The Many Kinds of Breathwork
“How am I supposed to breathe?!??!!”
I know you just want a clear answer, but it’s just not that simple.
Breathwork has SO many uses.
There are energizing ways to breathe.
Relaxing ways to breathe.
Ways to breathe that help you be stronger.
Ways to breathe that lower pressure on your pelvic floor.
Ways to breathe that help strengthen your abs.
Ways to breathe to stretch your upper back and decrease the tension in your neck.
… you get it. It’s a lot.
So the first step is deciding what you want to get out of breathing.
In the context of surgery, the most important uses of breathing are to…
improve the coordination of your abs
elongate your pelvic floor
lower pressure on your pelvic floor in the early weeks postoperatively
Improve the effectiveness of exercise as you’re getting back to harder things
This is what breathing should feel like:
Inhale deeply, allowing the air to reach the sit bones, vagina, anus, and clitoris.
Take a long exhale, feel your deep abdominal muscles engage, and feel your pelvic floor rise.
Step 1 has to come before step 2. Many people struggle because they can only inhale for a second or two. A great starting point is building up to a 4-6 second inhale.
Luckily, this can be done in just a few minutes of practice per day, but it does take consistency!