1. Rest completely before you start a movement and then in between repetitions.
  2. Keep your eyes closed.
  3. Keep breathing normally the whole time.
  4. When you are working a muscle on the one side of your body, keep the other side of your body relaxed.
  5. Keep your neck supported and relaxed.
  6. When in doubt, GO SLOWER.
  7. You can count the time for your slow, shortening contraction and your super-slow, lengthening contraction at first, but gradually stop the counting and just pay attention.
  8. Try to do the more coordinated side first so that it can “coach” your less coordinated side how to perform the movement slowly and smoothly.
  9. Doing 1-3 reps well is much better than rushing through 5 or more.
  10. Go into an exercise with "Beginner's  Mind" every time. Pretend that you've never done it before so that it doesn't become a routine. If you stop paying attention and go through the motions, you won't get the benefit.

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Breathing Progression 4

Breathing Progression 4 Introduction: Blowing up a Balloon

To breathe well, your diaphragm needs to be able to RELAX. This is the second most important breathing segment to understand!

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Blow up a Balloon without Cheating!

Position:

Lie down with knees bent, sit with back support or stand leaning on a wall, heels about one of your feet away from the wall. Stretch out the balloon by pulling it apart from opposite ends. Blow into the balloon a few times to get it warmed up.

 

Movement:

Blow up the balloon without pinching it between breaths. Any artificial plugging, blocking, or pinching is cheating. If you cannot keep the air from escaping back into your mouth when you inhale, follow these steps:

 

Breathe in through nose, blow into the balloon, place your tongue on the roof of your mouth to breathe in again through nose. If you hear or feel a snortle or a chortle, you are on the right track! Your brain is figuring out how to close the flap at the back of your throat to keep the air from flowing back down into your lungs.

 

Do not puff out or strain your cheeks and remember that you are blowing up the balloon WITH YOUR ABS. You are creating the pressure to inflate the balloon with your CORE so that’s where you should feel the work. As you do this you are relaxing and creating a muscular release of your diaphragm. Feel your lower belly pull inwards as you blow and hold the air OUT as long as you comfortably can, meaning that after you blow, don’t breathe in again for about 5 seconds. That pause helps the diaphragm’s muscle memory remember how to lengthen and relax. This resting, exhaled state of the diaphragm is called being “domed”.

Do 3 to 5 exhales into the balloon, repeat 2 to 3 times.

 

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Breathing Progression 4 Application

Place your fingers at the bottom of your ribcage when you start out on a walk or a run. Feel your ribs rotate! If they don't naturally, focus your attention on swinging your arms and using your abdominals to get the twist from the bottom of your ribcage, where the rotation is supposed to occur.

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