Topic: A Guide to Proper Breathing Technique

[Mark Lewis]

Welcome! I am very new to pk and extremely fascinated by it. I very recently was spurred to go from physical activity that was sporadic at best to training daily as I begin to walk the path of a traceur. To offer some further background, let me say that I am in no way an expert on breathing, but I am a long time singer and performer with significant training in craft that requires very fine tuned breath work. I noticed that this subject had not been directly addressed anywhere else on this forum (that I could find), so I thought I might be able to offer some knowledge and craft to this community.

In my past few weeks of training I have found myself pleasantly surprised with some areas of my body and disgusted with others (my chins are pathetic right now). On my first vigorous run I discovered something peculiar: my muscles were tired, my blood was pumping, but I was breathing easy the whole time. I explored this and sure enough; no side stitches and no gasping like I had remebered from my horrible attempts at running in grade school. It seems to me that my years of conscientious breath work are paying me back. Thus, I am spurred to try to share some of my pleasing findings with you fine folks and hopefully to provide you with knowledege that will build toward a responsive breath support system that provides you with both the power and endurance you need to fuel your activities.

I'm sure most all of you feel the stings of unstable breath support almost daily, that deep burn in your larynx as your lungs gasp for more air, all the while your muscles are pumping battery acid. I'm willing to bet however that most of you have never thought of trying to control or build your breath support in order to further your training. It never had occurred to me that the benefits of my breath training would carry over to my physical endevours; but here I stand, pleasanly surprised.

So lets talk about proper breath support. I say breath SUPPORT, because our breathing supports everything we do: from being at rest to vigorous physical activity. It is the fuel that drives all verbal communication. If we can better undersand how breathing works and what proper support feels like, we will begin to understand the full potential of the power of our breath and then have the means to augment it.

So I would like to talk about 4 key things on this subject:

1. Observing the breath

2. Understanding the breath

3. Releasing the breath

4. Expanding the breath

I may add a further section later about the Functional Breath later, but for now this will give us a good solid grounding.

I would also like to note that it is important to work on the skills in their proper succession. Take them at your own pace and remember: these are primarily exploratory exercizes. Get to know yourself a little better.

[Mark Lewis]

Section 1: Observing the Breath

How many of you have ever taken a moment to listen to yourselves breath? Do you know what it sounds like? Raspy? Is there a wheeze? Do you know the normal pace of your breath? Does that pace change? When? Why? How much?

These are all basic questions that will prepare us for breath training by providing a better understanding of how our breathing works and how it naturally changes it's dynamic to meet our needs.

So the first step is simple and very akin to meditation. Simply set aside a 2 or 3 minutes a day to simply sit and be mindful of your breath. You can do this in any position; in fact, I recommend you try it in many different positions. Try it sitting up in a chair or down on the floor. Try it lying down. If you feel comfortable; try it while walking or lightly jogging. It may also be interesting to take stock of your breath before a good workout and then once again afterward. As you listen, be mindful of the questions above. Can I hear my breath? What sound does it make? What's the pacing? Is that different from the last time I was listening? Why?

As you pursue this simple first step you will also want to have some awareness of what muscles are necessary to propel your breath. It is important here that you do not begin to drive your own breath; after all, our purpose now is to observe. Relax into it and really listen. Once you are aware of the muscles, you may begin to relax unecessary tension in the rest of your body that may be distracting you. As you do this, you will likely find that the breath will deepen a bit and the pacing will become slower and very steady. This should feel relaxing and mediatative.

Now take note of your mental state. Are you stressed? Calm? Does my breathing change because of this? Some of you will be suprised to know that the answer is yes, your mental state has a profound effect on your breathing. This also correlates with the necessities of communication. If you are thinking something through calmly and methodically or giving a well rehearsed speech, chances are that you are breathing deeply, steadily, and at a slow to moderate pace. However, if you are upset or caught off guard and your thoughts are very rapid and fragmented, you will find that your breathing will also become shallow, rapid, and fragmented. It is important to note again here that our breathing SUPPORTS us in every way. This includes emotionally. Explore this idea and you me be surprised at your findings.

