates to fear. The fear
response triggers rapid-fire in-breaths, which release adrenaline into the
blood. This creates immediate, but short-lived energy. Subsequently, the
body is drained of energy. This repetitive fear response during a
lifetime is a primary stressor. The hormones released prepare the body
for nonexistent battles, shorten the life span, and diminish the quality
of life.
BreathPlay reacquaints you with the
breathing of your infancy.
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How do I know that the
air has entered my lung if I don’t actually inhale?
A: SHORT ANSWER: You must learn to TRUST
that all the air that you pushed out comes back in because YOU created a
vacuum with your active out-breath.
A: LONG ANSWER: Did you ever play with a
toy mouse, the kind that squeaks when you squeeze the air out of it? Did
you ever use an oven baster to gather pan drippings to make gravy? These
are two examples of how BreathPlay work. If you squeeze something, then
suddenly let it expand, you create a vacuum that sucks air in. With the
mouse and the oven baster, you never question that the air enters. It
always works this way – even when it is your body.
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Do I have to do
BreathPlay all the time?
A: SHORT ANSWER: No, you do not have to be
totally focused on BreathPlay. We are fortunate that our bodies continue
to breathe without our conscious involvement. The more you BreathPlay,
the more you learn and grow.
A: LONG ANSWER: When learning BreathPlay,
I recommend sitting or lying down in a quiet place 3 times a day and
focusing on BreathPlay for 3 -5 minutes, longer if you like. This is how
you teach your muscles to understand the BreathPlay process. Be right
there with your body, experiencing how it responds. Be right there, in
the muscle to which you are sending oxygen. Or, pretend you are in your
lungs, in one of the little alveoli, sending oxygen to the blood and
receiving carbon dioxide to give back to the world. This is the time to
become hooked on BreathPlay, so that you will want to incorporate it into
your daily activities. Regular BreathPlay practice and application is the
only way to discover the full range of BreathPlay benefits.
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Are there any problems
associated with using BreathPlay?
A: SHORT ANSWER: There is one minor issue
that sometimes appears when you first learn BreathPlay. If you exhale
too long or too hard, you might feel light-headed or dizzy. Simply cover
your mouth with your hands and re-breathe your exhaled air. Shorten the
length of your out-breath slightly and observe how your body responds.
You will cease being dizzy.
A: LONG ANSWER: In our blood, oxygen and
carbon dioxide are circulating. The out-breath gathers carbon dioxide for
its journey out of the body. The in-breath gathers air from which oxygen
will be extracted. The healthy body manages its blood gases quite well.
When first learning BreathPlay, you might experience light-headedness or
dizziness. The message of light-headedness says that there is not quite
enough CO2 remaining in your blood at the end of the out-breath. This
message instructs you to change your BreathPlay rhythm. Your body will
soon adjust to your more efficient BreathPlay efforts.
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Why has BreathPlay been
such a well kept secret?
A: SHORT ANSWER: 1) People often get stuck
in the way things have always been done 2) The medical establishment
thrives on people paying for drugs and procedures. BreathPlay has minimal
cost.
A: LONG ANSWER: Historically, the active
out-breath has been an esoteric art, used exclusively in martial arts for
explosive actions. The common person had no access to this. Ian Jackson
adapted this ancient knowledge for continuous activities like walking and
cycling. BreathPlay is available to all who choose to let it be in their
life!
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What are body messages
and why are they important?
A: SHORT ANSWER: Muscles and movement
of gases, liquids and solids within
the human body create actions which
can be noticed. These messages include
cramps, heavy limbs, pressure,
tiredness, pain, tingling, and lightheadedness,
gurgling, burping, etc.
A: LONG ANSWER: Human beings have a
choice - to listen or not to listen to
body messages. In the 21st
century, we seem to prefer to solve problems with
outside interventions - drugs and
surgery - rather than to do the personal work of
knowing and caring for the body.
Current medical culture prefers to use machines
and invasive procedures to diagnose
what the body has been revealing to deaf ears
for too long. Sometimes it’s too
late for self-healing.
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I have asthma. How can
BreathPlay help?
A: SHORT ANSWER: Asthma is a tightness of
the airway muscles. BreathPlay’s focus on the outbreath creates back
pressure in the airway as air waits to move out of the body. This back
pressure is beneficial. It keeps the airway open. BreathPlay’s outbreath
triggers the nervous system to help muscles relax from the inside out.
A: LONG ANSWER: People experiencing an
asthma attack have difficulty getting air into the body because the
muscles of the airway are tight. The BreathPlay outbreath sets up the
body to allow air to enter the lungs effortlessly.
During an asthma attack, the harder a
person tries to take a breath, the worse the breathlessness becomes. Over
time, fear about the ability to breathe develops, creating further stress
and muscle tightness. While it is essential to use asthma medications as
prescribed, it is also easy to overdose by taking a puff every time you
feel short of breath. I recommend that rescue inhalers not be used
immediately. Instead, the person having difficulty should sit down and
use BreathPlay for 5 to 15 minutes, then reassess the need for
medication. In most cases, the shortness of breath is gone.
One caution: BreathPlay, to be
effective in time of need, must be learned and practiced every day. Do
not expect to be saved by a system you have simply read about.
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I have chronic
obstructive lung disease (COPD). How can BreathPlay help my shortness
of breath?
A: THE SHORT ANSWER: People with COPD have
difficulty exhaling adequate air because increased air pressure in the
lungs restricts the movement of the diaphragm. BreathPlay’s focus on the
active outbreath, using the contents of the belly to push up against the
diaphragm, overcomes much of this problem.
A: LONG ANSWER: Chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease makes Swiss cheese of the lung tissue. The alveoli, the
millions of microscopic grape-like structures of the lung tissue, develop
holes which destroy the lung’s elastic tissue and create bigger,
inefficient sacs. Then mucus rushes in to protect the damaged tissue, a
normal response, which ultimately creates shortness of breath. Air is
trapped in the lungs and cannot get out. This added air pressure pushes
down on the diaphragm, which has to work hard to overcome the resistance.
