Breath Makes the World Go Round – Including Baseball!

Baseball PitcherI’m a happy girl! Baseball is back! And I love it that it comes at the same time as gardening. Several years ago I was lucky enough to get a Mother’s Day gift of a radio for the outside deck and outside speakers. So when I’m out in the garden, my true oasis, I can also listen to the Giants game. Who could ask for a better way to experience life? My neighbors are even okay with it — they get to listen to the game in stereo. So until I’m told differently, that’s what happens when I’m in the garden. But I do have to admit that my television is set to record every Giants baseball game and many a night is spent watching them — no matter how they’re doing. I just love baseball.

I love watching the players and seeing if they’re in tune with the messages their bodies are giving them. Even if you’re not into baseball, I want to invite you to watch at least one inning of a game and really look at the players and how they “work in” their bodies. Watch them breathe. And think about what YOU are doing during your daily activities. Consider using the baseball game as a lesson in how to be connected to your breath and body movement.

Watch the pitcher and notice whether the diaphragm is open or whether it’s constricted. When the diaphragm is open, the torso easily stretches and the pitching arm seemingly flows through a specifically planned and orchestrated movement. If the breath is “caught up high” you will notice that the torso and arm don’t move as easily together. The dance isn’t there. Do you notice times when YOUR body and breath aren’t moving in an easy, effortless dance? To open up your breath, consider holding your upper arms.

Now notice a batter and how the time at the plate is all about being in breath. Notice the placement of the bat while waiting for the pitch, the flex in the knees, the lumbar curve, the uplifted torso, and even the relaxed jaw. All of these pieces allow the batter to be in good alignment, allow the breath to be fully present, and create readiness to connect with the ball that is coming over the plate. When you see all of these body areas working together you will easily recognize when it isn’t happening. If the alignment and breath are not present you have a batter who is in distress. Do you want your body to be able to always step up to the plate and do what you want it to do? Sit on your hands! That simple “hold” connects with vitality and creates lumbar curve. Then cup the sternum with one hand and with the other, hold your tummy. That opens up breath by relaxing the diaphragm and releases tension throughout the torso.

I love watching the catcher. He’s all about proper body placement. If he wasn’t, we would see him being stuck and not able to stretch and reach for the ball. His position is one I’m often in when I’m in the garden. And if I didn’t have my breath and body ready for that squat and reaching movement, I would probably be a hurting girl. To make sure that I won’t go into reaction when I’m going spend time in a squat, I do these simple energy steps. First I hold by sit bones and then I hold the inside of my knees.

So, folks, learn from the baseball players! No matter what you’re choosing to do for your spring and summer activities, help YOUR body discover alignment and easy movement AND help it be in breath. Prepare your body for what you’re going to ask it to do.  At least one time a day I do the Daily Clean Your House Flow. Off and on throughout the day, you might see me do the first step of the Daily Flow – holding my upper arms by folding my arms across the chest.  THAT opens up breath.  And when I’m in the garden, I’m doing the third and fourth steps — sitting on my left hand with my right hand on the left shoulder and then switching. THAT is helping my body be ready for the lifting and digging and weeding and planting.

Have fun with all you do in your world!

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The San Francisco Giants Won! Working Together = Success

Baseball playerOkay, I admit it – I’m a major Giants fan! I love baseball, and isn’t it great for me and all other Giants fans that we had an amazing October! And, lo and behold, the Giants won the World Series – the third time in five years. That’s a testament to their individual talents and effort, their attitudes and perseverance, their love and passion for the game, their love for their teammates, and their desire to have lots of fun. Take them all together, and the Giants are a team that was actually called a dynasty last night by the announcers. But you can’t have a dynasty without everyone working together as a well-oiled machine. This particular machine had a big plus on its side – they KNOW how to work together and they listen and cooperate. They also have flexibility to change in mid-stream as the information comes in. They accept change and allow it.
You can see that on the field. I watched every Giants game this year. They’re usually recorded and sometimes I have to watch them late at night. By the way, I even watch the whole game when I know the end result. That’s how much I love baseball and the Giants! I only fast forward through the commercials because each and every play is an important one. Each and every play gives messages as to what each of the players is up to and how they’re all fitting together to make the game work.

Team Work

That’s actually how our bodies work – all the parts talking to each other and letting each other know how the whole is working out. When all the parts (physical areas, organs, etc.) are working together, the systems that they are within can function easier and perform to their ultimate purpose. For example, the respiratory system can perform easily and effortlessly if the lungs and the diaphragm are stepping up to the plate doing what they need to do (pun intended). And when the mid-back and the abdomen are flexible and allow the movement of the breath, the respiratory system can fully do its job. There are energy balance points that are specific to those organs and those areas of the body. When those points are open and balanced and the energy rivers can flow easily with no blockages, the entire respiratory system and all that is within it can do all that the body needs and wants.

Take a Breath

I bring up the respiratory system because when I’m watching the game, I’m watching the players and their breath. When the breath is open and the diaphragm has full space to inhale and exhale, the pitcher can more easily be in the moment and get that ball where he wants it to go. When the breath is open, the batter is able to have full flexibility and able to be fully present, seeing the ball and seeing the bat connect with that ball. When the breath is open, everyone on the field is able to be fully aware and focused with all attention in the moment, not the past and not the future – just the now.
The Giants are a good example of a team that has all the parts working together. Our bodies can be that same good example. All you need to do is remind the body to be in breath. So here you go – some easy to do energy movements that will give your body the message to “just breathe” so you can be fully present and able to do all you want to do:

  • Hold upper arms by folding arms across chest
  • Hold fingers of one hand on elbow and hold other hand at base of ribcage
  • Hold thumbs (gently cup and hold)
  • Cup sternum directly below clavicle and with other hand, hold fingertips in a vertical pattern below the naval

Have fun being in your breath – both the inhale and the exhale. And enjoy walking around in a body that is like a Giants team playing all the needed positions on the field! Then, feel the gratitude – gratitude for a body that knows how to take care of you!
To learn more about breath and to discover how to navigate through the holidays with ease, consider attending my upcoming introductory workshop on Monday, November 17th.

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