4. Creating Space for Breath
welcome to your body
•
15m
Before the breath can move well, the body needs space for it.
Many of the ways we hold ourselves come from unconscious somatic postures that developed in response to stress. These patterns influence both our alignment and how we breathe.
In this class, I introduce three common protective postures the body adopts when responding to perceived danger.
The first is the posture of running toward danger. The chest lifts and moves forward, the ribs flare, and the body prepares to act.
The second is the posture of running away from danger. The head and shoulders move forward, the chest collapses, and the breath becomes shallow and restricted.
The third is the posture of retreating or protecting. The body curls inward, the ribs compress, and the breath becomes small and guarded.
Over time these patterns can become our default posture, even when we are no longer under threat. The rib cage becomes stiff, the diaphragm loses space to move, and breathing becomes limited.
In this class we begin releasing these patterns.
Using a pillow, we gently open areas of the body that commonly hold tension, including the back ribs, side ribs, and chest. As these areas soften and expand, the rib cage becomes more mobile and the breath can begin moving more freely through the body.
This class helps unwind protective tension patterns and restore the space needed for fuller, more supported breathing.
Up Next in welcome to your body
-
5. Back and Psoas Release
This class focuses on releasing the back and the psoas.
We begin in a supported constructive rest position with your legs bent at ninety degrees and resting on a chair or stool. This position allows gravity to gently reset the pelvis and take pressure off the lower back.
The psoas is a deep muscl... -
6. Nervous System Reset: Tap, Breathe...
This class is a full reset for your nervous system, moving through three simple but powerful techniques that work together to bring your mind and body into a state of deep rest and release.
We live in a world that keeps us switched on. The nervous system adapts to that constant demand by staying ... -
7. Understanding Alignment
In this class we explore alignment.
You will learn where each part of the body ideally lives in space and how it relates to the other parts of the body. We look at how the head stacks over the spine, how the rib cage relates to the pelvis, how the hips sit over the feet, and how the body supports...
