ABSTRACT In this article, Rolfer and yoga instructor Michael Black offers three yoga poses to teach clients to integrate their breath after their Rolfing® Structural Integration (SI) sessions. First is the discussion of direct and indirect language when teaching movement during a Rolfing session. Then, the author describes: (1) three-part breath, (2) thoracic extension and flexion, and (3) child’s pose sidebends. There are many breathing movement exercises; the author highlights these three for their ease and effectiveness. The hope is that these breath-centered poses will help clients in their day-to-day life to be empowered so that they can improve and embody a full expansive breath.

Why Breath?

The first time I took a yoga class I left literally buzzing with energy. After a childhood with frequent bouts of exercise-induced asthma, my lungs and rib cage were tight and locked down (along with the rest of my body). I hadn’t  taken a deep breath  in years. I was quite active in my youth, but came to the realization that I always shied away from anything cardio intensive. Skateboarding? Hell yeah. Running track? No way. I was sixteen when I took that first class and was instantly hooked. That was fifteen years ago and I have never forgotten that feeling.

I have been teaching yoga for ten years now, and I still view breath as the central element to a proper yoga practice. Stretching is great, but flexibility will only gain you so much practical benefit. Rolfing SI, in some ways, is the same – opening the tissue surrounding the rib cage can be life-changing for people like my younger self that hadn’t taken a deep breath in years. Teaching clients how to use that space, how to breathe into the newly opened areas, and how to maintain that openness  is  incredibly  important.  In this article I’ll show you three simple poses to teach your clients that will help them do these things. Of course, these

are not the only poses that achieve these results, but I have found these three are the most simple and direct versions, and can easily be done in one’s normal day- to-day life.

The idea of giving clients  homework  may be a turn-off to some. We have seen in physical therapy settings that non-adherence can be as high as 50%. However, there are several things that can improve these rates and ideas:

• Teach these poses as concepts, not rigid forms to
  • Give your client flexibility to adapt the poses to
• Anchor the feeling of the pose in their
  • How good does it feel to be able to expand breath into the side of your rib cage?
  • What does it feel like after doing the pose?
  • How would you feel if you could breathe like that all the time?
• Start slow.

I often tell people the ideal amount of time to do these poses (e.g., three times a day, seven days a week) and then tell them a more realistic approach (e.g., do five big breaths once a day). I have seen significantly greater adherence to these types of homework assignments when you give people a bit of a false dichotomy

– you can either do it a lot or do it a little – but definitely do it. Set up the expectation higher than you anticipate and then allow them to fall back to a level that feels good for them.

Language: Direct vs. Indirect Cueing

The final thing I’ll talk about before getting to the poses themselves is language and cueing. There are two ways I cue yoga poses: direct and indirect. Much like with hands-on work, some people respond better when they hear things literally. Some respond better when they can use their imagination and visualization. Oftentimes

it’s a bit of both in the same person. To most Rolfers this will not be a new concept.

Direct cueing is basic and to-the-point: bend to the side, breathe into your middle ribs; try to get them to expand more; feel your rib cage moving. I often reference anatomical names and talk about the muscles directly, and the direct feeling associated with the movement. Do you feel that expansion? Can you get your serratus anterior to engage? Can you feel the lats lengthening?

Indirect cueing is broad and imaginative.  I often call on visuals, ask them to imagine something that’s rooted in their own experience. There are a few that come directly from the yoga world that     I love to use:

• Light:

Visualize a bright blue light at the center of your core. As you bend to the side, use your breath to draw that light from your core to the side of your rib cage. Feel that light expanding and energizing your rib cage, allowing it to move more freely.

• Water:

As you breathe, imagine your torso like a large cup of water. Breathe in and allow it to fill the bottom of the rib cage, then the middle, then the top. Allow it to flow to the sides of your rib cage and the back of your rib cage, and then allow it to fill all the way to the top.

• Negative space:

Can you feel the space around your rib cage? As you bend towards the side, allow your rib cage to expand into this space. Feel the sense of inhabiting that space, of existing in the space around you. Allow your breath to carry you into and out of that space.

The indirect method can be as broad as you like. A few other examples are calling on objects that may be familiar to the client (balloons, inflatable balls, etc.). I encourage you to engage in the type of language that would be correct for that person.

Poses

Now on to the poses themselves. The descriptions I use here are meant for clients, and thus are relatively  simple  and sometimes anatomically inaccurate, but serve to guide the feeling rather than exactness. For example, of course we don’t really ‘breathe into our core’, but it sure feels like we do.

• Three-Part Breath

Purpose

I’m cheating a bit here because the first exercise isn’t really a pose, but rather a pattern of breathing. The three-part breath is one of the first things you’ll learn when starting yoga. It teaches students how to engage the full torso with each breath.