The last thing I recommend is to take note of your breathing at some very specific moments while doing parkour. This may be better done by reflecting on these moments after you have performed them. We, of course, do not want to fragment our thoughts and lose focus while out there running, but I would like to draw your attention to something very specific. Take note of your breathing just before you approach an obstacle. You should feel the power flowing in your breath in those moments. That second before you vault. The moment you coil your legs just before exploding forward into a precision. The kind of breathing you experience here, should be very close to what we'll be aiming for as we progress. Out of the necessity of a traceurs highly demanding physical needs and due to his extreme mental focus, the breath naturally tends to become deeper and more powerful. This was first described to me as being "centered" and actually expands far beyond simply breathing. It's that place you see all those fantastic athletes out there go to just before they spring into action. The mind focuses, body focuses, breath focuses, and everything becomes concerted on their goal. Then BOOM! Awesomeness. We want to learn to bring this powerful breathing out consistantly and apply it to our training daily. You my be further surprised at the confidence and energy bosst this will bring you once you learn to acheive it at will. This is what we have to look forward to.

Note: I will be adding the other sections a bit later. As for now, its time for some dinner and another bout of training. Cheers!

[Mark Lewis]

Section 2: Understanding the Breath

After we have gained some understanding of how we breathe and the various factors that affect our breathing, it is time to take a closer look at what breathing should be. Perhaps a better way to say it is, what breathing can be.

There are a few points to note before we dive into this section. First, a noisy breath is an inefficient breath. The less noise in your breathing, better off you are. As you become more accustomed to these excersizes you should begin to notice that the breathe is naturally sinking deeper into your abdomen and that your breathe recoveries (inhaling to full capacity) are beginning to become more easy, full, and fluid. This is normally accompanied by a reduction in noise when inhaling and exhaling. Second, tension anywhere in the body has the capability to reduce your support and hinder your progress. Tension in the shoulders and jaw is particularly notorious for this. We will be addressing this specifically in the next section, but for now simply try to remain relaxed during these excersizes while still being mindful and attentive to what you are doing. Lastly, don't get frustrated. These skills take some getting used to. Just practice and enjoy the work, breathing can be very relaxing and rewarding.

The very first thing we need to realize is that breathing is an activity that requires engagement of one's entire body if it is to power very demanding activities. Take note of the next dog you see bark. Notice that every muscle in it's body is engaged in making that sound. You will see a release of muscles through the length of it's body. Similarly, if you watch very small infants just before they produce that blood curdling scream that they are so capable of, they will raise their kneess up over their abdomen, allowing their legs to dangle in that position. This gives them roughly a football shape as they lie on their back and allows them to utilize all the muscles in their abdomen to produce that scream. From shoulders to groin, the baby essentially becomes a powerhouse of sound when he/she assumes this position.

Taking a note from these infants, we can get a similar sense of this power:

Stand with your feet slighty wider than shoulder width apart and let the knees bend slightly deeper than normal. Keep your shoulders open and relaxed and you hips facing forward. You have probably seen sumo wrestlers adopt a similar position before engaging one another. Let your hands rest comfortably on your thighs. They should not bear any weight or support your torso in any way. While in this postion, begin to breathe deeply. Try to maintain a moderate pace that is very even. You should begin to feel a release of muscles all the way down to your groin and anus as the breath begins to sink in more deeply. It may also help to visualize the breath filling you up from the bottom of your torso to the top of your head. Be sure and think bottom-up and not top-down.

Once you become aquainted with these muscles, stand up into a neutral position with your feet shoulder width apart. Have your weight slightly forward onto the balls of your feet, as if barely hinting of a step forward, and breathe. Try hang onto that feeling of the breath sinking low into the torso while in this position. If you lose it, take both hands and push into a wall. Look straight into the wall and push forward as if you were to push it down. This should engage those muscles again and help you connect once again to the low breath.

This may be difficult to maintain at first as you may be engaging muscles that are rarely in use. Practice this technique and apply to some basic vocalization as well as light calesthenics. Take note of the power it adds to your vocalization and also of the stress it removes from your rib-cage during excersizes (get rid of those nasty stitches in your side).

