FEELING GOOD!

Do you think of your ribs as a cage?  Instead, think of your ribs as bellows and allow them to expand and contract as you breathe.  What of your abdomen?  Do you allow the muscles of your abdomen to relax and contract with each breath that you take?  Or, are you one of the many TV watching, fashion magazine reading public who has been force fed the idea that one must hold one’s stomach muscles rigid to maintain the beauty of the coveted skinny mid-section? 

The ribs are indeed protectors of several of the human body’s vital organs; however, the ribs are a living part of the body just as much as the heart is.  Life has movement. The ribs allow movement and are designed with the wonderful structure that allows them to fan in and out as a pair of gills in order for us to breathe.   Obviously, the stomach muscles are an even more elastic structure which should easily follow and facilitate our own breathing.  A rigid stomach is not toned… it is rigid.  Rigidity is not beautiful and has no place in the elastic ebb and flow of relaxed, effective steady breathing.

Your lungs are marvels!  For the tiny area of the body that they encompass, the lungs contain a huge amount of surface space needed to bring in oxygen and haul off carbon dioxide.  Since oxygen is vital to the proper working of one’s muscles, it would make sense that the athlete (or even wannabe athlete) would be concerned with learning to breathe in as much of this precious fuel as possible.  As for the removal of carbon dioxide with each expiration of one’s breath, this helps to rid the body of this waste product and thus facilitates the acid base balance of the body.  In layman’s terms, you will have less muscle damage and be less sore.

Just as one should be aware of allowing one’s body to take relaxed, deep breaths, one should also be aware of the air that you breathe.  Smoking is an obvious “dark cloud” to one’s health.  It is also important to be aware of places that you visit.  A day or two in a smoke filled room or a polluted city are not good however one can counteract such attacks with a few days in the mountains or out in the country where the air is fresh.  Oxygen is important to life and living life!  Often a tired body or cloudy mind can be rejuvenated by a good dose of oxygenated air!

So, do your body and mind a favor.  Learn to breathe properly.  Try singing (alone if necessary!) and see how well you can pelt those tunes out from deep in your abdomen.  Sometimes, try to concentrate on your breathing alone as you perform one of your normal activities.  See how much you can keep your breathing at a relaxed, steady rate while you increase your output at your given activity.  You will find that with deeper, relaxed breathing that your exercise will also develop a smoother, steady rhythm and your body will operate more efficiently.

Breathe easy.  You were designed for it.