Over time the diaphragm flattens out and is disabled. Because BreathPlay
engages the belly muscles to aid the diaphragm, BreathPlay is an
appropriate protocol for people with COPD.
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My yoga instruction tells
me to breathe in through my nose and out through my nose. Why is
BreathPlay promoting pursed-lip out-breath?
A: SHORT ANSWER: Creating a restriction in
flow of air out of your mouth – by gently pursing your lips, or using your
teeth or tongue - creates beneficial back-pressure and thus maintains an
open airway, insuring an adequate out-breath.
A: LONG ANSWER: When Ian Jackson was
developing the BreathPlay system, he was approaching breathing from the
point of view of an athlete. Providing enough air to power athletic
endeavors requires air to come in through nose and mouth. Applied
to the general population and those with chronic illness, the BreathPlay
focus on an active pursed-lip outbreath and passive inbreath through mouth
and nose is appropriate and beneficial. For some people with chronic
illness, getting out of a chair is an athletic endeavor.
Once, a student asked me if it is
possible to purse your nose. I had never though of this. I suggested
that he try. I did also. I discovered that it is effective when
BreathPlaying quietly, seated or lying down.
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If I can’t use my belly
muscles, can I still do BreathPlay?
A: SHORT ANSWER: Yes. Focus on gently
restricting the flow of air as you blow out. Then simply do nothing for 1
to 2 seconds, and gently blow out again. During the 1-2 seconds, the body
relaxes (expands), inviting air in.
A:LONG ANSWER: In 2002, one of my patients
with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) taught me that when all else
fails, a grunt is as good as an inbreath. Gloria was totally paralyzed by
ALS. She chose to not use a breathing machine, but she was short of
breath and could not use her belly muscles. She could grunt but could not
speak. It was most difficult to communicate with her. I suddenly
realized that a grunt is an outbreath. When we discussed this, she
realized that she had a means to control her breath. This put her back in
charge of one wee little aspect of her life. She lived for another few
months and greeted me at each visit with a grunt and a smile.
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I hear about so many
different ways to breathe. How do I know what’s right?
A: SHORT ANSWER: Your body will tell you
what works. Listen! Then choose your breathing method!
A: LONG ANSWER: There is no right and
wrong way to breathe. The adjectives related to BreathPlay are
effective and efficient. No one likes to be told they are
doing something wrong. The word wrong backs you into a corner and
makes you defensive. BreathPlay is the most efficient breathing system I
have encountered. Every body benefits from BreathPlay’s
efficiency.
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I love to hike,
especially up mountains at high altitudes. How can BreathPlay help me?
A: SHORT ANSWER: Stay focused on
BreathPlay every step of the way. Know what your out-in rhythm is and
change it frequently to satisfy you varying need for energy as the terrain
changes. (See Chapter 3)
A: LONG ANSWER: As the mountain climb gets
steeper, make your out-in numbers smaller. This increases your breathing
rate. Functionally, it brings fresh air into your body more frequently,
as demand increases. Even though your breathing rate has increased, it is
in your conscious control. Your respiratory rate will be far less than it
would be if you were ignoring your breathing. Your goal is to achieve a
pace that allows you reach the top in comfort. You do this by moderating
your pace to dovetail with your changeable BreathPlay out-in rhythm.
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I’ve tried to
meditate but I can’t sit still and my mind wanders. Can I ever gain the
benefits of meditation?
A: SHORT ANSWER: Yes, you can meditate.
You don’t have to be seated. Coordinating BreathPlay with activity, such
as walking, is moving meditation. (See Chapter 3)
A: LONG ANSWER: Meditation is a focus on
this very moment. By focusing on BreathPlay you are totally absorbed in
the present moment. Because most of your BreathPlaying energy is directed
towards the outbreath, relaxation occurs deep within your body. You don’t
need to worry about your mind wandering because your mind is totally
absorbed in counting steps as you walk. Your mind and your body are
working together. This is how Breath Play helps you develop a
user-friendly body.
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I had part of my lung
removed because of emphysema. Now my speech is affected. How can
BreathPlay help me?
A: SHORT ANSWER: In order to have voice,
you need breath – air flowing over your vocal cords. BreathPlay augments
the unconscious process with focused action that pushes more air up and
through the vocal cords. You speak while your belly is compressed, then
you stop talking for a brief moment of relaxation to let the air return to
your lungs to power your next phrase or sentence.
A: LONG ANSWER: There are many reasons why
your voice is weaker. 1) The surgery removed part of your air receptacle –
a lung lobe or two. Thus you have less air to expel. 2) The lung disease
itself makes it difficult for you to expel air. Over the years, that air
pressure from the air you cannot expel has pushed down on your diaphragm,
weakening it. This makes is difficult for you to exhale fully. 3) Because
your lungs and chest wall have been stretched by increased air pressure,
some of the elastic recoil is reduced, so less air is passing over the
vocal cords. When you start using BreathPlay, you will be squeezing your
belly muscles which will move your guts up against your diaphragm which
will squeeze the air out of your lungs. You will be able to overcome some
of your lung deficit.
16. I hear my
exercise instructors saying, ‘breathe from the diaphragm.” I know where
the diaphragm is, but I wonder, what does this statement exactly mean.
A: SHORT ANSWER: Your instructor really
means breathe with the diaphragm.
A: LONG ANSWER: The diaphragm is not a
muscle that can be consciously moved, like a finger. BreathPlay teaches
you to be the bellows, to use your belly muscles to assist the diaphragm.
With the outbreath, you compress your guts up against the diaphragm to
support its important work of pushing air out. For more info, see chapter
2.
BOOK IN PROGRESS!
If you have a
breathing question needing an answer, email
Betsy@fitnessoutdoors.com
THE BOOK
- How to be a BreathPlayer
™
©
Betsy Thomason 2008
CHAPTER
1
IF YOU ARE ABOVE GROUND.
