Sea in a shell

I appreciate this exercise because it is a simple and elegant way to center yourself quickly when everything around you is turning to mush. It is understandable that you feel fragmented and distracted during a demanding workday. It is easy to lose track of your center, of your true self. Your best decisions, your best plans, your best healing, springs from your CENTER so try not to stray “too far from home” for too long.

Keep your spine comfortably erect and your shoulders relaxed during the entire exercise. Closing your eyes is preferable if circumstances allow.

1. With the tips of your middle fingers close your ears gently by pressing in on the small flap just forward of your ear canals (not to be confused with your ear lobes).


2. Rest your bent elbows comfortably against your chest and keep your face forward.


3. Close your eyes and LISTEN to your deep, slow, steady breathing. The sound of this smooth and rhythmic flow of air is a wonderful relaxing focus. It will seem as if you are listening to the sound of the sea in a seashell. Continue for as long as you feel comfortable. You will find that your breathing slows and deepens fairly quickly without any conscious effort on your part.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Snot Is Your Friend

OK. OK. I know that was a cheap shot but this is a really important subject and I really need to get your attention. Sorry about that.

Mucus often gets a bad rap. The only time we pay attention to mucus is when we have hay fever or a nasty leaky cold and at that point it seems like the attack of the glob. You just want it to go away.

If, in fact, your wish were to be granted by the cold-medicine fairy and snot did go away completely, I doubt that you would be around for your next birthday. You are pretty much lined with this glistening magical traveling stuff that keeps your delicate vulnerable inner tissues moist, clean, and warm.

The trick is to keep the mucus moist enough so it moves along easily but gelatinous enough to trap the bits of junk and microscopic critters that would otherwise dig dangerously deep into your vulnerable lungs and possibly kill you. Be judicious about cold and sinus medications that could dry out your bronchial passages. Stay hydrated. Wear a dust mask when you are exposed to airborne irritants that can overrun the mucus blanket. Treasure this super barrier.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Breathing? Good. Overbreathing? Not So Much.

There is a pulmonary computer at the base of your brain that works 24/7, never complains, rarely interrupts your busy day and is completely devoted to your survival. If you tried to consciously manage your breathing, you would be dead where you stand.

A steady flow of information speeds back and forth along your nerves from your muscles, lungs and heart, to and from your respiratory center. The speed, depth and frequency of your breathing are all adjusted instantly and precisely to provide exactly the amount of oxygen you need at any given moment. Sleeping? Running? Meditating? Dancing? Scared? Singing? Climbing? 10,000 feet? 200 feet under water? 115 degrees? –25 degrees? No problem. Count on split-second adjustments.

Your pulmonary computer allows for occasional manual control such as holding your breath, or speeding up/slowing down your breathing. Eventually you will return to what the computer deems to be “normal” breathing.

A manual override becomes dangerous, however, when a swimmer forces too many deep and fast breaths just before going into the water in the hopes of extending underwater time.

Overbreathing can increase underwater time but overbreathing also stores almost no extra oxygen and blows off way too much carbon dioxide. Once underwater, the victim runs out of oxygen but is missing the warning bursting sensation from the lack of carbon dioxide that screams “time to go up.” NEVER EVER TAKE MORE THAN TWO OR THREE EXTRA BREATHS BEFORE DIVING IN.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Sandwich Muscles II

If you hope to maintain a strong and healthy flow of fresh air in and out of your lungs at any age, you need to keep your pumper-and-squeezer muscles strong and flexible. As you age, the double layers of muscles (intercostals) sandwiched between your ribs become less active and more brittle. Poor posture pinches and inhibits the intercostals from doing their job efficiently. These are the muscles that raise and lower your ribs, changing the volume of your ribcage with each breath you take. Weak, cramped, lazy intercostal muscles cannot deliver the amount of oxygen you need for an active life.