Contraindications

None

Pose Description – Direct Cueing

Sit with a tall, easy spine. Place one hand on your belly and the other hand on your rib cage or chest. Exhale completely. As you inhale, inflate the belly by drawing air all the way down into the core, feeling your belly push out into your hand. Exhale and allow the air to flow out of the core, feeling your hand move back. Inhale again and inflate the belly, then allow the air to move up and inflate the lower ribs. Feel the diaphragm area expanding and the sides of the ribs widening.

Exhale and allow the rib cage to deflate first, then pull the stomach in slightly to push the air out of the core. Inhale once again and inflate the belly, then the lower rib cage and diaphragm, and finally fill the chest and upper ribs. Feel the collarbones rising and the upper back expanding. Exhale and allow  the  chest to deflate first, then the middle ribs, and finally pull the core in slightly to push the air out of the core. Continue breathing in this same pattern – inhaling belly, ribs, chest; exhaling chest, ribs, belly.

Pose Description – Indirect Cueing

This pose is perfectly suited for watery language. Just like with a glass of water, as you pour water in it fills from the bottom

Visualize your torso as a tall glass, and your breath like water flowing in and out. Take a deep breath in to let the water pour in . . .

Exhale and allow the water to smoothly pour out…

1. Visualize your torso as a tall glass, and your breath like water flowing in and out. Take a deep breath in to let the water pour into the bottom third of your glass. As it pours in, allow your belly to expand to make room. Exhale and allow the water to flow back out. Inhale again and allow your glass to fill up to the middle rib cage. Allow the ribs and diaphragm area to expand to make room.

As you exhale, allow the water to first pour out of the ribs, then belly. Take another breath and fill up your glass completely – first your belly, then your ribs, and finally allow the chest to lift to fill all the way to the top. Allow your shoulders to relax – it’s water, there is no need to hold it up. Exhale and allow the water to smoothly pour out opposite of how it poured in, first chest, then ribs, and finally empty the glass all the way from the belly. Take several more breaths, allowing the air to flow like water as it fills your torso from the bottom up, and empties from the top down.

When to Use Three-Part Breath

This is a wonderful exercise to teach towards the end of first session of the Ten Series after working to expand the  rib cage and breath. It can be done lying down just as well as seated, though the watery language may lose some effect. I

often teach it to clients while doing neck work, especially with slight traction  on  the neck to give them more of a feeling  of lengthening through the upper ribs. If clients are well resourced through their legs, it can also be done during seated back work to really engage the expansion of breath into the back body.

• Thoracic Flexion and Extension

Purpose

The upper thoracic spine is one of the harder areas of the vertebral column to move. Likewise, the upper rib cage is one of the harder areas to expand the breath into properly. The idea of being a chest breather is common and often associated with being stressed, but I have never seen a yoga student or Rolfing SI client who was able to properly expand their upper rib cage that I would call a ‘chest breather’. I believe a lot of that association comes from a relative restriction of the upper ribs, causing over-emphasis and overuse of the scalenes to breathe upwards, thus the appearance of a chest breather despite not truly having a full breath.

This pose helps with gaining movement in the upper ribs both anteriorly and posteriorly. A nice side effect is that it helps in learning how to properly recruit

the posterior chain for neck support and better anterior-posterior neck posture.

Contraindications

Cervical disc or vertebral issues that would be contraindicated by neck flexion or extension.

Pose Description and Direct Cueing

(This pose has two parts – one for extension and one for flexion.)

You can do this exercise either standing, sitting upright, or kneeling in seiza. If standing, engage the core and the glutes (tuck the tailbone) to de-emphasize movement in the lumbar spine. Loosely interlace the fingers and bring your palms together so the thumbs are parallel and touching (see Figure 1). Then lift your arms behind your head and place the edge of the thumbs at the base of the skull. Pull your elbows together, lightly squeezing the sides of your head (see Figure 2).

Thoracic Extension: Begin to lift the chest and as you do so begin to press the head backwards into your palms. You should feel the posterior chain engage to help find extension in the upper thoracics. Take a long, deep breath and fill up the chest. It may feel restricted at first, but take several breaths and try to feel the upper ribs moving and opening over time.

Make this position more about lifting the chest than doing a backbend, i.e., don’t lose the breath in an attempt to backbend more (see Figure 3).

Thoracic Flexion: Return to a neutral spine with the same arm position, palms at the base of the skull. Allow your head to gently drop forward and the upper back to round. Allow the weight of the arms to drop forward to put a small amount of traction on the spine. Take several deep breaths into the upper back and shoulder blade area. Just like with the extension exercise, it may be hard to engage the movement in the upper posterior ribs. If that’s the case, round less and emphasize breathing more. If you’re having trouble feeling the breath in between the ribs, think heavy elbows

– really allow the arms to hang and the shoulder blades to wrap around the sides of the rib cage (see Figure 4).

Pose Description – Indirect Cueing

This pose takes a lot of upfront direct cueing, so I would encourage taking some time to explain the anatomy of the rib cage and the connections of the ribs before engaging with indirect cueing. At that point, this pose lends itself well to airy language – lifting, floating, and filling, as a balloon.