. .
Every human being lives from
one breath to the next. If you don’t breathe, you are not living. If you
hold your breath, you are not living well. If you never pay attention to
your breathing, chances are you are missing the many benefits of effective
breathing.
The basic purpose
of breathing is to manage the energy required by each cell in the human
body. In this modern, turn-of-the-century, fast-paced culture, humans live
on autopilot. Breathing, which can be an automatic process or a conscious,
focused process, has become a sorely neglected process. Humans have lost
touch with the significance of focusing on this vital process. Brains are
running the automatic show. Bodies are simply dragged along for the ride,
often bumpy at best. However, bodies always have the last word, like it
or not.
This book shows you
how to develop a user-friendly body, creating a rhythm that harmonizes the
relationship between mind and body. This book redefines breathing. The
new word is BreathPlay.
BreathPlay is
focused breathing with the emphasis on an active, spine-stretching
outbreath and a passive, relaxing inbreath. This cycle of outbreath and
inbreath is just the opposite of what is considered ‘normal’ breathing.
BreathPlay challenges the age-old unexamined assumption that breathing is
an in-out process. The BreathPlay
out-in focus is based on the ancient esoteric wisdom from yoga
and martial arts masters. By using this out-in orientation, BreathPlayers
efficiently expand their physical and mental abilities.
BreathPlay is
inherently fun. Ian Jackson, who developed it in the 1960s, understood
that learning anything is easier if it peaks the imagination. Thus,
BreathPlay incorporates many images or metaphors that explain the out-in
breathing process. BreathPlay invites you to develop your own images that
propel you along the learning path. Ultimately, BreathPlay helps you
access your core muscles and your core identity. From this, your own
wonderful self-expression emerges.
BreathPlay teaches
you a new way of looking at life, at your life, the only one that
matters. You are learning a new way to focus on releasing carbon dioxide
into your surrounding environment and
letting life-giving oxygen enter your internal environment.
This is the simplicity of BreathPlay.
The rich complexity
of BreathPlay develops as you practice and get in touch with your body
rhythms and messages which you access by letting nature’s vacuum work.
This is a metaphor for self-confidence.
So, push your air
out gently through slightly pursed lips, as if you are a gentle breeze.
Then, let the universe refill your lungs. You’ve already started learning
BreathPlay!
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
First Journal Entry -
December 11, 2002
In this journal, I will share my experiences using and teaching BreathPlay. My students (I’ve changed their names) are people who have
expanded their realities with BreathPlay. I hope that you, the reader,
will explore and expand your abilities by becoming a BreathPlayer too.
While teaching BreathPlay to folks with asthma and emphysema, I
discovered just how close these folks are to their breathing. After all,
if you’re worried about the most important thing in the world - air - you
are a skilled worrier. You worry about everything and everybody in your
life. Worry becomes your life. Your fears can create stress for others.
When you eliminate the worry about where the next breath is coming from,
you can relax about life in general. When you learn and use BreathPlay,
you discover that all the air you ever need comes in automatically.
There is no need to worry about the next breath.
In 1987, I started learning, and teaching, BreathPlay. Over the
years, my own use of BreathPlay has made me more relaxed and confident.
While I don’t have a breathing problem, I, like everyone else in this
stressed out twenty-first-century culture, have been breathing
ineffectively most of my life. BreathPlay has helped me manage my
energy for physically-demanding work as a home care respiratory therapist
and strenuous play in the wilderness - hiking, canoeing, and cross country
skiing.
While I experience the physical benefits of BreathPlay with every
breath, I’ve noticed over the years that I don’t worry much about my own
life. I’ve learned from BreathPlaying, that if I set things up right, all
that I ever need comes to me. Love, money, friends, food, a roof over my
head, air. The universe provides.
So with BreathPlay, you set yourself up to let nature’s vacuum
work. This is the key to reducing the work of breathing: trust that the
universe will provide, as long as you do your share. With BreathPlay,
your share, your job, is to push the air out with the least effort needed
and let the air in without any effort.
As a BreathPlay trainer, I have taught in a wide variety of people:
* Active, healthy people who run marathons, climb mountains, swim
competitively, ski, give birth, ride bikes, give speeches, dig in a
garden.
* Former smokers participating in out-patient pulmonary
rehabilitation.
* People with neuromuscular diseases who have healthy lungs but
bodies that are not able to move effectively.
* People with all sorts of diagnoses who want to learn to relax, be
less dependent on medications, and have more energy.
People ask me why they need to learn how to breathe when it’s an
unconscious process to begin with. It is because our culture has
socialized us to breathe ineffectively. We’ve lost touch with just how
dynamic and influential breathing is. Every body benefits from learning
to breathe effectively.
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
James, with Bulbar ALS -
December 15, 2002
On Friday December 13, 2002 I first met James (age 52) in his home.
I was visiting him in my role as a home care respiratory therapist. Three
weeks previously, he was set up on a BiPAP machine and a cough machine.
James has ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - Lou Gehrig’s disease), a
neuromuscular disease. James has bulbar paralysis, that is, dysfunction
of the mouth and throat, mostly. Thus, he has slurred speech, drooling,
difficulty swallowing and breathing difficulties. He complained of
shortness of breath mostly with stairs.
I taught James BreathPlay, as I do with all my clients. He caught
on right away. He understood the bellows concept - the action of
breathing is in your belly, pushing out the air. He chuckled over the
pinwheel attached to the eraser on the pencil that I gave him. Spinning
the pinwheel with a gentle outbreath got him started BreathPlaying. I
explained to him that he gets power from the outbreath - that’s why the
outbreath is longer than the inbreath.
I instructed James to climb stairs moving only during the outbreath,
pausing briefly with both feet on a step to let the air in. I suggested
that he discover how many steps per outbreath allow him to get to the top
with no shortness of breath. Maybe two or three steps, maybe more. The
test that indicates no shortness of breath is the ability to recite a poem
or your name, address and phone number at the top of the stairs.
