You’re not getting on the treadmill and you don’t have to pick out weights, but this is an internal workout where you’ll break a sweat and burn some calories.
Exhale Pulsations are short, sharp exhales that work the muscles involved with exhalation. You might think of them as a pumping action. With this exercise, your abs move from neutral to concave (or at least to a concave feeling).
Your belly scoops in—even if you have fat around your middle that doesn’t naturally “go in.” It should feel as if the muscles are pulling your belly button deeper into your body than ever before. Pretend you’re blowing out a row of candles on a big cake that’s across the table. When you exhale through your mouth, let the air hit the back of your teeth in order to make noise on the exhale.
There are three important things to remember when doing Exhale Pulsations:
1. Don’t move your back. (Exhale Pulsations don’t have the same back-and-forth movement as Rock and Roll.)
2. Even though you do inhale a bit, the focus is on blowing out air; this is an exhale exercise.
3. Make sure both the abs movement and the exhale are in synch! Although you may want to go for bigger numbers, resist the temptation and focus on the quality. The inward scoop motion of your belly should happen at exactly the same time as you “blow out the candles.”
If you have high blood pressure, be gentle! Fast reps can raise your blood pressure, so stay at a slower pace—at under sixty reps a minute. Whereas research from the Patanjali Institute in India shows that slower Exhale Pulsations are safe for people with blood pressure issues, err on the side of caution—but don’t skip this exercise altogether. The good news is that all the exercises in this book will play an important part in lowering your blood pressure, as early as the first week you start practicing.
FAQ: I cough and yawn when I do these exercises. Is this normal? Yes, and it’s actually good. It means you’re pushing yourself and shaking your body out of a normal sedentary breathing state.
FAQ: This is so hard, how come? What muscles am I using, exactly? To exhale, you use your inner intercostals (the muscles on the very inside of your ribs), your obliques (on your sides), your abs, your inner core/pelvic-floor, and even your back muscles. You might feel a little sore after doing exhales using your lower body because, as with any exercise you’ve never done before, you lack practice.
Exhale Pulsations are similar to Breath of Fire in yoga, a breath that’s supposed to purge and clear out your system. According to yoga philosophy, a round of this breath will help you feel less irritable and angry. Later, when we talk about patterned breathing, we can join this to a breath count and you can see how it really does work, taking you from annoyed to relaxed in a few seconds. It’s also similar to the “stick” or “ttsss” sound that boxers make when they jab, synchronizing the punches and breathing and hence making the blows more precise and powerful.
FAQ: How was I exhaling before? Before, you were using your shoulders to exhale: letting them fall and relaxing your belly—a very, very ineffective way to exhale.
Mix it up: Try to do the exercise fast without losing the synchronicity of the abs squeeze and the exhale: slow down the “pulse,” holding the squeeze a bit longer, and making the exhale audible and powerful. If you’ve never done this before, it’ll help if you put one finger up at arm’s length in order to feel the exhale. This is an ab exercise that targets deeper core muscles and will enable you to exhale more effectively. Stronger exhale muscles and more conscious exhaling are very important because they create more space in your lungs for fresh air, thereby making your inhale more effective. When you exhale passively, you leave stale air in your lungs. By strengthening your exhale muscles, you will exhale better unconsciously.
More advanced: Blow harder between ten and twenty times, aiming for a place farther off in the distance. Make the exhale really audible. Exhale harder, with the goal of seeing a concave scoop in your middle when you stand sideways looking at yourself in a mirror. Blow out harder and squeeze your middle, narrowing it, harder. Slow down, so that the compression feels very intense and you feel a burn sooner. Try pulling your belly button as close to your spine as you can. Switch to your nose—this automatically makes the inhale and exhale harder, since your nostrils are smaller than your mouth.
FAQ: On the exhale, I feel as if I tighten, even push my belly out. This is wrong, right? Yes, it’s wrong, this is not the right way to do it. You want your belly muscles to be narrowing and creating a “C”-scoop. Try to do this without the breath in order to see how you’re using completely different muscles. Slow down! Even if you’re on the heavier side and don’t get that sucked-in shape, the feeling and muscles used are the same.
Count how many Exhale Pulsations you can do in a row. Be careful: it’s easy to continue to blow and not contract your stomach. Keep an eye out that you aren’t cheating! The best way to do this is to have someone watch you or to watch yourself. (It’s better to do five, ten, or fifteen perfect ones than fifty casual or sloppy ones.) Note the number; write it down.
FAQ: How do I know when I’ve gotten to my max? You’re at your max when you can’t do any more pulsations with the same range of movement and enthusiasm as the first ones. If you went from a pulsation to a flutter, you’re done.
And keep in mind:
When you go to the gym and want to know how much weight to use or how to increase the amount of reps, you go by the point at which you “max out”—where your muscle or body part gets so fatigued that you have to stop. It’s the same thing with Exhale Pulsations; Do them until you can’t do any more. This will give you a baseline to work from.
