Getting Yourself Ready to Notice Breathing

by Renee Lindstrom, GCFP @ Inside Awareness, Living in Natures Love Blog & Renee Lindstrom Live

Explore Feldenkrais in 2 ways:

1. Group Glasses & Workshops called:  Awareness through Movement or ATM (Classes below)
2. Individual Sessions called:  Functional Integration (for increasing available movement for conditions, injuries, athletes, musicians, dancers and development

Cultivating Awareness through ATM focused upon Breathing

“Preparing yourself to Notice your Breathing”

Take a moment in sitting and notice how you are sitting.  A firm seated chair is the best for this exercise for support and to give you feedback to begin focusing your attention in a particular way.

Start with your focus of attention:

• Where does your focus go in noticing?
• Do you notice if you are sitting in a slouched position or the opposite – lower back arched forward?
•  Do you notice if your weight is on your right buttock or left?
• Do you feel your feet on the floor?

Pause and simply breathe in and release a few times

Now take a moment and notice your upper body in sitting.  Take your attention to these following areas and simply notice yourself.  Pay attention to when you stop breathing to focus and simply take a breathe as soon as you notice holding it.  Try and continue to breathe through your shifting focus of attention.

• Are your  arms hanging down from your shoulders softly and loosely?  If not, how can you simply let them go to hang down with your hands resting on your thighs.
• Are your fingers and palms softly resting on your thighs?
• Notice your shoulder blades and if they are soft or tense.  If tense, can you soften them while sitting?
• Take your attention to your front side in the area opposite of your shoulder blades and notice the tension.  Follow a few breathes in and notice if you breath into this area or not.  If not, slowly soften this area and breathe in and release.
• Coming up to your neck notice if what part of your neck is in your focus of attention.  Is it the front, the back or one side that stands out?
• Now notice your head.  Do you sense the front of your head more than the back? Do you sense your head falling forward or backward?    Is your head in a soft position with little movements  or do you notice it locked into one position?

Pause and simply breathe in and release a few times.

Before moving on to ‘Breathing with Spine Support’  or ‘Could raising your shoulder lead to  breathing easier? ‘, take a moment to notice how you perceive yourself in sitting now.  Check in and see if it different than at the beginning.  Notice if you have more of yourself now  in your sensing awareness than you did at the beginning.  Does your attention notice new places?

Choices for some simple fuller breathe movement lessons:

• ‘Breathing with Spine Support’  
• ‘Could raising your shoulders lead to breathing easier?’ 
  

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Renee Lindstrom, GCFP,