At the top of the stairs, James turned around and grinned, talking
about how happy he was. For the first time in months, he climbed to his
second-floor home office without exhaustion.
BreathPlay has dramatic effects for people with neuromuscular
diseases, such as ALS. The effect of the disease on the chest wall often
goes undetected, because the symptoms are often not recognized by health
professionals. The symptoms can include lack of energy, headaches,
insomnia, and daytime somnolence. The reason: the body has difficulty
getting rid of carbon dioxide. Breathing machines, such as BiPAP and
ventilators, used at night during sleep, can help by giving deep breaths
and resting the diaphragm. But in James’ case, since his symptoms are in
his throat, his body has difficulty adjusting to air being pushed into his
body. He is not tolerating BiPAP well, yet.
BreathPlay is perfect for James to use during his waking hours,
especially when he is moving his body, or when he needs to relax and deal
with anxiety, or when he wants to maintain energy for his work life.
BreathPlay is a tool that helps him develop a closer relationship with his
body, which is not being very cooperative. BreathPlay gives him a way to
encourage his body and mind to work together. BreathPlay lets him connect
with his power source - the universal power source - the breath.
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
BreathPlay and People Affected by Polio -
January 9, 2003
Polio is a paralytic viral disease that affected people in the United
States in the early to mid 20th century, before there was a
vaccine. Many people survived and regained mobility. Now as older
adults, they are experiencing unanticipated expansion of physical
difficulties. The symptoms include breathing difficulties (often
manifested as difficulty sleeping, headaches, low energy, daytime
sleepiness, and often ignored) and mobility issues. Some people call this
post-polio syndrome.
(There is a world-wide effort, spearheaded by the United Nations and
Rotary International, to eradicate polio on the planet through
vaccination.)
I have dared to teach BreathPlay to several people with post polio
syndrome. I say dared because it is a common, unspoken belief in the
rehabilitation community that people with paralysis can’t use their belly
muscles. In my work in respiratory home care with people with paralysis
caused by many different factors, I have found only a few people who truly
have no conscious control of their belly muscles. Usually the problem
with belly muscles arises from disuse, a cultural phenomenon.
So let me tell you about three people who had polio as children. Sam
is a practicing neurologist who is in his late 60s. Mary Jane is also in
her sixties, the mother of three and grandmother as well. Linda, now in
her late forties, the mother of two teenage sons, experienced a polio
exacerbation a few years ago that ended her career as a social worker.
Sam is a short, very thin man - his legs are like sticks - with
severe kyphoscoliosis (front-to-back and side-to-side spinal curvature),
and highly functional. He walks with a cane and wears an AFO (ankle foot
orthotic - a plastic splint for the lower leg). Nothing stands in his
way. He told me about doing deep breathing exercises for 15 minutes upon
waking and before bed at night. He had been doing this focused breathing
for a few years when I first met him in 2001. Recently he had started
swimming 4-5 times a week. (Prior to this exercise routine, he was using
Canadian crutches - the ones that attach to the arms - for mobility.) I
asked him (he is a neurologist) about the medical prohibition on exercise
for folks with post-polio. “Nonsense,” he said. “And there’s no such
thing as post-polio syndrome.”
Because BreathPlay enhances body awareness, it is the perfect tool to
prevent overuse of muscles that are already weakened by polio. Gentle
exercise is essential to keep muscles and connective tissues from
contracting and creating deformities.
Sam was eager and excited to refine his breathing. He latched on to
BreathPlay and raves about how it makes his workout easier. (BreathPlay
reduces the work of breathing.) BreathPlay also helps him with balance
and energy conservation when he sails his 22-foot sailboat.
Mary Jane, short and extremely thin, experienced respiratory distress
three years ago. She was hospitalized in Staten Island, New York,
intubated and placed on a ventilator. The doctors wanted to trach her
(cut a hole in her throat for a breathing tube). She was NOT interested.
Her family did some research and found Dr. John Bach at the University of
Medicine and Dentistry in Newark, New Jersey. Dr. Bach is aggressive
about helping people with neuromuscular conditions fight the system that
wants to perform needless tracheostomies. Mary Jane discharged herself
‘against medical advice’ and went to UMDNJ Hospital.
Today, Mary Jane is as active as any grandma, maybe more so. She
exercises on a treadmill 4 - 5 times a week using BreathPlay, and travels
to visit her grandkids in Texas and Ireland. She uses a portable
ventilator with a nose mask for sleep and BreathPlay during the day for
energy and relaxation. I even taught her how to use BreathPlay when
rolling dough for Christmas cookies!
Linda, a tall, thin woman, is very close to her breathing. By that I
mean that she is aware of almost every breath her body takes. Her
unconscious breathing is very high in her chest and neck, which means that
she is spending too much energy in the breathing process when breathing
spontaneously. She uses a ventilator with a full face mask for sleep and
often during the day, and always during her daily twenty minutes on the
treadmill. Folks with no breathing issues, who can ignore their breathing
with no ill effect, use 3- 5% of their energy for breathing. Linda
probably spends 30% of her total energy just to get air to enter her
body. So BreathPlay is really important for her, to reduce her work of
breathing.
BreathPlay training is muscle training. Linda’s weak muscles have
learned some bad habits. Rather than trying to undo old breathing
patterns, I encouraged Linda to think of BreathPlay as something new.
It’s easier to learn something new than to undo old habits.
So we began BreathPlaying, rather than breathing. Linda’s stomach
muscles needed some assistance. She placed her hands on her belly and
gently pressed during the outbreath and released for the inbreath, thus
allowing her belly to expand and invite air in. Practicing BreathPlay
several times a day in a quiet place for 3 - 5 minutes or more, is
essential for teaching muscles, which are smart, but slow learners.
Linda’s challenge is to use BreathPlay throughout the day with
routine activities of daily living. BreathPlay is a tool to help Linda
lower her breathing range from 25 - 30 times per minute to less than 20.
