❤️ Breathe
WEEKLY CHALLENGE:
Looks like it’s a lower energy week for you, so let’s try to reach a total of 3-4 Fit2B videos of any length or difficulty and consider including the featured routine which will help you with this week’s theme: Breathe
It was soon after I began focusing on Diastasis Recti that the importance of the breath became clear. As a group fitness instructor who earned my certification at age 18, I had been trained to cue people to breathe right from the start… but no one explained the mechanics or proper timing, not even as I completed 4 years of university to get my bachelor degree in Exercise & Sport Science! It was Kelly at The Tummy Team who first drew my attention to how the breath can regulate pressure and power in the core and thus the whole body.
When you’re on your cycle or having a low-energy week, it’s a great time to scale back to breathing basics. Anecdotally, I could share a hundred stories with you from clients who believe their cycles are shorter and easier when they do breathwork, likely because it massages the internal organs, clearing things out sooner. Personally, I simply see breathing practice as a way to honor our cores and nourish our deep systems at a time when we most need rich, oxygenated blood to be circulating and rebuilding our tissues. Plus, taking time to reconnect to your core by revisiting your breathing control will pay off massively as your energy returns.
Parallel “Breathing” Workouts:
Did you know we have a WHOLE pathway of breathing exercises? It’s divided up by positioning (seated, standing, etc.) and you can find it here! Meanwhile, here are a few suggestions for your week.
Basic Breath Work (save for the very end of your bleeding as it contains a slight inversion, unless you’re having horrid pelvic cramps, in which case it will help relieve those)
Quote Of The Week:
“Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
— Genesis 2:7 English Standard Version of The Bible
Moving Thought: Religious or not, person of faith or not, I want to invite you to wonder with me at the Bible verse above. I get a thrill out of thinking that the first human motion was the breath. I love to imagine the maker of the universe hovering over Adam, breathing into him as he glanced sideways to see the first human chest rise as lungs were filled for the first time. It reads like divine CPR. In the creation story, Adam isn’t alive until that moment. I asked my CPR instructor once how it really works when we exhale carbon dioxide. How does our breathed out air – laden with the byproducts of our own energy metabolism – help someone who needs oxygen so desperately? She informed me that our exhales are still mostly oxygen. It fascinates me that our hearts and lungs do their thing without us thinking about it – thanks to our autonomic nervous system – yet we can also “take over” those systems and speed up or slow down our heartbeats and breaths. What do you think? Leave your thoughts on breathing below!
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CHALLENGE:
- Make the featured routine ONE of the workouts or videos that you choose this week, even if you only do part of it.
- Reach out if you need suggestions for different workouts to round out your week. We are here for you!
- Join the conversation or start it below in the comments! Check out what others have done, share ideas, offer encouragement, or get encouragement from those who’ve done this week before you!
COMMENT PROMPTS:
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Share what you think of the featured routine.
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Share what workouts you’re doing and how they felt to your mind and body.
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Respond with your thoughts on the “Word/Phrase of The Week.”
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Ask for help with anything: workout ideas, mindset, motivation, alternates for the featured routine, anything!
Beth
P.S. Here’s another Fit2B breathing workout: Purple Pranayama
