How can we deepen our understanding of our movements in the exploration of connecting the breathing movements to other movements? 

4 centers of movement: core, upper extremity, middle extremity, lower extremity.

Using the breath to power movements seems to be vital in discovering maximal output of force in any movement, and essential in creating a coherent synchrony in any long-duration activity. Breath usage seems also vitally important in utilizing the pressure systems of the body to support stability and mobility. 

Breathing is happening regardless, we can either use that system to our movement advantage or try and isolate it from the rest of the body, thereby multitasking and limiting energetic and attentive resources for the movements. 

General Anatomical Breathing Movement Correlations

Inhale – Exhale

Ribcage expansion – ribcage contraction

Belly expansion – belly contraction

Spinal lengthening – spinal shortening

Pelvic flexion – pelvic extension

Pelvic outflare – pelvic inflare

Pelvic floor depression – pelvic floor elevation

Scapular elevation – scapular depression

Scapular retraction – scapular protraction

Scapular upward rotation – scapular downward rotation

Spinal extension – spinal flexion

Jaw opening – jaw closing

Throat opening – throat closing

These are some general directions to get you started. Once you have explored these in isolation and connected some of them, start flipping them. You will discover that every motion can assist breathing, and every motion can be assisted by breathing in some way. The further distal any movement is, the less directly connected to breath it is. 

Examples: 

• moving your eyes in their sockets is easily separated from the breath system, it is important that the eyes are able to move without being synchronized with the breath. Obviously. However, they are centers of movement in their own right, and connecting the eye-based movement systems to the breath-based movement systems is a very powerful realm. 
• Moving your fingers with less force than what requires any distal stabilization outside of the bodys’ own inertia does not biomechanically require any connection with the core. However, learning to initiate movements from or to the breath system are vital in coordinating the finger actions-reactions with the rest of the body.

Today I am experimenting with pushing, pulling, hinging and squatting in relation to the breath systems. 

Pushing: push up and 1 arm press

• Push up – concentric inhale/eccentric exhale – can do spinal inhale motions and let the spinal extension drive it, stabilize the scapulae from coming forward in pushing, exhaling brings the head forward. Can also do spinal flexion inhale with posterior ribcage expansion, then pec-ab connections engage more. Can initiate with cervical extension, stabilizing the arm push through the back, upward rotation of scap and allowing arms to continue momentum via stretch reflex instead of conscious contraction. Can initiate through cervical flexion, pulling chest into expansion to the middle of the neck, otherwise similar to cervical extension  – concentric exhale/eccentric inhale – sternum can protrude on eccentric, the pecs connect to each other and abs, pulling sternum back. Pecs seem to stabilize each other this way, and transmit force from the active exhale. Spinal extension and belly expansion in the inhale allows for decreasing the ME ROM, and initiating the concentric part from the lumbar flexion/belly contraction creates momentum for the ME pushers to transmit through stretch-reflex, instead of initiating from the shoulders.
• 1 arm press – concentric inhale/eccentric exhale – can continue upward momentum from ribcage through scap into arm press. Favors scap elevation, assists scap upward rotation and activation of serratus anterior – concentric exhale/eccentric inhale – allows for ribcage/body moving away from the weight, shortening the total physical work done in relation to gravity, but this can make the scap upward rotation less smooth depending upon whole reaching up freedom currently available to the joints. 

Pulling: pull up and 1 arm row

• 1 arm row – concentric inhale/eccentric exhale – ribcage expansion and spinal extension can power the pull, scap retraction seems easier with inhale – Concentric exhale/eccentric inhale – scap retraction seems more difficult, pull wants to come medial and into the belly, more pec/bicep engagement. Pull can be initiated with belly contraction, transferring through the arm pull.
• Pull up – concentric inhale/eccentric exhale – easier lat engagement with some spinal extension and ribcage expansion – concentric exhale/eccentric inhale – abdominal contraction really powers the movement, easy through the arms both ways. 

Squatting: goblet squat and lunge

• Goblet squat – concentric inhale/eccentric exhale – pelvic flexion, ribcage expansion and spinal extension can drive the movement out of the hole, allowing the legs to reactively continue the momentum via stretch reflex chains, instead of initiating the movement themselves – concentric exhale/eccentric inhale – pelvic extension assists initiating with glute contraction, and finishing lockout with pelvic extension as well, brings the force-couples away from the spine and into the pelvic floor and belly-core
• Lunge – concentric inhale/eccentric exhale – knee and ankle want to drive the force more than the hip when initiating with spinal extension and pelvic flexion – concentric exhale/eccentric inhale – hip wants to get more engaged pulling the expanding belly into the thigh when getting down, post hip gets more involved with the concentric pelvic extension, feels closed at top. 

Hinging: deadlift and RDL

• Deadlift – concentric inhale/eccentric inhale – exhale helps pull everything down and collapsing into the solar plexus, inhale feels like balanced force couples through the back, hips and thighs, but still strongly engaging glute max (for me) unlike the squat pattern here. Seems to balance the two primary ways the pelvis seems to connect here – concentric exhale/eccentric inhale – like the pelvis is separating from the rest of the body, analogous to the concentric exhale with the overhead press. Glutes cramp a bit more, but also disconnect from the spine somewhat. Seems helpful for opening awareness of hip functions in deadlift but not a stand-alone power pattern.
• RDL – concentric inhale/eccentric exhale – scapulae want to protract and ribcage/spine collapse coming down, but concentric feels very connected. 

Overall, it seems that becoming aware of this realm of movement is vitally important in discovering the subtleties of what we are doing, and aligning actions with environments. However, I feel that training the body to move separate from parts of itself especially from breath is still important. This style of training – connecting every movement with breath movements – could be viewed as the other side of the coin to isolated movements. It also suggests a potentially new (for you) definition of integrated movement: movement that is integrated with breath. Breaking apart a motion into separate parts, then recombining them has been an important process to cycle through repeatedly in developing mastery over any movement. It becomes very hard to change anything about a movement if we cannot separate the parts. It also becomes very difficult to change anything about a movement if we cannot put it back together. These practices show us some very important subtleties in how we are actually moving. 

Solve et coagula – I’d love to hear stories of your exploration and discovery.