The net result will be more energy for homemaking and hobbies, a happier
body and perhaps a longer life, if you believe, as the Chinese do, that we
each are given a certain number of breaths for our lifetime. You do the
math!
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
BreathPlay and Quadriplegia - March 13, 2003
Richard is a 45-year-old quadriplegic who
has a history of asthma (but nothing recent). I met Richard recently when
his doctor ordered a cough machine for him. Richard usually spends most
of his time in his power chair, but for the past few months has been in
bed to allow a decubitus ulcer on his butt to heal. Yesterday, during my
monthly visit, he eagerly told me that he had not only been using the
cough machine daily, but also an incentive spirometer.
This caught my attention. Incentive spirometers are on the
top of my list of worthless junk masquerading as medical equipment.
So I asked Richard to demonstrate his technique. I held
the spirometer, a clear plastic case with a piston inside, and placed the
mouthpiece, connected to the spirometer via 6 inches of blue corrugated
tubing, in his mouth. Lying there in bed, he sucked up and he blew out,
over and over again.
I noticed that while sucking air in, Richard’s belly rose
considerably, but his chest wall collapsed as he engaged the muscles of
his upper chest and neck. He put a great deal of effort into blowing out,
but I didn’t see much belly action.
After his demonstration, I asked him about his energy
level. He said he was tired. Although we had done some BreathPlaying
during my previous month’s visit, he had not retained much. I asked him to
watch my belly as I demonstrated BreathPlay technique. He said he could
not move his belly like that.
I asked Richard if I could put my hand on his belly and
push down. I wanted him to physically experience the sensation of his
belly moving down towards the bed (and his spine) and the sensation of his
belly expanding up away from his spine. Once he experienced this, I asked
him to blow out as I pushed down, then just relax (do nothing) when I
released his belly. We did that a few times, then I stopped and he
continued. Soon, he was moving his belly down towards the bed quite
effectively. He really could move his belly muscles. But like many
people these days, he was not at all in touch with this belly muscles, and
probably assumed that because of his paralysis, he could not move them.
It is my experience that most people with quadriplegia can
move their belly muscles, often the last muscle group to become
dysfunctional. Like all muscles, belly muscles need to be used regularly
to be effective.
Since Richard got a lot of pleasure and reinforcement from
the incentive spirometer, I suggested that he turn the incentive
spirometer upside down and blow into it. In other words, do BreathPlay
into the upside down incentive spirometer. The piston then moves during
the relaxed inbreath, modeling the BreathPlay-created vacuum which
spontaneously fills the lungs.
Richard said that in a couple of weeks, he was going to
have flap surgery on his decubitus ulcer. We talked about BreathPlay used
for anxiety prevention and pain management. He was pleased to have a
means of staying in charge of his body, a means that does not require any
equipment.
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
BreathPlay and Physical Therapy
-
October 16, 2003
In fifty years of skiing, I have fallen many times. I just pick
myself up, dust myself off, and start skiing again. Last March, at the
end of my last day of cross country skiing, while traversing a hill to
the parking lot in Harriman State Park, I fell diagonally downhill. As
always, I bounced up, brushed off the snow and continued skiing.
Six months later – about a month ago, I finally admitted that my
dysfunctional shoulder was not going to spontaneously heal. I told myself
that I had to get help or there would be no skiing this coming winter.
I had no idea that physical therapy for a frozen shoulder would be so
painful. I renamed the practitioner a physical terrorist. She said that
many patients quit physical therapy because they cannot tolerate the pain
of stretching the joint to reestablish full range of motion.
BreathPlay is the reason I was able to complete the physical therapy
protocol. I used BreathPlay with every exercise, with all ranging, and
even with electrical stimulation. BreathPlay keeps me focused on my body,
directing energy to muscles and directing relaxation to areas of
concentration. I have gained a better understanding of the relationship
between relaxation and energy. A relaxed body allows the free flow of
blood and lymph and everything that energizes and heals the body.
Relaxation opens up the body and the mind to all possibilities.
I have just completed my third week of physical therapy. I estimate
that I now have 85% of my shoulder function, compared to 10 - 20% when I
started. I’ve come a long way. I can now tuck by shirt into my pants
without pain, and put on a jacket without agony. I continue to stretch
daily in between my three physical therapy sessions each week.
While in therapy, I have shared BreathPlay with the physical
therapists and with the patients. When I notice someone holding their
breath, I have a BreathPlay chat with them. The physical therapist said
that she has shared what little she now knows about BreathPlay with
patients who have immediately seen their abilities expand. My goal is to
do in-service BreathPlay training for physical therapists employed by
Kessler, which now owns most of the rehab centers in northern New Jersey.
It’s just a matter of time. BT
PS March 23, 2008
My shoulder and entire upper body have never been stronger. In the past
four years, I have incorporated my physical therapy training into my daily
exercise routine. My goal of doing in-service training with physical
therapists has fallen on deaf ears. I continue teaching BreathPlay at the
grass roots level. It seems that people-in-need are ready to think
outside the box, not the medically-trained practitioners.
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
BreathPlay, Revolutionary Beginnings, and Relaxation July
17, 2007
Birth is that moment when you take your first breath, the moment when you
take your first unprotected breath. No longer does the first
environment – the womb – protect you! Your first breath is the
beginning of your adventure into the wild unknown.
In
July 1987 at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck NY, I spent a week learning
BreathPlay from Ian Jackson himself. This distinctly marks another
beginning in my life. What did I know of the deep significance of
harmonious breathing?
Immediately, my body told me that BreathPlay is my friend, that BreathPlay
makes the world a safe place! My body responded with enthusiasm.
Quickly, it became obvious that BreathPlay is a tool to generate power and
relaxation. No need to huff & puff hiking up mountains. No more
difficulty falling asleep at night.
What is amazing to me about my BreathPlay beginnings is the symbolic
personal growth that BreathPlay demonstrates. It’s all about giving and
receiving This is how it works: BreathPlay teaches you to focus on a
gentle outbreath using your belly like a bellows. When you have exhaled
to a point of comfort, you release your belly muscles. This very action
of allowing your belly to expand creates a vacuum. The result is that for
NO COST energy-wise, your lungs fill with as much air as you pushed out.