Exhale Pulsations are easy to do throughout the day, since they’re inconspicuous. You don’t have to break your record each time; just do half or a quarter of your max for exercise.
Remember to stick to breathing through your mouth. Later, you might switch to your nose.
FAQ: I find doing Exhale Pulsations through my mouth pretty easy. How do I do them through my nose? Pretending a bug landed near or up your nostril and you’re trying to blow it out is a cue that works for me.
• Make sure that each “pulsation” is as strong as the next. When you see that you’re giving a weaker or smaller squeeze than your first ones, it means you have fatigued that muscle—and that’s your max. Have someone else give you feedback. Number thirty-five may feel right to you but look much weaker to an outside viewer. Once the quality starts suffering, you’ve reached your max.
• Make sure you’re really giving one squeeze for each blow. Sometimes you can get carried away with the rhythm and quick pace, and lose synchronicity between the two. When your belly gets tired, it might squeeze every second blow, rather than every one. If that happens, you’re done! Note your number.
• Don’t judge. Whatever number you get to, having done the pulsations accurately, is just fine. This is a number you’re starting at. It may be ten, it may be one hundred. You see people at the gym swinging weights wildly, not really getting the complete movement they want (and so essentially “cheating”). Be firm with yourself so that you get an accurate number. The important thing is that this is your baseline, and it’s going to get better with practice, and soon.
1. Exhale Pulsations are a “satisfying” exercise. The targeted muscles respond quickly to exercise. Other muscles take a long time to get stronger, and it can be frustrating. Once you pay a little attention to these exercises, you’ll see the number rise—every week!
2. Consider finding a partner. Doing the exercises side by side with someone else can help push you beyond what you might do on your own. Every two weeks, check your max again: Did you go up ten or twenty? Bravo! Your exhale muscles are getting stronger.
3. If you get dizzy while doing Exhale Pulsations, don’t worry about it. Just don’t do these exercises while standing, running, or driving. A little light-headedness is expected; however, if you experience anything worse, either pause and rest or slow down. But if you’re able to do one hundred Exhale Pulsations and need a harder exercise, or just want to see what’s coming up once you get to the hundreds, this next exercise will give you an idea.
Get down on all fours. Pretend you’re a table, staying completely still—except for your belly. (Gravity is your friend in this position.) Let your belly drop. It’s best to watch yourself in a mirror; you probably don’t let your belly drop completely. Relax your body, especially your hips—but be careful not to bend your elbows. Remember that the more you let your middle drop, the more efficient the exercise. It’s the same as doing a bicep curl in which you extend your arm fully. I need you to completely extend (drop), so that when you go to contract, you have farther to go!
Now, exhale and “pick it up.” Without moving your back, see how far you can bring up your belly. Make sure you’re coordinating the movement upward with the exhale. If you want to drop it and rest, go ahead; then contract again on the exhale. Make sure you relax fully between each one. See if you can tire your muscles—and even feel a burn. This is a great exhale and abs exercise!
Count how many times you can contract, then work on increasing that number with time. It’s easier on the knees when you are leaning on a chair.
FAQ: I can’t get my belly to fully release in Tabletop. Any pointers? You’ve been bracing so long that it’s a challenge, I understand. Sometimes putting your hand momentarily above your belly button when you’re in this position helps cue you as to where to relax. The fact is, we’ve gotten so disconnected from our middles that a movement as subtle as this can be very challenging in the beginning.
Take a big belly Rock and Roll Breath. Put an empty balloon to your lips. As you roll back to exhale, squeeze your ab muscles and blow into the balloon. This may seem like two separate movements in the beginning, but keep doing them together until it starts to feel natural. It will happen—I promise you! Remember, the first blow will be hard because it’s probably a new balloon (and you may be using your cheeks to blow it up). It will get easier.
Keeping the balloon in your mouth and not letting the air escape, roll forward, inhaling through your nose. Then exhale into the balloon while tightening your abs to get the air out again. Do not fill your cheeks with air or tighten your neck as you exhale. If you start feeling pressure in your face, get red, or feel light-headed, it means you’re trying to use your face and neck to exhale. Exhale only with your exhale muscles: the ones at the middle of your body.
FAQ: I feel like giving up after one breath, after just one balloon. What am I doing wrong? Get a baseline for yourself, because the good news is that you’ll get stronger much quicker—even from one day—if you keep track of your progress.
Not using your face or neck is difficult at first. Watch yourself in a mirror—you’ll be surprised to see parts of your neck tense up when you thought it was relaxed. Once you get it and keep your cheeks and head out of the movement, it will make sense. At this point, you should continue doing Rock and Roll and filling up the balloon.