Our next step toward understanding the breath is to understand how to control and manage the breath.

Breathing is mostly an involuntary action in our lives. Most people do note "take control" of their breath very often. We may hold our breath while swimming underwater from time to time or practice basic rythmic breathing while jogging; but beyond this, breathing just happens. Our next excersize is now aimed at taking control of the breath and neutralizing it into its most efficient and natural characteristics at will. This will give us a valuable reference point that we can return to in order to focus ourselves and will provide a deeper understanding of just how much power breathing can offer to us.

Begin by finding somthing that you can rest your calves on while lying on your back. A chair should suffice; simply insure that it is at a height that will give you about a 90 degree bend at the knee. Now lie down on your back and rest your calves on the chair with about a 90 degree bend at the hip and again at the knee. Your spine should feel flat on the floor and comfortable. Ensure that this feeling of comfort continues through the neck by tilting the head slighty into a comfortable position. You made need a small pillow or thin book to accomplish this. Let your hands rest on the floor by your hips and just breathe normally for a few moments. Be mindful of your breath here, particularly to its relationship to your current mood. Now place one hand just above the groin and begin to take in full breaths, feeling the release of muscles as the breath sinks low into the body. Find your natural air capacity. This should feel comfortable and powerful. It is important to not let muscles in the chest, back or abdomen tense up toward the end of the breath. We are not sucking in air until we're full and then gasping inward to try to pile in that last little bit of breathe. We would rather become aquainted with our natural breath capacity and the power it contains. After you find this place, prepare and take one full natural breath, making sure thatyour hand is still in place just above the groin so we can more effectively monitor our progress. Now begin to exhale slowly with no hiss or rasp. Do not worry about how long it takes to exhale completely, simply keep it controlled and continue to monitor yourself. As you come to the end of the exhale, pause momentarily and wait until your body naturall asks for another breath. Then inhale another full breath and repeat the process again while maintaing control and being mindful. As you continue, begin to relax into the exhaltion, allowing your body to dictate it's duration, so long as it remains even and controlled. This is the full neutral breath. The center point of our breathe power. Reflect for a moment and see if your mood is different from when you began this excersize. Neutralizing the breath can be a very good way to recenter yourself. If you find yourself getting tense or the noise in your head is too much whem you are out there training, exhale slowly and wait for your body to ask for that breath. Key into that neutral place and then refocus your efforts.

More to come, it is far too late to continue tonight.

[Mark Lewis]

Section 3: Releasing the Breath

We are now starting to become much more aware of our breath and its potential. In this section will will be working on some excersizes that are aimed at releasing the full potential of your breath support and eliminating any and all muscle tension that limits your breath power. The goal here is to become aquainted with full realease and to gain the ability to achieve it at will. It is important to be aware that during training, we should be moving constantly from states of relaxation and tension as we prep and perform various excersizes. Again, we SHOULD be finding a space (however small) where the tension relaxes as much as possible in between exertions. We will be seeking this place of maximal relaxtion from here on. This is your place of maximal power before exertion. This practice allows not only for more efficient use of your energy but for much better focus. You may additionally find that this keeps you from being as sore as you normally would have been and that you will be able to stay out there doing pk for longer periods of time without fatigue.

Now we are getting into the meat of good breath technique!

Reflect for a minute on your previous exploration of breathing. Can you remember a specific muscle group or area of tension that seemed to continually crop up and hinder you? Try to focus in on this and wrap your mind around what this did to limit your potential. Maybe your shoulders kept tensing and that tension would creep down into your upper torso. Perhaps you would continually overextend your abdominal muscles during inhalation , thus causing them to over tense immediatly before exhalation. Whatever the case, bring it again to the front of your mind. These are the things you will be paying very close attention to as you work through this next group of excersizes. These are the last hurdles to accessing the full potential of your breath. We call these "holds" and they are the enemy.

It is also important to note that in this next group of excersizes you should feel no discomfort. Furthermore, if you feel tensions begin to creep in, simply exhale out and lock into the neutral breath from the end of section 2 again. Refocus and begin the excersize again. Take each one at your own pace and rememeber;this is always an exploratory exercize. Take the time to get to know and understand your body.