Give and you shall receive! This is a revolutionary idea.
If
you give your used air, high in CO2, back to the universe, the universe
provides all the oxygen-laden air you need. This is the physics principle
called suction. Humans readily agree intellectually that when you squeeze
anything – like a bellows - and suddenly expand it, you create a vacuum
that sucks air in. But the species is very slow to grasp this reality in
a personal way, to understand that the suction principle can be applied to
the human body. So neophyte BreathPlayers tend to use a
longer-than-needed inbreath. Unfortunately, this gives the body the
opportunity to revert to old, fast, ineffective inbreathing.
When I first learned BreathPlay twenty years ago, it took me a couple of
weeks to train my muscles to relax for the inbreath – just LET it happen,
quickly, and to return to the active outbreath. Suddenly after about
fourteen days of practice while walking, I couldn’t wait for the quick
inbreath to conclude. I wanted, needed, to return to the outbreath!
This was revolutionary! This has changed my life, opening me up to all
sorts of possibilities. I have learned that the metaphor actually works!
I learned that if I give to the universe, everything that I need – love,
challenging work, new ideas, a home, money - will come to me. This is
relaxation.
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
What
the Trainer Learned at a BreathPlay Workshop - March
3, 2008
It
is the day after my first BreathPlay workshop in a LONG time. I am flying
high! I learned so much. So many light bulbs flashed!
While I share BreathPlay with my individual home care patients and at
support groups, I have not taught a BreathPlay workshop in several years
because of the demands of my regular job, respiratory therapy home care.
Yesterday I shared BreathPlay with a group of 20 women in Northern New
Jersey, members of Adventures for Women. While these are people who love
being physically active outdoors, they have the same health concerns as
the general population in the 21st century. They are stressed
to the max, over worked and under played. They aspire to use their bodies
more effectively and to have more fun in the wilderness. BreathPlay
training is the means to this end.
Here’s
what I, the BreathPlay trainer, LEARNED:
1)
Dreams
are motivational. Dreams place workshop participants on the fast track to
learn and use BreathPlay in every aspect of their life.
2)
Asking
workshop attendees to create their own dream statement sucks them
automatically into the BreathPlaying process. They are repeating their
rhythmic dream statement (I’m hik-ing the Alps with ease, or I am hik-ing
for-ev-er) in their head with every outbreath. The inbreath is a one or
two syllable word – peace, love, in-deed, let-in – that completes the
process, effortlessly.
3)
I do not need to know what is wrong or broken, i.e.,
disease diagnoses, with BreathPlay workshop participants. There is
only one reason to discuss disease diagnosis: knowledge about how a
disease affects your body helps you understand how BreathPlay can help
you. There is no other good reason to talk about disease.
Moaning and groaning about what is wrong with you just gets you deeper
into a hole without a ladder. Workshop participants can apply BreathPlay
to their own life situations. That’s the fun of learning BreathPlay.
4)
People want to be connected with each other. Our
twenty-first-century culture values isolation, hoarding, exclusivity and
private ownership. BreathPlay encourages giving and sharing.
The basic concept of BreathPlay stems from the esoteric knowledge found in
yoga and the martial arts. Now this knowledge that was once
available only to the privileged classes is available to all.
BreathPlay, the metaphor, invites the individual to put effort into giving
used air back to the universe and to relax to receive the gift of the
universe, one inbreath at a time. Thus, BreathPlay connects all of us
living things with each other via the very air that we share.
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
October
24, 2008 - Stanley
Today I inadvertently met Stanley while I was helping
his 5-month-old grand nephew who has weak respiratory muscles. George
greeted me from his chair by a sunny picture window near his front door.
His was looking sad, with a nasal cannula in his nostrils, while the
oxygen concentrator hummed nearby at 2 liters per minute. Little did I
know that I would be able to help not just one person but two during my
two-day visit to Pittsburg.
Stanley confirmed that he had COPD. I asked him if
he had received any training in effective breathing. He said, “Oh, that
blow, blow, blow stuff?”
“No, that’s the pulmonary function test. That’s a
diagnostic test. I’m talking about breathing training to help you use
your limited lung function to your best advantage.”
“No one’s taught me anything like that.”
When I asked Stanley if he was going to pulmonary
rehabilitation, he said it just wasn’t for him. He’d rather exercise at
home. He was excited when I told him about BreathPlay. Immediately he
latched on to the idea of using your own belly like a bellows. While I
helped his nephew with a cough machine, he practiced BreathPlay. A couple
of hours later as I was leaving, Stanley and I reviewed basic BreathPlay.
He expressed such gratitude for my paying a little attention to him and
his needs.
I returned to Stanley’s the next day to check on the
baby and continue training his parents. There was a different man sitting
in the chair by the picture window. He too had a nasal cannula in his
nostrils, but his face looked happy. His lips would gently purse every
now and then while his belly was visibly contracting. I could see his
belly expand for the inbreath. I asked this man what he dreamed of
doing. His son-in-law looked at me as if I were crazy, but Stanley knew
the significance of the question.
“See those pillars out there?” he asked. “I built
those forty years ago. One of them needs repair. I want to go out there
and get the job done.” Just as I thought! People dream of getting
outside! Ah, to feel the crisp, chill fall air in your nose and the
warmth of the sun through your clothing!
So, using his pulse oximeter that fit on his finger,
we measured his blood oxygen level - with oxygen, without oxygen, and
while BreathPlaying without oxygen. He was amazed at the power of
BreathPlay to keep his saturation well above 90, the lower limit before
supplemental oxygen is needed. This brought a broad smile to his face,
because he knew that his dream was within his reach. It would not be
easy, because he had become debilitated. But with consistent, appropriate
daily exercise coordinated with BreathPlay, he knew he would be repairing
the pillar before too long.