For example: As you lift your chest, imagine a large balloon under your ribs. Breathe in and imagine the balloon filling from within, gently floating up towards the ceiling. Feel your rib cage becoming lighter with each breath as the air in the balloon rises up and allows the ribs to float.

When to Use Thoracic Extension and Flexion

This pose  can  be  included  at  any  point that you’re working with rib cage expansion in the upper thoracics. Session one of the Ten Series is good, but it may be a bit too much if the client does not already have a movement practice. Sessions six and seven may be of the most benefit. After session six it may be very useful with engaging the space opened up from working the posterior chain. Session seven would be of great benefit in learning to lift the upper ribs without over-emphasizing the scalenes, as well as engaging the splenius cervicis and other posterior groups in aiding anterior-posterior head position.

• Child’s Pose Sidebends

Purpose

This version of child’s pose is  my  favorite way of engaging a full side-body lengthening and teaching clients how to breathe into their lateral rib cage.

Contraindications

Severe knee issues; severe shoulder impingement in overhead range of motion (ROM). However, this pose allows for a lot

Imagine the aura of your rib cage being 20% larger than your physical structure.

of modification, and full knee flexion or full overhead arm ROM is not necessary to gain the benefit of the breath expansion in the lateral rib cage.

Pose Description – Direct Cueing

First, get into a wide-legged child’s pose. This exercise may be done in a standard child’s pose with legs together, but I’ve found a wider version is less stressful on the knees and allows for an easier sidebend. From an all-fours position, spread the

knees to shoulder-width distance and drop the hips back towards the heels (see Figure 5). The hips do not need to make contact with the heels. If there is limited ROM in the knees, a supporting bolster can be of great benefit under the hips, between the hamstrings and calves, or under the torso.

Sidebends: From the wide-legged child’s pose, reach your arms far beyond your head and begin to walk your hands towards the right side. Bring the right hand to the outside of your right knee and extend the left arm way out towards the right. Spider-walk your fingers forward until you feel a nice stretch along the side of the body. Depending on your angle, you may feel a stretch in the lats, rib cage, or down into the side of the core and hips.

This can be a wonderful side-body stretch, but just as with the other poses, go for   a moderate or light stretch to allow for more rib cage expansion with the breath. Begin to take long, deep breaths, directing the breath into the left side of the rib cage. Think about the three-part breath, breathing first into the left side of the core, then into the left side of the rib cage, and finally into the left armpit. Take four to five breaths and return to the center. Repeat on the other side (see Figures 6 and 7).

Pose Description – Indirect Cueing

This can be a wonderful time to think about breathing into the negative space around your rib cage. Once in child’s pose, start to visualize the space around the sides of your rib cage. Imagine the aura of your rib cage being 20% larger

than your physical structure. Take a few deep breaths and imagine both sides of your rib cage expanding into that space, inhabiting the aura around you. Walk your hands towards your right side, stretching the left arm out beyond your head. Feel your fingers extending beyond your physical structure, extending your energy towards a point beyond yourself.

If you’re on a yoga mat, imagine your arm being able to energetically reach all the way towards the front corner of the mat.  If you’re inside but not on a mat, think about being able to reach all the way to the front corner of the room. As you begin to do the three-part breath, into the side of the rib cage, visualize the negative space around the left side of your rib cage. Allow your breath to expand beyond your physical structure, into that aura that surrounds the left side of your body. Take four to five long, deep breaths. Repeat on the other side.

When to Use Child’s Pose Sidebends

This is most helpful any time you’re trying to extend the breath into the side of the rib cage. Session one of the Ten Series may be good if the side wall or armpit area of your client’s rib cage is restricted. Session three is an obvious choice for lateral expansion, especially   if   the   quadratus   lumborum is restricted.  I  personally  save  this  for the upper-body integration sessions to enhance the integration between the hips, rib cage, and shoulder girdle. If you ever do back work from child’s pose, this can be a great alternative to help cue for breath while doing hands-on work along the spine.

Summary

There is a reason Dr. Rolf started the Ten Series with the breath. It is central to our being, our organization, and our structure.  It is my hope that these poses will give you some ideas on how to help your clients integrate their own breath for day-to-day improvement between their sessions and beyond. I have had great results with these three poses, and, as I mentioned earlier, these are not the only ones. Work with your clients to see where their interest lies. Some people may love the thoracic flexion and extension because they can do it at their desk at work. Others may love the child’s pose sidebend poses because of how relaxing they are. But whatever you do, remind them to breathe.

Michael Black is a Certified Rolfer and yoga teacher in Athens, Georgia. In addition to training at the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute®, he holds 200- and 500-hour yoga certifications, as well as several years of residential study at Satchidananda Ashram in Virginia and the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India.Three Breath-Centered Yoga Poses to Teach Your Clients[:]