Breathing and Walking

Breath and primal gait patterning are at the core of health and wellness. By resetting the “primitive repair response mechanism”, you can reset your body, and clear stored patterns of stress in the body.

As things that we do everyday, learn the techniques which can make these fundamentals beneficial and deeply healing.

I am an American Council on Exercise (ACE) certified personal trainer, I have been brought on by the team at the Bellevue Wellness Center to help teach their clients primitive breath and gait patterning. I am proud to be a part of their mission to teach clients how to keep themselves and their families well.

What is Lateral Breathing

Lateral breathing is when you direct the air coming into the lungs towards the sides and the back of the ribcage. When using this technique, your ribs will expand upward and outward, much like putting a jacket around a coat hanger.

You can start to breath laterally by placing your hands against your lower ribs. Your palms should be in contact with your chest with the fingertips just barely touching each other. At this point, you should start to breath in so that your fingertips pull away from each other and then return as you are exhaling. To help you feel the air rushing to the back of your rib cage, place the hands on the back and facing the lower rib section and try pulling the air in towards your fingers.

Differences Between Lateral, Chest, and Belly Breathing

The differences may seem subtle at first, but the direction of the airflow and how your chest and belly move are the most noticeable differences when using the lateral breathing technique. Lateral breathing should not move the belly which automatically makes it different compared to belly breathing. Plus, you are pulling the air to the back of the ribs, not the front as with chest breathing.

The differences may seem small at first, but there are definite benefits when you practice lateral breathing and use it during the day.

Benefits of Lateral Breath Patterning

There are definite advantages when using the lateral breathing technique. The first is that once the technique is learned, you can perform it when needed.

Increased Oxygen Absorption: Because the air is directed towards the lower lobes of your lungs, the oxygen is enhanced in your bloodstream. This means that you will feel more energized, alert, and focused.

Better Mobility of Rib cage: Your ribs are not static, but instead can expand and contract somewhat thanks to the cartilage that is in place. Lateral breathing lets you expand slightly the mobility of the ribcage which in turn offers some healthy stretching and overall better flexibility.

Balance

The ability to keep your balance is important whether standing still or moving as it helps prevent falls and injuries from occurring.

Why Does Balance Degrade Over Time?

The simple reason is that balance is not inherent, but rather a learned skill which means that it needs to be worked on from time to time so that the brain and the muscles can maintain optimal level of performance. Balance is learned in the early years of development and children constantly challenge these skills as they play, be it hopscotch, jumping from rock to rock across a path, and balance while doing things that are not perhaps as safe as they could be. As we age, we simply get better at keeping ourselves safe, and therefore we use the muscles that help stabilize the body and the associated brain connections less, therefore they become less sharp, and less available when we need them.

How Balance Works the Brain

Balance training fundamentally means reinforcing the lessons learned as a toddler when you first started walking and firing off the neurons so that it improves brain function. Balance works the brain in a way that requires the cognitive process to activate so you can keep steady when walking, jogging, riding a bike, and any activity that requires maintaining proper balance.

Why Balance Training is Important

There are several reasons why balance training is important, starting with improving coordination. Because the muscles of your body must work together to maintain proper balance, it improves the coordination. However, this is only the start in why balance is so important to the body and mind.

Greater Body Awareness
Improved Reaction Time
Better Stability for the Joints
Long Term Health and Wellbeing

Because you are working more muscles of the body, you become more aware of what they can accomplish. You can feel this after a balance-oriented workout when muscles that may not have been used in a long time are suddenly activated. Adding more awareness to the muscles that control your body means greater reaction time as the mind activates more resources when moving from one place to another.

The emphasis on balance training also means fewer injuries, such as sprained ankles or knee issues that are often caused by trips and falls that might have been prevented if the sense of balance is better. Finally, over the long term having good balance means better long-term health and wellbeing.

For these reasons and more, balance training should be a part of your workout routine. Balance exercises only take a few minutes of time to complete, and by periodically challenging yourself in this way can help you to maintain optimal balance for a long time to come.

Postural Neurology

Postural neurology is the science of how your brain and body are connected.

Your posture is more than just how you stand or sit, it reflects your mental and physical state of being. While your posture can be affected by the condition of the muscles in your back and torso, postural neurology is the study of how your mental state is reflected in the way you stand or sit.

The science itself goes back thousands of years in different cultures where posture was part of the treatment process to battle various illnesses. However, today it is now seen as a symptom of conditions that affect the state of wellbeing.

What does Your Posture Say About Your Mental State?

Postural Neurology is the study of how your posture not only reflects your mental state, but that changes to your posture can actually improve your sense of wellbeing. This is because your vestibular and limbic systems are connected to the posture of your body which means that making changes in how you sit, stand and move can make a positive difference in your mental and physical outlook.

Can Changes in Posture Improve Your Physical or Mental Wellness?

It should be noted that Postural Neurology does not promise a cure. However, it does offer a pathway towards improving your overall state of mind which in turn boosts your health and wellbeing. This means that for those who may feel down, lost, or uncertain about the future, utilizing the known science behind Postural Neurology may provide a pathway towards having a better outlook on life.

By learning more about your predispositions based on the way you sit can offer you the information you need to change or adjust if you want things to be different in your life. Through our Postural Neurology practice we will provide specific methods that can be utilized so you can use them in your daily routine. The goal is achieved when the new posture methods because it improves the neurological function, helping the body and mind to feel more relaxed and in tune. In a sense, it’s like helping your body function at peak efficiency which in turn provides a greater sense of wellbeing that turns into more confidence and a positive outlook.