I am confident that Stanley will become a proficient
BreathPlayer because dreams are powerful.
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
December
2008: Dr. Gerald W. Deas
advocates BreathPlay
In December 2008, Gerald Deas, MD, MPH, MA,
professor in Department of
Preventive Medicine at SUNY Downstate
College of Medicine, poet and playwright, focused on the power of
effective breathing – BreathPlay - in his syndicated health column
Housecalls, featured in New
York’s Amsterdam News and the
Haitian Times.
Dr.
Deas, a life-long advocate of preventive medicine, is director of
medical education communication at
SUNY Downstate Medical Center and hosts a health show on Brooklyn
Cable TV. I was a guest on that show a few years ago. Dr. Deas recently
phoned me to reconnect. He understands that breathing issues, lumped
together and commonly termed asthma, affect everybody and that throwing
more medication at the problem does not resolved the problem.
Many of Dr. Deas loyal readers have called me to discover how learning and
using BreathPlay can improve their own well being. Many thanks to Dr.
Deas, a
public health expert, for making a difference in people’s lives.
One
of his readers is arranging for me to conduct a BreathPlay workshop in
Queens early in 2009. Call me for details or to arrange a workshop in
your community.
201-930-0557.
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
BreathPlay and Cross Country Skiing
Ski for Light
February 1 -8, 2009
Soldier Hollow, Midway
UT
Having skied for the past 50 or so years, I’m
ready for adventure – but not the black diamond type. Ski for Light, an
all-volunteer, nonprofit organization founded in 1975, modeled on a
similar program in Norway, provides a really personal adventure: cross
country skiing with people who cannot see. There are usually 100 blind
skiers, 100 sighted skiers and 30 to 40 support staff volunteers
This was my third time participating in Ski
for Light. The first was in 2002 in Granby, Colorado. The ski conditions
were fabulous and my blind skier was a quick learner. The next year, we
met in Anchorage, Alaska. The ski conditions were horrendous – rain, ice
and puddles on top of a thin layer of snow. My beginning skier, a woman
in her 50s from Georgia, skied every day with good humor. I enjoyed my
self, but would have preferred to spend my hard earned vacation skiing on
snow. So I skipped a few years. The 2009 location – Soldier Hollow, the
2002 Olympic site at an altitude of 6000 feet in the Wasatch Mountains –
attracted my attention. It was a doubly-good location because my kids and
grandkids live in the Salt Lake City valley, a one-hour drive away.
My blind skier, Hayley, a 23-year-old woman
from London, had never been on skis before. As a kid, she had learned to
ride a bike, roller skate and do all the things kids do, thanks to her
mom’s attitude about life. At Soldier Hollow, there was just enough snow
for perfect tracks. The sky was blue for the first four days, with
temperatures in the high 20s – just right for skiing without a sweater,
hat or even mittens. Two days were overcast with bouts of snow, sleet and
rain depending on the elevation. Ski conditions remained exceptional.
One of the highlights of Ski for Light is
sharing our expertise after a day on the trail. The workshops range from
the latest communication devices for the blind to Texas holdum. Of
course, I offered an introduction to BreathPlay to help skiers have more
energy. Over thirty skiers attended, some with guide dogs. They were
impressed with the muscle testing demonstration that illustrates the power
of the outbreath and the muscle weakness during the inbreath. For the
remainder of our week together, skiers would share their BreathPlay
epiphanies. There are plenty of hills at Soldier Hollow. Many skiers
told me about their success managing the uphill sections of trail – even
enjoying uphill skiing. Another skier told me his sinuses cleared up
doing BreathPlay as alternate-nostril breathing.
It is rare for me to be surrounded for a week
by my BreathPlay students. Hearing their reports of success using
BreathPlay was so gratifying.
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
Post-Polio Health Conference
Warm Springs, Georgia
April 26, 2009
I traveled the back roads of Georgia to
spend three days at Warm Springs, the source of President Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s physical and spiritual strengthening after being infected by
the polio virus in 1921 at the age of 39. I represented my employer,
Millennium Respiratory Services, at the 10th conference of
Post-Polio Health International, a non profit organization whose mission
is education, research, advocacy and networking. I was teamed up with
Brenda Butka, MD pulmonologist and Kristy McClellan, RRT from Vanderbilt
Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee to discuss the
use of BiPAPs and ventilators to overcome the effects of respiratory
muscle weakness.
Breathing machines are often needed only
for sleep. This ensures that a good night’s sleep will provide ample
energy for a full day’s activities. So we discussed this at length. It
is a complex topic because of individual needs and the differing health
payment systems in all 50 states.
But breathing devices are not the whole
story about effective breathing. How do you support your breathing during
the day when you are separated from you breathing device? What happens if
you get anxious or frustrated, like the rest of the world that never had
polio?
BreathPlay to the rescue! But only expect
BreathPlay to help you if you have learned it in your muscles and practice
it every day. Then you are indeed a BreathPlayer. You will be able to
call upon your belly muscles to activate your respiratory system for
strength.
During the conference session, I used
kinesiology (muscle testing) on my friend, acupuncturist Sue Harris from
Pretty Prairie, Kansas, to demonstrate to this group of polio survivors
and their family members that the outbreath is the part of the breathing
process that gives you power. They were amazed because like everyone
else, they assumed that taking in air is the essential part of the
breathing process. Now they know better. It is the outbreath that gives
you power—and relaxes you as well!
They learned the mantra “When in doubt,
blow out.” This will help you with a quick fix, but it’s far more
effective to be a disciplined BreathPlayer so that you teach your muscles
to function the BreathPlay way. People who have survived the polio bug
are disciplined and determined individuals who live very active lives.
Learning BreathPlay is fun and worth the effort!
Here’s to learning BreathPlay and sharing it far and wide.
