Staying still, free of tension, breathing
I was recording the Yoga session for my online programme today and in it we did some balance work and optional closing the eyes during weight transfers and standing balances.
The focus of the whole session was breathing to promote relaxation and flow through the various postures. Breathing is both incredibly simple yet incredibly complex. Simple because we do it without thinking day in day out, you must be or else you wouldn’t be here, but complex because it has a huge impact on the body, how it performs and how you feel depending on how well you are breathing.
Day to day we don’t give it much thought, we just go about our business…….breathing.
Yet, how often have you been in a lesson and your Coach has told you to breathe. Weren’t you breathing already? Surely you’d have passed out by now if you weren’t. That is true, you were breathing but you weren’t breathing deep into your belly, or filling out your rib cage.
You weren’t allowing your body to take in maximum oxygen, to give it energy for your ride. You weren’t allowing your Diaphragm to activate and thus activate the Vagus Nerve to send a relax signal to your brain. The reason your instructor asked you to breathe is because you were braced and full of both physical and metal tension.
The reason I use breath work with balance work is because it gives your brain a different focus, the relaxation effect prevents you from over gripping and it is good practice for stillness and stability that can be transferred into your riding. Often switching focus to breathing improves balance. Maybe it’s a mental switch as it stops us overthinking the balance, maybe it’s the release of tension allowing the stabilising muscles to react to the postures and absorb movement rather than fight it.
The eye closing? Well it takes away another of your senses and point of reference for where your body is in space, which makes it more challenging for you to stay relaxed in your body and remain still.
Why not give your breathing some extra work this week. Just standing still, focus on breathing in and expanding your belly and your rib cage then breathing out fully allowing your body to relax.
Then try playing with it, breathe in this way whilst moving, walking, standing on one leg, during sitting trot………
If you want to add this kind of workout into your week join my online programme for just £5 per month-yes really!
