by Dr. Martha Eddy

I agree with everything that Amy Matthews describes above. In terms of what to do to enhance breathing I have 3 quick tips. Each is adapted from a great teacher. They are:

1. When in doubt let breath out.

2. Change your rhythm to change your breath.

3. Calisthenetics for the breath can also be good.

Tip #1. - This tip is an adaptation of an adage from my wise father who always said - when in doubt throw it out. When I am teaching group classes or working with individual clients I find myself advising them to exhale by saying “When in doubt let the breath out.” As Amy mentioned there are numerous reasons that people hold their breath. To relax this tension and to get breathing more fully it is helpful to let the stale air out of the lungs. so tell yourself - When in doubt blow it out! With the lungs empty the natural instinct to bring in fresh oxygen will kick in. Sometimes folks get stymied by all the different instructions about breathing, this is a reminder to simply start with an exhale!

Tip #2. Change your rhythm to change your breath. I once asked one of my favorite teachers of Bartenieff Fundamentals, Fran Parker, what Irmgard Bartenieff and Rudolf Laban advised about enhancing breath. Fran shared that it was her understanding that Laban instructed students to simply change what they were doing in order to improve breathing. Since breathing is an automatic process if one changes ones pace, rhythm, or task the breath will automatically adjust. So if we want to breath more deeply we can move more vigorously. If want to breath more calmly we can move more calmly. By changing the dynamics of your movement you are stretching your breathing apparatus to new dimensions.

Tip #3. Calisthenics for the Breath. Speaking of calm, yoga is a wonderful calming practice, a great teacher. Yoga also has numerous exercises for the breath, pranayama. These are like calisthenics for the breath, strengthening the pathways to breathing more deeply. Sometimes its is great to consciously do movement that brings strength and awareness to the parts of the body involved with breath - nasal passages, throat, rib cage, and diaphragm. Breath of Fire and Alternate Nostril Breathing are two examples of practices that prepare the body for clear and easy breathing. From a somatic perspective, Bartenieff also taught us to bring conscious awareness to the 3dimensionality of the diaphragm and its impact on the entire torso. When we are aware that the diaphragm inserts all around the lower ribs to the back of the spine we begin to breath deeply into our lower back as well as our abdomen. This is a great massage for tight back muscles. It is often best to feel this when in a hunched over position (this keeps us from only breathing in the belly and allows the breath movement to occur toward the sides and back).

So, when in doubt, breath out and enjoy your full dimensionality.

Martha

By Amy Matthews, Certified Laban Movement Analyst, BodyMind Centering and Yoga teacher

Breath is an amazingly powerful tool for increasing the effectiveness of our fitness training and enhancing our movement skills. An appropriate and efficient breath pattern supports core strength, stabilizes the spine and creates freedom in the limbs – and when we hold our breath, we make ourselves work much harder than we need to, and create situations where we are more likely to overwork and injure ourselves.

Paying attention to the breath is an excellent way to gauge the appropriate level of exertion, and to tune in to what’s going on in your body. Sometimes we hold our breath to avoid feeling pain or to hide from an experience – and when we’re avoiding a sensation, we’ll be less able to attend to the rest of the experience (such as sensing form or timing or alignment).

On the other hand, changing a habitual breathing pattern can be one of the most profoundly unsettling things you can ask of yourself, or someone else. When we change our breath we are affecting ourselves in the most fundamental ways we can imagine – many of our breath patterns were developed as very young children, and in one way or another had to do with survival on some level.

It’s impossible to say that there is one ‘right way’ to breathe – it depends on the situation, the position of the body, the action being performed and the person performing it (with all the experiences that the person brings to that moment).

When we work with someone to help them find a ‘better’ way to breathe, we need to take into account the anatomy and kinesiology of the ribcage, spine and accessory structures that affect breathing (which could be just about anything in the body!). At the same time, we need to be sensitive to the effects of the breath on the body and on the psychological states and emotions of the mind and spirit.

With knowledge, skill and sensitivity, we can use various movements and exercises to help people have different experiences of their breath, and increase the number of options they have about how to breathe.

ByAmy Matthews, CMA

by Lucia Cammarata, client at Movements Afoot

The Pilates instruction I have experienced at Movements Afoot has empowered me in more ways than I can possibly mention. It is exhilarating physically, emotionally, and intellectually. I find it goes beyond the mind-body connection, it plugs straight into the cosmos, the universe. This is essential for any true process of healing.

Pilates at Movements Afoot, taught me to enhance my somewhat limited walking capabilities (due to MS) through incorporating groups of muscles in synchronicity rather than the isolated ones I was using previously. Also, I was able to better identify slipshod shortcuts I was using in place of correct form in perambulation. Again this not only enhanced my physical ability and strengthened my physical core, but served to strengthen the crucially important psychological-spiritual core.

by Lesley Powell, Director of Movements Afoot

This last week I completed the second week of training to become faculty of BalancedBody University’s faculty. I am so grateful to be a part of new community that has deep values towards Pilates history as well as pioneering new innovative and creative techniques to enhance our lives and our clients. BalancedBody has created a unique educational program for beginning and continuing education for all.

’s manuals are absolutely exquisite with great photos, great writing about the exercises and more. They give detail information about how each machine works, the differences of spring loads and safety issues for each piece of equipment. There is a section of detailed examples of different kinds of workouts: different workouts from classical to a atlethic workout, different themes of exercises on each machines (i.e. list of exercises for spinal mobility on all pieces of equipment) and information about how to design workout for clients with injuries and medical conditions.

BalancedBody’s vision is Pilates for real people. Some styles of Pilates expect you to fit into expectations of a dancers’ fitness. Pilates can enhance everyone’s lives. There are many days that I practice Level I Pilates to address my hyper-mobile sacrum. Pilates creates the balance of strength and mobility in my body.

