Have you ever heard your yoga teacher say something like this?
"Breathe into your belly"
"Breathe into your toes"
"Breathe into your lower back"
Let's go back to basics.
What is involved in respiration?
1. Pulling air into the lungs
2. Pushing air out of the lungs
You use muscles from throughout your torso to help respiration. When you are relaxed and not thinking about breathing, it goes as follows:
On inhale, your lungs expand and muscles contract in order to make space for inhalation.
On exhale, the muscles relax and recoil and air leaves the lungs.
More muscles become involved when you control your breath, are stressed or exercising.
So why is my yoga teacher asking me to breathe into my belly?
In this context, when we focus on 'breathing' or expanding into a certain area, we are not pulling air in or out of that area, but consciously influencing the primary and accessory breathing muscles.
This can give us the ability to influence posture, the nervous system, intra-abdominal pressure and more.
"Breathe into your ..." is not a literal instruction. It's a cue that helps bring awareness to movement of an area when breathing.
Breathing "into the back ribs" might ease upper back tension.
Breathing "into the belly" and holding can help 'brace' the core.
Exhaling and "drawing in the lower ribs" can bring attention to rib flare.
Hopefully next time you hear your yoga teacher ask you to "breathe into your hips", it might make a little more sense!
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