Betsy Thomason, RRT
Park Ridge NJ 07656
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
May 30, 2009 Support Group
for people with OI—Osteogenesis Imperfecta
(brittle bone disease)
As stated by the Osteoporosis and
Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center located in Washington DC (www.ostco.org)
, “OI is a genetic disorder in which the bones are fragile due to
defective collagen, a protein found in connective tissue—bone and
cartilage.” Thus bones are less dense and break easily. Some people with
OI have hundreds of bone breaks in their lifetime, others in the single
digits.
I was invited to speak to the New Jersey
Area OI Support Group that meets at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation
in West Orange. I met a vital group of take-charge people, many in
wheelchairs, who are eager to learn how they can be more fully functional
so they can enjoy work and play.
We discussed the anatomy and physiology
of breathing and how the curvature of their bodies affects the breathing
process. Several complained of waking in the morning feeling exhausted.
I recommended that they get a respiratory evaluation from Dr. John Bach,
MD, the director of the Muscular Dystrophy Clinic at the University of
Medicine and Dentistry (UMDNJ) in Newark New Jersey (973-972-2809) or
www.doctorbach.com.. The symptom in this population—waking feeling
tired—is a warning sign that breathing is so ineffective during sleep that
toxins—like carbon dioxide—are not being eliminated. Non invasive
ventilation (a breathing machine with a nose mask) during sleep can
reverse this situation.
I taught a mini BreathPlay workshop and
encouraged attendees to go to this web site,
www.fitnessoutdoors.com, to listen to the FREE ½-hour BreathPlay
lesson because during a support group, I really only tell participants
about BreathPlay. The way for anyone to learn BreathPlay is to PRACTICE
it three times a day for 5 minutes or more in a quiet place. Muscles are
smart, but slow learners—they thrive on practice.
BreathPlay is beneficial in so many ways
for everybody.
1)
BreathPlay’s efficiency
provides a net gain in energy. Who doesn’t welcome more energy!
2)
Knowing how to relax is
essential. BreathPlay offers relaxation throughout the entire breathing
cycle of outbreath and inbreath.
3)
People who care for other
people do physically strenuous work—lifting, pushing, transferring—that
can cause back problems. BreathPlay helps develop strong belly muscles.
When BreathPlay is used during strenuous activities, the belly muscles
protect the low back from strain.
For more information about OI contact the
Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation at
800-981-BONE or www.oif.org.
For information about the New Jersey
Osteogenesis Imperfecta Support Group, email Roe at
rdkoif@verizon.net or call Jo Ann at 201-314-5289. This is an active
group that has fun hanging out together.
For more information about BreathPlay,
delve into this web site and check out
www.breathplay.com.
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
Betsy’s Blog --
September 20, 2009
In
late August, 45-year old Marion called me at the recommendation of a
chiropractor and a Reiki practitioner. Her main complaint was
anxiety—long standing anxiety. She was hoping that BreathPlay would help
her. She sounded ready take charge of her body and her life which she
shares with her husband and three girls. She works part time as a
manicurist..
Recently she had gone to the emergency room with an
anxiety attack. She thought her heart would jump out of her body. But
she refused Xanax and went home with no resolution to her chronic
problem.
Two weeks later, she and I met for a one-hour BreathPlay
session at WoodDale Park in WoodCliff Lake, New Jersey. She had done her
homework well, learning basic BreathPlay on this web site. She expressed
a good understanding in words and actions, and was ready for the next
step—coordinating BreathPlay with activity.
We walked and talked, and walked in silence focusing on
counting steps discovering a comfortable rhythm. Marion, a non smoker
whose weight is appropriate for her height said that many people tell her
that she looks younger than her 45 years. “But I don’t feel young,”
Marion said. “I go ice skating with the kids and I feel tired. I walk up
the stairs with a basket of laundry and I’m huffing and puffing.”
Today Marion called me with a progress report. The
first thing she said was, “Going up hills my numbers are 3/2 (three steps
for outbreath, 2 for the inbreath) and I’m not short of breath at the
top. Learning to exhale has revolutionized things for me. Having this
BreathPlay knowledge has empowered me! I’m ready to start skiing with my
girls!”
All this personal growth and management of anxiety after
just a few weeks of BreathPlaying!
Betsy’s
BreathPlay Journal
BreathPlay Intro
at the Park Ridge, New Jersey Library
January 14, 2010
Eleven people came to my BreathPlay introduction for all
sorts of reasons. One had asthma (chronic airway collapse, also known as
bronchospasm); one had nagging shortness of breath on stairs; and one came
out of curiosity. Another came because her friend asked her to come
along. Turns out, she’s a jogger and never heard that effective breathing
is beneficial. Someone else had lung surgery a few years ago. No one on
the medical team ever mentioned effective breathing as a means of
overcoming the loss of lung tissue.
While waiting for everyone to arrive, we made
pinwheels—for directions go to
www.pinwheelsforpeace.org. This is the simplest way to introduce the
idea that the outbreath makes you strong. The pinwheel only moves when
you blow on it—the outbreath.
BreathPlay is so basic. Just pretend you are the wind
that turns the pinwheel. This puts you on the BreathPlay path to strength
and relaxation. BreathPlay requires only gentle pushing out of air. You
can use your tongue to block some of the air as it moves out of your
body. Or, you might smile as you restrict the air flow with your teeth.
(No one needs to realize what you are doing!) Your intention is to
gently back up the air in your airway to keep it open and thus prevent
airway collapse or bronchospasm.
The outbreath also stimulates the part of your autonomic
nervous system that promotes relaxation. So here you are, gently blowing
out just enough air—it powers you and relaxes you at the same time.
Now go to the home page of this web site and listen to
the free ½-hour BreathPlay lesson. You don’t have to listen to it all at
once. Listen for a few minutes, learn some new ideas, and then practice
them. You are learning a new approach, not trying to undo your life-long
sucking-in-the-air breathing habit. Muscles learn new ideas easier than
trying to undo old ones. Remember this is physical education—learning
through your muscles.
With the pinwheel, you’ve taken the first BreathPlay
outside-the-box step towards expanding your lungs and your life.
Happy trails,
Betsy Thomason, RRT
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