One last note before we begin; keep always in your mind that we are reaching for the state of being centered. We should be circling ever closer to this goal as we move through these excersizes. Don't allow yourself to become drowzy and unfocused. Remember that this is a place of relaxation AND easy power. It should feel natural. Think of a cat's easy way of moving. It's body glides over the terrain in relaxtion but there is a definate sense of power here. This is also the place that you see every spectacular athlete go just before they spring into actoin. The Body, Mind, and Breath all become one. Focus. BOOM! Awesomeness!

Now, on to the excersizes:

I would like to give credit to Patsy Rodenburg for providing the major framework for these excersizes in her wonderful writings as well as my yogi/vocal coach, Scott Kitzmiller, for providing inspiration for my adaptations.

Arms and Shoulders

-Stand in a neutral position with feet shoulder width apart, weight slightly towards the balls of the feet (just hinting of a forward step). Remember this position, it will be referred to often.
-Lightly stretch the arms by extending them out to the sides, then continue the stretch upward into a general full body stretch with both arms above the head. Bring the arms slowly back to rest.
-Slowly lift and drop the shoulders, then rotate both in the same direction to loosen up a bit more, change directions after a moment and then come to rest
-Circle one arm as if throwing a ball underhand and let it return to its starting position, try this several times. It should feel liberating. When returning to rest, allow the arm to find its natural position. DO NOT place the arm and shoulder yourself. This position will likely feel slightly lower and farther back then your origoinal shoulder position. Continue with the opposite arm.
-Maintaining this natural shoulder position, move both hands behind the back in a parade rest position (keep the feet shoulder width).
-Gently lift the hands away from the back and release. Again, let the arms and shoulders find their most natural position. Try this several times.
-Come to rest when your arms and shoulders feel free and released.

Spine

- Move your feet together and begin to slowly undulate your spine while standing straight up. Try to feel this motion from your tail bone to your neck. Think of the spine as a coiled spring rather than a solid post as you do this. If you have trouble feeling this, take a seat on the floor sitting cross-legged. Try again. The more solid connection of your spine to the floor should aid you in feeling this motion.
- Now move the feet back to a comfortable shoulder width with knees slightly bent. Slowly slump the upper body forwards over your center of gravity (normally around belly button height). Do not slump from the waste. Take a few breaths in this position and then slowly come up on vertebre at a time while breathing. Be sure to keep the arms, shoulders, and neck relaxed through this entire motion. You may also try this while sitting if you feel a greater connection to you spine in this position (as in the previous motion).
-Get down on your hands and knees slowly with your limbs at right angles from your torso (table position). Engage the core muscles to support your torso. Hollow and arch your back to further engage the spine; be sure to take your time and continue breathing easily throughout.
-Slowly lower your torso to the floor and rollover into a comfortable position lying on your back. Raise your legs into a comfortable sit-up position. Gently press your spine flat agains the floor and then release. Allow it to uncoil to its natural position. Your spine should be feeling lithe and responsive.

Rib-Cage

-Return to standing in our neutral position.
-Wrap your arms around your body as if hugging yourself, reaching for the opposite shoulder blade. Keep you grip light and your shoulders released. Slowly bend the knees slightly, keeping your feet beneath your hips and breathe.
-Now flop forward over your center of gravity(as before) with the arms still in the hug position. Take several slow breaths in this position and feel the back of the rib-cage expand.
-Let your arms drop naturally and hang relaxed toward the floor and continue to breathe. Hold on to the feeling of expansion in the back of your rib-cage. Slowly come up, one vertebre at a time, throught the spine into our neutral position, shoulders relaxed. Be careful not to hoist yourself into place or set the rib-cage manually. Let your bodyparts find their natural positions and breathe.
-Raise your arms as if in a welcoming embrace and breathe. Keep your weight just slightly toward the balls of your feet and feel the energy flowing out through your fingertips. Breathe. Your shoulders and abdomen should feel very open and free now.

