Guest Author - Anne Asher

Are you aware of what you experience internally after many hours at your desk? Or has your brain shut out your perception of your body and the space around you? Have you ever found yourself sitting at your desk, a mesmerized robot, typing away until your deadline is met?

Awake and Aware at Work
Some tools I used to maintain an awake, aware work state are breathing techniques.

Most bodywork and movement techniques either center their work on the breath, or use the breath for smooth facilitation of change in body tissues.

If you have ever had deep tissue massage, and your therapist �found the spot�, or gave you �a good hurt�, they may have suggested that you breathe deeply to help you get through the pain. Deep breathing can be very anesthetic. Natural childbirth methods are another example of the anesthetic nature of breathing.

Breathing itself is automatic. Once the lungs have fully exhaled, inhale just naturally happens.

Energizing Capacity of Breath
However, there are breathing muscles. Breathing muscles make space for the lungs to expand on an inhale and close the space inside the torso when air is expired. Exercising the muscles that enhance the taking in and letting out of air increases both mental and physical energy. It all starts with body awareness and the cultivation of self-observation.

Major breathing muscles are:

1. The diaphragm, shaped like a mushroom and located in the middle and low torso areas, brings its top (the mushroom�s cap) down the trunk to allow the lungs room to expand with air. Diaphragmatic breathing is the most powerful and posture enhancing way to breathe. Singers and martial artists are very familiar with diaphragmatic breathing. You don�t see them slumped, do you?

To experience diaphragmatic breathing, you can imagine that your belly is like a balloon. As you inhale, inflate the balloon. Don�t worry about how big your stomach looks! It is healthy to let go of that tension and be natural! Slowly exhale, sensing the balloon�s deflation.

2. Other muscles of breathing include the intercostals which can be found in crisscrossed sets in between each rib. Their job is to expand the ribcage forward, side, back and places in between to allow the lungs their full capacity.

To experience intercostals breathing, place your hands on the sides and/or back of your ribs and pay attention to the movement that results from this exercise. Breathe in, and this time, imagine that your ribcage is the balloon. Try to inhale into the places where your hands are. Slowly exhale, and again, sense the balloon deflating.

3. There are also breathing muscles located in the shoulder area. These are the muscles that most people use to get there breathing chores done, in lieu of the more functional ones I described above. However, the breathing muscles located around the shoulders do not expand the rib cage very much, and therefore are not much help in making room for the lungs as they inflate.

Breath and Body Shape
During inhale, the breathing muscles expand the region of the torso; the torso moves forward, back, side and places in between to achieve the inner spaciousness needed to take the air in. In effect, the body is growing during an inhale, and shrinking upon exhale, and its shape is ever changing. The whole body organizes itself around the necessary act of breathing. So practicing deep breathing and breathing into all areas around the ribcage offers an ongoing opportunity for movement of the body, which is one of the things that will prevent computer related injuries.

Upright Posture Enhancement with Breathing
Taking the idea of breathing as initiator of movement even further, begin to notice your spine during inhale and exhale. Notice the obvious as well as the subtle. Your spine has a top (your head) and a bottom (your seat). Explore the possibilities of breathing and spinal movements. Breath initiated movement can occur very subtly, so no need to get up from your desk. As mentioned above, shaping of the body will always be occurring. What does your spine want to do in response to the breath? Notice even the slightest feelings in your muscles. Can you use your new found body awareness now to intend the movement of your trunk into various spatial directions? The movements will be very, very small. Working in this way can be kept subtle and still be very effective. It is about extending the breathing and body awareness just a little more.

On the inhale, imagine that balloon in the belly again. As your navel naturally extends forward, do you notice or experience an extension (straightening) of your spine? As you let the air out of your belly, allow the head and seat to naturally move closer together. Remember, this is small movement. It is as if you are drawing the 2 ends together, without forcing. Your breath and your minds are the leaders of the movement.


Forget that Cup of Coffee � Breathe!
People who meditate often do so by watching their breath. They are reducing their self-awareness to only that which all of the rest of their being is shaped around. They have something there! Self- awareness creates efficiency.

The yogis, the mediators, martial artists, singers and many others recognize that breath is life energy. Remember that the next time you reach for your coffee cup for a jolt!