1. Stand with your feet slightly more than shoulder-distance apart (toes straight ahead) with your back against a wall. Your bottom and BOTH shoulder blades will touch the wall at all times.
2. Stretch your right arm over your head and touch your left ear with your right hand (or as close as you can come). Lay your free hand on your navel and face forward the entire time.
3. Lengthen your spine first and then stretch slowly to the left, sliding along the wall only as far as is comfortable. Breathe quietly in and out, feeling the muscles working between the ribs along your right side. Hold for three or four breath cycles.
4. Pull your navel in and straighten up slowly. Change hands and repeat on the other side. If you have trouble returning to an upright position, you stretched too far.

This is an awareness exercise and a reminder of the importance of keeping pumpers-and-squeezers in good condition.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

LINK: Sandwich Muscles I

Sandwich Muscles I

Deep delicate lung tissue cannot actually move air all by itself and is completely dependent upon the ribcage muscles to deliver and take away air that the lung tissue processes. Therefore, it makes sense to keep all the respiratory “pumping” muscles strong, flexible and active.

A few generations ago, we didn’t live long. A body lasted a few decades (long enough to procreate) and then was gone. As the song goes, we didn’t run outta tread before we ran outta road. Today we need to keep all systems in relatively good working order at least until age 95. The operative word here is “WE.” Nature looks out for us until approximately age 35 and then it is our turn to take responsibility.

There isn’t too much we can do for the big master pumper (the diaphragm) that stretches across the floor of the ribcage. Keeping your spine aligned, sitting properly, keeping a reasonable weight and avoiding too-tight belts is about all you can do for that deeply buried and complicated structure.

However, the thin double layer of muscle (intercostals) sandwiched between your ribs is muscle you are easily able to control. Intercostals are the muscles that raise and lower your ribs to change the chest capacity. Fresh air is drawn in by vacuum that is created by an expanded chest. Stale air is squeezed out when the muscles relax and the ribs drop making the chest capacity smaller.

Any exercise that you do that stretches the torso forward, backward and especially sideways will help to keep your intercostals young.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

LINK: Sandwich Muscles II

Bored? Not.

Boredom is an insult to both your intelligence and your body. Each moment passes once and will never ever come again. All the King’s horses and all the King’s men are powerless to call back a particular moment. Time (in spite of the song) is not stored in a bottle. It is spent. It is not stored.

Besides, boredom almost always turns to stress and stress almost always churns up a chemical storm in your blood stream and messes with your nervous system. Your breath becomes short, shallow and erratic. I wrote this while waiting and waiting and waiting for my husband to test a new bike at a sporting goods store (he fell off so it took a little longer than expected but he liked the bike).

PLAN AHEAD. Always carry a small notepad and pen. Pick two favorite breathing or relaxation exercises that you turn to automatically. Potential boredom often happens in a public place so I recommend breathing exercises that are effective but not especially demonstrative.

Watch someone who is obviously bored and impatient. They look like a tall four-year old.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Increase Energy and Productivity

Your supervisor should admonish you for spending long UNINTERRUPTED hours with your
nose to the grindstone. That outdated work model is based on factory production and actually DECREASES your effectiveness in today’s information and service market.

Your employer would be better served if you followed a work pattern BASED ON THE WAY YOUR BODY AND BRAIN FUNCTION. Uneducated mill workers in the 1800s (mostly young women and children) were pushed until they dropped and were considered disposable cogs in the factory machine.

Today you are an educated, trained, motivated employee with the luxury of self-awareness. You are NOT disposable!

• Neurologists seem to agree that every brain needs to be “reset” every 20 – 40 minutes to maintain peak performance. “Reset” can occur with a quick change of venue, like walking to the window or down the hall. Set an alarm to remind yourself.
• To stay fresh, mentally and physically, you need to maintain a reasonable flow of oxygen and you must keep the bloodstream clear of the body’s spent fuel. Sitting too long results in shallow inefficient breathing. You grow tired and fuzzy-brained way too soon. Take frequent deep breaths.
• Hunched posture distorts your spine (especially your neck) and compresses your lungs. Stand up often, stretch and reposition your body correctly. Never rest your seated body on your tailbone. Keep your ears over your shoulders and your shoulders in line with your hipbones.
• Your eyes are NOT designed for a single focus at a set distance. Look away from the monitor frequently to a point in the far distance, then middle distance.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.