The most relaxed I have ever been was during a week-end spent in a “Sounder Sleep” workshop with Michael Krugman. For the first time I could remember, I experienced a breathing exercise as profoundly relaxing. For those of us with some anxiety, or with tight muscles in the neck, shoulders and chest area, regulated breathing– usually involving counting and holding– may actually tighten us even more.
Anywhere you look there are headlines about BREATH. And indeed the research looks good, and health systems all over the world have created systems how to breathe right.
What I loved about Michael’s way of teaching relaxing breathing, was that it is very natural, actually derived from the Feldenkreis system. As I get it, there is a conscious movement of the body (tightening of some muscle) while breathing in, and a simple letting go of any effort while allowing the breath to flow out. Then another tightening begins when the body starts the next in-breath. No counting, every breath is as long or short as the body needs it to be in that moment. That’s it. You can try this with a simple “mini move” at Michael’s website.
Of course there is a lot more– we experimented with many different Feldenkreis-type movements all week-end, and learned a lot about how to sleep better. This system does actually help people overcome insomnia, as a friend of mine experienced. There are a lot of tips, and several articles and a guided exercise here.
Michael ends this exercise with this message: When it comes to breathing, LESS is more. LESS stands for light, easy, soft and slow. When it comes to breathing, LESS is more, more natural, more pleasurable, and more peaceful. AND this way of breathing works anywhere for quick relief.
The original cat photo is by brokinhrt2 on Flickr.