So this post is like trying to wrestle the genie into the lamp. How do I capture three years of voice training and make it behave like a short and simple post that will help you breathe when you don’t?
You know, like when you’re nervous. When you’re scared. When the grown-ups talk to you. When the boys talk to you. When those girls talk to you. When your parents are mad at you. Heck, when anyone is mad at you. When you have to walk into that room full of people you don’t know. When you need to go on stage, boot the penalty kick, write that exam, defend yourself to your boss, stand up to your partner, say your name to a stranger, walk through all of those people to get to your next class, speak…you get the picture.
Not everyone’s trigger is the same. But we all know that feeling: your chest gets tight, your shoulders almost hurt, the air can’t seem to squeeze through the space into your lungs, your breathing becomes short and shallow. And in some cases, you experience panic that is life altering. Otherwise, you can’t perform. Or your performance is diminished because one must breathe to speak.
So the first thing that happens to me when someone says let’s focus on the breath is I feel like I can’t breathe. Let’s not do that. This is the art of allowing not the work of trying. Trying implies we muster up a sweat to do something. Allowing is the letting go of whatever is stopping us from achieving our goal. Let go of the feelings obstructing your breath. Allow yourself to be.
And I want your face, your neck, and your shoulders to release. These three places should be doing nothing but relaxing during this exercise. If you feel tension creeping up, let it go.
This will be our exercise that you can practice every day. It should take a mere minutes. But you must practice so that your body can summon this wisdom when your mind is freaking out.
- Relax. Try Progressive Relaxation or just lying calm on the floor.
- Come up to a squat, feet wide, pelvis open, like this guy…
- Drop your head and relax looking at the floor. This may not be comfy for those with knee problems. Watch your back. Modify if you need. Now, inhale, feeling the pelvic floor expand, your belly expand, your rib cage expand, and your lower back expand. Feel all of that space you didn’t know you had!! The breath has such a short way to go to hit this wealth of space. Fill your space several times.
- Then roll up and stand on your two feet. Bounce a little. Sway a little. Feel your weight over your feet and feel your feet connected to the earth.
- Then inhale a nice cleansing breath and let it go. On your second breath, inhale, then as you let the breath go imagine the air falling through you like a waterfall, washing through your insides into your feet. Let your breath seep into the earth and nourish the ground around you. Keep taking nice and easy cleansing breaths allowing the breath to drop in, then wash down, and into your feet.
- On your next inhale I want you now to draw that breath up from the earth. Draw it in like a tree seeping nourishing water in through its roots. Let it fill you from the roots up then let it fall back down.
- Two more breaths like this, then the next breath we will draw up from the earth then send it out on the exhale around us like a tree releases from its leaves. Feel it leave from all sides of you as the luscious air you pulled from below rises and fills the world around you. Feel yourself as a complete, open being.
- Next, fold at the waist and roll down on an exhale. Inhale and roll up one vertebrae at a time. It will take a few breaths to come up. Keep the connection with your feet, draw the air from the earth, and inflate yourself drawing those lovely breaths to roll up again and again until you are upright, your head stacking lightly on top of your spine. Repeat rolling up two more times.
- Now shake it out and go back to the floor. Time for some sit ups. No, this isn’t a cruel joke. Lying on your back with knees bent, chin tucked, and arms parallel to your body I want you to inhale. On the exhale curl up a bit. Not a full sit up to your knees. Hold this curl, abs tightened, inhale again. Even in a crunch, draw that inhale into your pelvic floor. On your exhale curl up again. These are graduated curls that can take several breaths to achieve the fullest curl then reverse, inhaling then releasing the curl bit by bit on the exhales.
Every one of these breaths is designed to strengthen your body’s wisdom of breath as whole body experience, so that when your tension restricts a part of you that you think you need to achieve a deep grounding breath you can use the rest of your body to achieve that breath. Expand your back, your pelvis, draw the breath up from the floor. Even when your entire torso is flexed as in the sit-up, you can learn to inhale deeply (if this exercise can help us ladies who had to breathe for a stage performance whilst wearing a corsette, it can help you). Breathing is the most natural act. Like squatting is for this guy…
Sorry, I just love his face.
I’d love your feedback. If this needs clarification or more cute pictures to help you let me know. This cannot replace years of training with special voice coaches but it’s a start. The sooner you believe it’s possible to learn to breathe when you can’t, the sooner you will achieve it.