About BreathPlay

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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 21^st 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 20^th 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 21^st 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 10^th 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

________________________________________________________________________________

Betsy’s BreathPlay Journal

Betsy’s BreathPlay Log -- November 19, 2010 -- BreathPlay and ALS

Every Monday—since October 2001—I head in to New York City where I’m the respiratory therapist at the ALS Association’s clinic at Beth Israel’s Phillips Ambulatory Care Center. I work with people who are loosing the use of muscles because for some unknown reason normal electrical nerve messages have shut down. This phenomenon is called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, because the legendary Yankees’ first baseman had this muscle-wasting, progressive disease, and courageously announced it to the world at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939. Despite his deteriorating condition that caused him to retire from baseball, he stated, “…today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

My work at the ALS clinic involves testing the various aspect of breathing—the strength of the diaphragm, the amount of air pulled into the lungs, and how well the body processes oxygen and carbon dioxide. My job description and the clinic’s expectations of me have never included breathing training.

However, I have felt bound to share BreathPlay with people who have, or will have, increased difficulty breathing. With limited time for patient visits, I have developed quick ways to share the basics of BreathPlay, using well known metaphors. I ask people to picture how a bellows works or an accordion plays, and then to be the bellows or the accordion, fanning the flames or making music with the outbreath. Then, with a quick muscle-testing demonstration, I show the physical strength that the outbreath provides. Wow! This changes attitudes about the importance of focusing on the active, spine-stretching outbreath and just letting the air come in again! For those who wish to actually learn and use BreathPlay, I refer them to the free half-hour BreathPlay lesson at this website, www.btbreathingtraining.com. I welcome email queries with questions or concerns—and welcome invitations to conduct workshops in your community.

So, say you have ALS. You come to the clinic every three months. I guide you through your lung function tests. You wait a few minutes with bated breath to find out if your results, expressed as numbers, are the same, better or worse than the last visit. I’m the one who gives you the news. This can be unpleasant.

How do I deal with this task? Over the years, I have looked to BreathPlay for help. BreathPlay has taught me that the numbers generated by lung-function tests are simply numbers. In other words, the numbers are mere facts that all too often discourage people from imagining the possibilities.

My mantra is this: “It’s what you do with what you’ve got that really counts.”

“What you do” is BreathPlay! This is what gives me the hope that I pass along to you! I have witnessed people with profound reduction in lung function learn and use BreathPlay to improve their ability to get oxygen into their blood and to usher out carbon dioxide. This translates into being able to climb stairs with less shortness of breath, or to feel relaxed when the panic of paralysis sets in, or to grunt a greeting when speech fails.

I’m not claiming that BreathPlay reverses ALS-related breathing problems; just that BreathPlay provides a tool for taking charge of your shortness of breath and your fear of the future—to be at peace for this breath.

My years of BreathPlay perseverance have paid off. Recently, the ALS Association of Greater New York asked me to speak, at a recent Caregivers’ Seminar, specifically about how to use BreathPlay for relaxation and stress management. Believe me, stress management and relaxation are essential for anyone associated with ALS.

I admit that I’m partial to BreathPlay. After extensive research and years of practice, I am convinced that BreathPlay is the most efficient breathing method and the easiest to understand, learn, practice, and teach. For people with muscle weakness, efficient use of muscles is essential to conserve energy. For their caregivers—who might be athletic or your average Joe or Jane—the same is true.

But, I leave it up to YOU to decide which breathing method works best. My recommendation: Just Breathe Out!

###

Betsy’s BreathPlay Journal

BreathPlay and High Altitude Cross Country Skiing February 2011

I knew when I signed up to go cross country skiing at Snow Mountain Ranch, located at 8700 feet above sea level in Granby, Colorado, that I would need to be in shape—not just because of the physical demands of skiing but because I wanted to sleep soundly. At 8700 feet, the air has only 74% as much oxygen as air at sea level where I live. It's as if at sea level, you could only use ¾ of your lungs.

Consider this: muscles that are well tuned require less oxygen.

So, let's say that you go to high altitude without getting in shape before departure. Your muscles will require more oxygen because you're out of shape, but there is less oxygen available. So you're combining 25% less naturally available oxygen with muscles that are demanding— even screaming—for more oxygen. This lack of oxygen at the cellular level not only negatively affects your physical abilities to move through space, but also your ability to sleep soundly and detoxify after a hard day at play. After all, you're going to Colorado for an active vacation, not to sit in your hotel room with an oxygen cannula up your nose. Nor do you want to rebook your flight home to sea level after a day or two because you are wiped out from doing nothing!

Here's what you need to know about going briefly to high altitudes:

If you have not prepared yourself physically, you will be short of breath during the day and night. Daytime you would be breathing fast and feel exhausted. Nighttime, you might get to sleep, but every hour or two, your body will wake you up so that you can breathe more deeply. Waking up all the time prevents your body from properly detoxifying. Thus you will be exhausted during the day because of lack of sleep and lack of detox. High altitude sickness takes many forms—headaches, respiratory congestion, blood clots, heart problems. Travel to high altitudes must be taken seriously. The only resolution to the related debilitation is to travel to lower altitude.

Now, if you exercise vigorously in the month or two prior to your excursion to high altitude, your body will acclimate more quickly. This was my intention, I kept reminding myself on blustery cold December and January nights, when, after work, I would bundle up and walk the hills in my neighborhood as fast as I could—BreathPlaying, of course.

It all paid off. I had a wonderful eight days of cross country skiing in pristine snow conditions, and often challenging weather. Those cold nights in New Jersey, speeding up hills on foot, made the slippery slopes of Colorado a joy.

To Top

e-mail us at: info@btbreathingtraining.com

or call: 201-930-0557


ABOUT BREATHPLAY
	Just Breathe Out: Developing a User-Friendly Body, featuring BreathPlay by Betsy Thomason 2010 Audio BreathPlay Lesson










Click Here for Betsy's Book
Learn more about BreathPlay, the REVOLUTIONARY breathing system.
e-mail: info@btbreathingtraining.com <<>> Phone: 201-930-0557