7
The Good News: We Already Breathe Correctly
Our bodies naturally know how to breathe.
It’s easy, effortless,
relaxed. We don’t have to think about it. It’s like blinking. It
happens all by itself.
We just need to learn how to deepen it – and to learn to do it
quickly. As we develop a deeper breath, we need to stay in touch
with the way the breath wants to happen naturally and to maintain
the relaxed feeling.
Getting In Touch With Your Natural Breath
Sit comfortably in a chair or lie with your back flat on the floor. If
you are sitting, be tall. Place hands in your lap or at your sides.
Close your eyes. Imagine the most beautiful, peaceful place you
can (maybe in the mountains, on a beautiful lake at sunrise, in a
garden of flowers, whatever works for you). Breathe several times,
slowly, and deeply through your nose as if you were soaking up the
fragrance of that magnificent place. As you fill with air, feel your
body expand in all directions, starting low in the stomach area and
moving into the back and upper chest. And even with the
expansion, everything is relaxed – the head, neck, and shoulders,
in particular. It’s a joy to breathe and to know that the oxygen is
nourishing your body with each breath you take.
When doing this exercise while lying on your back, give yourself a
big hug and feel your body expand with each inhalation.
Memorize how your body feels with each breath so that you can
recreate the sensation while playing your instrument.
Doing this exercise for even
one minute
every day, will be most
rewarding. Ideally, this should be done before working with the
WindMaster
. In other words, bring this breath
to
the
WindMaster
,
and then to the instrument.
Staying Relaxed
In sports, it’s common knowledge that staying relaxed is a key to
success. It’s the same in music. The tendency among many young
musicians is to have too much tension when they play, which,
among other things, restricts the breath (cutting off the fuel supply).
If there is tension already, trying to take in a bigger breath may
