Teacher to teacher
I spend a lot of my time with new clients helping them find their connection to their breath.
Once they have that connection they reach a whole new level of control. A whole way of moving that they may have never experienced before.
The way you breath is important because it directly relates to how well you can uniformly engage your body.
Without your breath and your movement syncronizing you will never get the uniform engagement you need to produce uniform development and achieve “the complete coordination of body, mind and spirit” as a state of being in the body in the moment of the doing, which MMP assumes is the target.
Condition
Open airway
The reason why
You have to (want to) maintain the condition of core in order to establish it as an endpoint. You need endpoints to find alignment and trigger uniform usage to fulfill the promise of uniform development.
Cascading conditions
You need the condition of an open airway in order to maintain the condition of Core.
To keep the condition of core you have to allow free passage of air
Loose lips
Soft throat
No sound
“Like fogging a mirror”
Not so much “gargle”(tight throat)
“Ninja” breathing
“Quieter”
You time the exhale so your body doesn’t get heavier than you can maintain the open airway.
If your airway shuts down, you’re too heavy.
This is why the exhale becomes so important because you can’t let the body get heavier than an open airway can support.
Exhale
Timing
Critical
The reason for this post
“Sooner” is the number one cue out of my mouth.
Which the client learns to mean: “start your exhale sooner”.
Which means to make the distinction.
Which means to listen to the difference in sensation.
That they can easily judge themselves. (Once they learn how.)
Sign language expression for “sooner”
vertical palms stacked in front of your chest
the front palm moves behind the back one.
“Sooner” gives your client a sense of timing they could be completely unaware exists.
The other verbal cue I give is “Late.” Nobody wants to be late and it heightens their desire to be on time.
You are teaching your clients to jump rope (move) within the cycle of their breathing.
Benefits
Moving is easier; that’s the biggest benefit.
And your client can feel the difference (It’s sensational).
More control.
More autonomy. You are able to listen more directly to your senses and control how you move based upon personal evaluation of what you sense. (that’s pretty good, in my book)
By listening to your breathing and never going beyond an open airway you always are working within your range of control. If you have to lock down your airway and then open it again you lose your core and therefore your desired goal of uniform usage.
When you begin your exhale is something that you can listen to that you can sense your degree of control. Control that, and the rest gets a lot easier.
And when your client gains control of that—what a gift you’ve given them. (moving within their breath, and establishing that as a measure of their control. Can you move without shutting down your airway? And if you can’t why not?).
Conclusion
“Sooner” is the que that can make a big difference in the way you move.
Assume the goal of an open airway throughout the movement.
Then, time the exhale so your body doesn’t get heavier than you can maintain the open airway.
MM September 6, 2011
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