Head and Neck

-Let your head roll slowly forward until your chin is on your chest, keep your jaw free throught these excecizes. Gently massage the back of your neck with your hands.
-Let your head gently move from side to side toward either shoulder, keeping chin on your chest.
-Bring your head back to center and slowly raise it until you feel it perfectly balanced on top of your spine. Your chin should not be tucked in or sticking out. Now let your head fall gently backward and look toward the ceiling, then slowly raise it again until perfectly balanced once more. Now place one hand on your throat. Move your head slightly off balance in any direction and monitor the tension there. Find precisely the head positioning where the throat is most free. This place is the most efficient.

Legs and Feet

-Stand in our neutral position. Do a few moderately paced high knees with each leg. As your knee rises point your toe toward the floor. Keep your support foot on the floor with your weight mostly on the ball of your foot. You may do this in place or while stepping comfortably forward on each motion. Choose that which is most comfortable.
-Step forward into a comfortable lunge and lightly stretch your back leg. Don't tense the buttoch too much here. Repeat with both legs.
-Stand neutral. Gently raise one foot onto it's ball and slowly rotate the ankle through its range of motion.
-Jog in place for a moment. Your leg muscles should feel active and very free.

Hips and Abdomen

-Stand with your feet slightly wider than your shoulder and bend slightly at the knees into our sumo position from Section 2.
-Breath and feel the breath sink very low into the body. Feel the release of the low support muscles.
- Return to neutral and be mindful of your hips, knees, and feet. The feet should be under the hips with the knees slightly bent. Bounce lightly on your knees and come to rest. Your torso should feel perfectly balanced above your hips.
-Walk around the room with purpose, as if you have somewhere to go. Feel the hips in motion as you move easily around the room. Come to rest in neutral position and let your body parts find their natural positions. Make sure your weight is slightly forward on the balls of your feet and feel the energy of the walk continuing within you.

Take Stock of what you've just done

-At this point, take note of any holds in the abdomen and try to trace them to their origins. Tension may be coming from your shoulders or head and radiating downward, perhaps your rib-cage feels held. Concentrate and try to open up fully, release the tension. If necessary, repeat a previous excersize to help release specific tension.
- As you breathe, the breath should sink low and easy; you should be very aware of the support muscles. The shoulders neck and head should be free and comfortable. The spine should feel warm and responsive. The ribs should swing freely to allow the breath to pass unimpeded.
-Stand in our neutral position with weight slightly forward. This should feel very close to our feeling of center. You should feel comfortable and energized, ready to react to stimli coming from any direction. Feel the energy and freedom flowing through your breath.


You have reached the end of this progression. It may take a little while at first. Be sure to take your time and be mindful of yourself at each step. When you are more comfortable and familiar, you should be able to work through this progression in about 10 minutes. When you have mastered this technique, you should find that you are easily able to relax into this place of center at will or with only one or two of these excersizes.

Try to apply this feeling to the moments just before and after you try a precision or vault. You should notice a difference in focus, control, and endurance almost immediately. Keep working at it. Try to feel that flow between tension and relaxation, the flow from center to exertion, as you go out there and pk.

Section 4: Expanding the Breathe

I apologize that this took me so long to post up. I hope it provide you with some effective excersizes and give you better support than ever.

When we talk about expanding the breathe, specificlly we mean we want it to better support our activities. This translates into three specific features of breathe support:

-A fast, low sinking breathe recovery
-A larger overall reserve of air
-A responsive breathe control system that draws in just enough air for the action at hand (This eliminates "dead breathe", that extra air you sometimes see someone blowing out before doing a big vault or jump.)

I will cover each of these in turn.

Recovery-

A quick breath recovery means a fast, relaxed intake of air that sinks deep into your abdomen. This is one of the most important things to work on. If you do it properly, the recovery should feel like cool relaxation that spreads through your body. It should feel replenishing. It is that moment of relaxation and power before exertion.

We want to be able to perform a relaxed and full recovery first and foremost. You should already be feeling this in our place of center. Go over section 3 again before starting this excersize to lock into this. The last paragraph from Section 2 is also helpful; where I describe finding your natural air capacity, exhaling, waiting for the body to ask for another breathe, and then taking in another full and relaxed breathe.

After you have locked into that feeling, you are reading to work on recovery speed.