I am so excited to finally find a large community of professionals that are truly committed to wellness, education and community.

by Bonner Elwell, Client at Movements Afoot

Facing a total knee replacement operation on June 13th, 2006 and being in considerable pain, I enrolled in physical therapy sessions with Nicola Weiner whose care and guidance was incomparable and in a once-a-week one-hour session with a Pilates instructor at Movements Afoot. This resulted in building up an essential strength and knowledge prior to the operation. The intelligence of the Pilates system of exercises is profound and challenging. The emphasis on centering, core awareness and alignment became my concentration. I was as ready for the surgery as I could be and a month after the surgery, I returned to Nicola Weiner, my physical therapist and, subsequently, to Heather Mims, my Pilates instructor. Swollen and timid, I started again building slowly and carefully the necessary alignments, flexibilities and strengths. A year later I’m back to my life with confidence, strength and an expanding interest in this most direct and substantial understanding of the ways of the body.

by Lesley Powell, Director of Movements Afoot

When a new client comes in for a session, I look at their alignment. I look at how their bodies organize around their pelvis.

I take them through simple movements of lateral shift, forward shift and standing on one leg to see how they organize their upper and lower bodies. Their alignment tells me a lot about how they use their bodies, their preferences, their strengthens, tightness and weaknesses. The alignment of the pelvis reflects how they use their legs. More photos of testing of alignment

Some poor postures are hereditary due to abnormal bone growth or health issues. For many, posture is due to habits. We do not use our bodies evenly. The best example is we either write right handed or left handed

The upper body organizes around the pelvis. If the pelvis is unleveled and/or rotated, the upper body compensates. Otherwise our upper bodies would lean to the side if we didn’t adjust our spines. Our nervous system tries to organize the head over the tail. When the pelvis is misaligned, the upper body compensates to get the head better over the tail. A good example is scoliosis.

When the pelvis is misaligned, the legs become unbalanced. Some of us stand not evenly on one leg. This causes muscular imbalances in the legs. The adductors can have a different quality of tone than the abductors. The legs could reflect different tightness-es.

By understanding their habits of posture, I direct the Pilates workout to address tightness, weakness, and to take them through movements/space not explored by the client. For instance, if a client is laterally flexed to the right, side-bending to the left is usually more difficult. I might take them through more reps of side bending to the left to improve range of motion. With this new practice, most clients improve the range of motion. This creates balance.

by. Martha Eddy, CMA, Ed.D., RSMT: Director of Moving on Aerobics
212.414.2921

I’ve just walked back to the office at 7:30 am on Saturday Oct 6th from the Opening Ceremony for the Avon-Walk-a-thon: a two-day up to 39 mile event here in NYC. Being The Stretch Lady was a blast for 2007 Fifth Annual event! I volunteered to lead the warm-up earlier in the year and was delighted when the offer was accepted. 3900 people gathered to walk, 430 of them survivors of breast cancer. The talks were poignant as are the facts. Every 3 minutes another woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. Every 13 minutes someone dies from it. The good news is that more and more women are surviving the disease, including those with Stage 4 diagnoses. As cancer crusaders help to raise awareness and money we all continue to need to pay attention to our bodies and get moving. And we also need to pay attention to our bodies while we are moving!

Words to Remember:

First of all the mantra I created is Breathe, Tune In, Hydrate and Stretch
Later on in the day it becomes: Breathe, Tune In, Rest and Stretch (still keep drinking water)!

Here are some of the tips for walking that I shared: as “the Stretch Lady” explaining that this is an adaptation of Moving On Aerobics for Cancer survivors:

Breathe:

• Take some big breaths in and let your arms rise up and down as you do so.

• Tune In:
• Shake out your arms and legs to loosen up.
• Begin with gentle movement that simply checks in on your range of movement
• Pick apples (notice the people behind you and say hello)
• Swing, sway a bit
• Take a step forward and rock from the front to back foot, waking up your feet – your weight shifts from the whole foot to ball of the foot, lifting and awakening the arches.
• Check in with your spine by placing hands on knees and curling and arching the back slowly and gently while inhaling and exhaling.

Rest (or Pace yourself)

• Another key theme of course is to pace oneself.
• Tuning in is a key to this. If you listen to body signals you are more aware of when to slow down or adjust your body. Micro-adjustments are all that you need at that point. If you block signals then when they start to bark at you, you will need a much more drastic recuperation – to lie down and stretch.
• One micro-adjustment I described is the angle that your feet point while walking. While they should mostly be directed straight forward it is okay to vary the direction slightly throughout the walk to stimulate a variety of muscles around the hip socket. Just make sure that your kneed is always directed over your second and third toe.

Stretch:

• Torso: The core of your body: Let your right arm rise up along the right side of your body as you press down with your foot and stretch out your side.
• Legs:
  Calves: Stretch one leg back – front leg is bent, back leg is straight
  Thighs: Bend the back leg and feel the quadriceps lengthening down. (or Stand in a balanced runner’s stretch/yoga pose if you can) Find your hip joints (make a flat table top with your knees bent) and stretch out your hamstrings (back of the legs). Continue with this flat back while bending at hip joint and let knees bend or be straight. It works well to straighten one leg at a time.
• Core: Stretch your torso and shoulders again with side to side and circular movement.
  Stretching can take you places! We ended with stretching in all the directions people came from.
• I asked all three thousand nine hundred people to stretch their upper bodies toward the south, the north, the east and the west while naming places from each direction that folks come from.

It felt great to be in sync and carefully moving together. It was exciting to recognize how far some people had traveled to get to NY and to acknowledge their dedication to traveling by foot for two days filled with compassion for helping others.What a community! Consider joining this walk or another one, for your health and the health of others.