Blowing up the balloon with your belly means that the air goes directly from your belly (or rather, the lower part of your lungs) into the balloon. This is an excellent exhale muscle exercise that you can do once you’re good at Exhale Pulsations and actually know how to exhale and squeeze/contract your middle. In essence, you’re adding difficulty to the exhale in order to work out your exhale muscles better.
Put an empty balloon in each hand. Blow into one balloon until it’s full, and, without changing your rhythm, switch to the empty balloon, while continuing to exercise your exhale muscles. Focus on trying to exhaust these muscles. Feel a slight burn? Good!
Make ballooning part of your workout and praise yourself as these muscles get stronger and the concept gets easier. 33
Pause now after a Balloon Blow and take a slow, expansive inhale, softening the back of your throat and letting your body relax as you take in air. Notice how much wider and more satisfying your inhale feels. Think you may even have changed your Vital Lung Capacity? You may have; in fact, retest yourself now.
Your inhale is governed primarily by your diaphragm and intercostal muscles; your exhale is governed by your obliques and other ab muscles. When you learn to recognize which are weaker, you can focus on those areas.
Exhaling out “in steps” works your exhale muscles in a different way, due to the fact that you have to stop several times as you let air out. Think about a movement at the gym: rather than let the weight fall after you curl it, you hold it a quarter of the way down, hold it again halfway down, then three-quarters down just a second more, then you let it go. This is the same concept: Take a big, expansive belly breath, really maximizing the inhale, packing in as much air as you can. Hold it a few seconds, and when you feel as if you need to start exhaling, let out a little air. Then pause. Let out another teaspoon of air. See how long you can draw this out. When you get to the end, you should be leaning back, stomach scooped out—you may even press in your abdomen with your fingers and get the last bit of air out. By the end, it should be challenging. Whew! Then tip forward. Inhale.
Decide which exercises and stretches you’re going to do from the previous chapters: Rock and Roll, Cat and Cow, Inhale and Exhale Maximizations, Exhale Pulsations (regular or in Tabletop), Balloon Blows, Step Exhales, and then stretches. Later you’ll add Counting/Patterned Breath and Recovery Breath/Meditation.
Write down your routine and goals. It’s been my experience that there’s a crucial learning period for relearning how to breathe: fourteen days. Again, as far as your body is concerned, Lower-body Breath (LBB), as you know by now, is not really a brand-new way to breathe. It also makes sense anatomically: when you inhale, your diaphragm should flatten; hence, you’re adding anatomical momentum to the learning process. After two weeks of doing these exercises a few minutes a day, they’ll become more natural. You’ll discover that you’re reminding yourself less, and your previous dysfunctional breathing will start to feel unnatural. For some people, this change comes around days seven through ten; for others it takes a little longer. It’s important that you commit to the full fourteen days; use whatever method works for you and keeps you on track.
I never thought exhaling would be so hard. But now I understand: my exhale has been so hard because I haven’t been able to take a real inhale. No wonder I have a constant feeling of not getting enough air. For my workout, I do Rock and Roll, focusing on making my inhale bigger and my exhale smaller—you know, Inhale and Exhale Maximization—every hour on the hour. Every other set, I’ll do a Step Exhale. Then, three times a day, just for a minute or two, Cat and Cow, Exhale Pulsations, one Balloon Blow, and some stretches. My goals? To do one hundred Exhale Pulsations in a row, twenty-five Exhale Pulsations in Tabletop, and ten Balloon Blows in a row. So while I’m still heavy and nowhere near a flat/neutral or concave stomach, I can already feel my core getting stronger and my inhale is feeling more satisfying because my exhale is better. —Cynthia, age 35
I’ve always been likened to a beanpole, and though folks think I must be athletic because I’m thin, I actually don’t feel like my breathing is good. What I’ve realized now is that I have barely any inhale. I can exhale, but the inhale gets stuck. I almost have to push my belly out to get that belly breath. I feel like my muscles and lean shape don’t let me release the way I should. Relaxing my middle and getting myself to have a more flexible rib cage is what I have to focus on; and each day I feel like I get a little bit better at it. I stop whatever I’m doing and do the series of seated Rock and Roll, Cat and Cow, and Perfect Standing Breath four times a day. In the morning and evening, I really focus on the stretching exercises. When I find myself standing on line I’ll do Step Exhales and Exhale Pulsations in a subtle way. Since my goal is to make my inhale better, I really focus on Inhale Maximizations. —Gunner, age 51
Bryan had become convinced that he was always going to have trouble sleeping; it was just part of his personality. After taking a class by chance—accompanying a friend—Bryan was tested and identified as a No-haler: his slim frame showed very little change in the inhale and exhale. Bryan focused his workout on the exercises that helped him expand his breath. He slept that night as he never had before. To his surprise, it wasn’t just luck. The next day he did as well.
33 As your muscles get stronger, your posture will improve. For more on this, see Kyndall L. Boyle et al., “Clinical Suggestion: The Value of Blowing Up a Balloon,” in the North American Journal of Sports Physical Therapy.