-The "ha" release-

Take in a nice low, relaxed breathe and release on a gentle "ha" sound. Start slowly and do not shout. This should give you an open feeling in your throat similar to a yawn. Yawn a bit if you have trouble keying into this. As you continue to do this try to release all of your air into the "ha" sound being very careful not to shout and strain your voice. Now start to gauge your recoveries. Notice that you can vary the depth of your recovery and thus the amount of energy you expell into the "ha" sound. Expirement with this. Eventually you want to increase your pacing, taking in just enough air for each "ha". Gradually increase speed and be precise. This WILL be tiring.

-The Countdown-

The basic idea of this excersize is the same as above: stay relaxed, keep the breathe coming in low and fast, and DO NOT shout. On each realease, do a count down. Start with 1. Take in only as much air as you need for one and use it all on the release. Recover. Now countdown 2-1. Repeat on 3-2-1, 4-3-2-1, and 5-4-3-2-1. We want to concentrate on a fast recovery between each count, but be precise. It takes a long time for this type of recovery to become automatic. Be patient and stay centered.

-Moment Training-

This time I want you to single out a Parkour movement. Pick one you are comfortable with. Make sure that you can perform it fluidly without thinking too hard. I suggest an easy kong vault or precision. In the moment just before you perform the move, perform the quick easy recovery we have been practicing. Start slow and focus. Stop on that moment if you need to and find your center. Feel the powerful realease through the motion and then stop on the other side, perform a full recovery again. Gradually bring the movement up to speed with no pauses, eventually the breathing will become united with the movement.

[buckscott]

Section 3: Releasing the Breath


<I would like to give credit to Patsy Rodenburg for providing the major framework for these excersizes in her wonderful writings as well as my yogi/vocal coach, Scott Kitzmiller, for providing inspiration for my adaptations.>

Gosh, I am just happy to be appreciated.  Who wrote this???  Mark?

Scott

[Mark Lewis]

Yep, it is Mark. You're welcome for the cred by the by. I really didn't expect to find you on a parkour forum. :^) I hope you're well Scott.

It's strange to be up on the main page all of the sudden. I guess I should finish this article finally. I completely forgot about it when I started getting really wrapped up with LPK (Louisville Parkour).

[ZacharyCohn]

I hope that's okay! I saw it today and I thought it was really great and the information should be out there!

[Invictus]

wow i'm going to try all of these excercises tonight! love the article! great job man

[Charles Moreland]

Looks good from an initial glance! Can't wait to read it all the way through once I have more time.

[Mark Lewis]

I hope that's okay! I saw it today and I thought it was really great and the information should be out there!

It is absolutely okay. :^) I'll be looking it over again myself and perhaps refining a bit, catching typos and whatnot. If anything needs clarification or if anyone has anysuggesstions, please post them.

I'll try to get the final section up this week sometime. Thanks for the encouragement guys! Cheers!

[kotoblichin]

I was under the impression that stitches from running was also caused by the weak connective tissues of your organs straining. And that over time the impact of running caused this tissue to strengthen and thus reduce side stitches. Am i wrong here? just asking.

[Mark Lewis]

Allow me to add now that I am not an anatomy expert, but I have significant enough experience in many disciplines to at least speak rationally about them and I have my own experience.

I find that the deeper my breath sinks into my abdomen, the more I am using my powerful core muscles to drive my breath, as apposed to the weaker muscles in the upper chest and rib cage. These are the muscles that give you the strongest breath connection and fuel your anatomy with air the best. If your body has that kind of demand for oxygen and you are breathing only shallow chest breaths, you are gonna tire those weaker muscles very quickly. In my experience, this is the biggest cause of the side stitch.

If anyone with a better grip on anatomy can provide more illumination can help, please do. I hope this helps!

[KyubiFox13]

dude i saw this article and decided to read it because i also do this kind of thing while practicing. it really does help alot but its really hard to learn how to do this kind of thing while running especially if u want to be able to do it without thinking. if you are able to get this then it will improve your performance signifigantly. thanks for bringing it up!

[Quickplaya]

Very nice article. I will defiantly be breathing better because of this. THANKS!