Balberon said:
I have a question about the breathing exercise specifically. (GOD) I wonder if I can be clear enough on this, it might get tricky to follow. We all know it is generally 6 in 3 hold 9 out 3 hold, right? What I've noticed is that I can take two different postures. My question is also about relaxing while holding a breath.
I inhale and hold. Usually I hold it as if I'm going to be inhaling some more. Naturally if I was to relax, my body would shift to a position, ready to exhale. So what I notice is more often than not, at each hold..2..3.. I'm still in a rigid position to keep doing what I had just done. Example (again): Inhale ..6, hold ..2..3 while still maintaining a rigidness as if I am about to inhale further.
So the question is; Do I relax and allow my body to shift for the 3 seconds, or wait until the hold timing changes from inhale to exhale? I'm naturally rigid, but if I were relaxed my body goes to shift position from inhale to exhale or exhale inhale.
If you don't follow my train of thought, try this. Inhale to full capacity once then stop breathing. Do you maintain a rigid inhale posture, or naturally, by relaxing, prepare to exhale? Is one way wrong or is it just a matter of different strokes?
This is a difficult thing to "explain" in writing and I can only offer you my own experience in this matter. A few points I'd like to make of this holding of the breath:
In time, you're inhaling will be (hopefully) so fluid and EFFORTLESS (in the very fast Beatha part this is most difficult to achieve), that you don't have to get rigid and stiff in any part of the process. But this takes time, and every time you FORCE it, you're working against of accomplishing this - one must be patient!. Breathing in will in the optimal case feel like the "air is pouring into you", and you will feel a expansion in the following parts (in order of how it "should" be accomplished):
1) The very lowest part of your belly expands. Actually this is the inner organs being pushed downwards by the lowering of the diaphragm. But you have to "allow yourself" to RELAX that lower part.
2) The solar plexus area feels soft and elastic - it starts to expand and bulge outwards. This area, I feel, is VERY important. I've noticed that many of my singing students are very, very tight in this area (one stores traumas especially in this area, I believe). So a lot of work is acquired to get this area expanding naturally. Once you start to push this area outwards BY FORCE you can be sure that you'll be rigid!
3) The sides of your ribcage start to expand (to the sides first). This is also, in my opinion, a very important detail: you must feel some expansion to the sides, not just upwards or to the front! Once you get that little "broadening" feeling of the ribs, you'll notice the difference.
4) Once all of the above parts are in the process of expanding you just let it continue. It's like "filling up the cup". Of course in the third part of the pipe breathing (where you fill the very top of your lungs) you maybe have to "take an extra sip" of air.
As i feel it, the actual "holding of the breath" is mostly accomplished by keeping the sides of the ribcage expanded. In my opinion this is the right and most natural way. You will most certainly get rigid if you'll try to hold the breath by just concentrating on the upper chest and "being pumped up". I've had the most amazing and effective results by this breathing program (and other similar "exercises) by doing a "small scale" breathing just with my diaphragm and solar plexus area - keeping every other part of the body totally relaxed.
This is difficult to explain in writing, as I said, but I hope that this helps somewhat. You don't have to "shift" anything - just feel the "inner process" of air moving, like tidal waves ;)
).
