3 ms·

Breathing. I was sucking my gut in on inhale, and expanding it on exhale. Once I tried it the other way around, it locked and I've breathed this new way ever s

Breathing. I was sucking my gut in on inhale, and expanding it on exhale. Once I tried it the other way around, it locked and I've breathed this new way ever since. It's obvious to give your lungs more room, couldn't believe to have been doing something so basic wrong.

thomastjeffery 4y ago
The first part of learning to play a wind instrument (clarinet, flute, trumpet, etc.) is learning how to breathe. Muscles can only do two things: contract and relax. Lungs are controlled by two muscle groups: the diaphragm and the chest. The muscles in the front of the chest are the most obvious, and the least important: they only squeeze the air out, which doesn't really take active effort most of the time. The diaphragm is what pulls air in to the lungs. It does this by pulling the lungs straight down toward the stomach. Practicing this intentionally, by pulling your diagram down and holding it, is great exercise. Deeper slower breaths are more effective at cycling oxygen and CO2 through the blood stream, help you speak louder and longer, and can even significantly reduce your stress level. Breathing is something we do automatically well enough, but breathing intentionally is incredibly useful.
Laaas 4y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragmatic_breathing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragmatic_breathing
- OJFord 4y ago
  Er, is it weird/bad that that's natural to me? I can do 'traditional relaxed breathing (eupnea)' if I concentrate on it (but it's very fast and shallow) or 'gut in on inhale' as GP describes, but neither without thinking about it. I was surprised enough to read that GP could change subconscious breathing technique (or have had it 'wrong' to begin with) - I'm even more surprised that this is supposedly a health/musicians' exercise, not just normal.

3 ms·

Breathing. I was sucking my gut in on inhale, and expanding it on exhale. Once I tried it the other way around, it locked and I've breathed this new way ever s

by hypertele-Xii 4y ago

thomastjeffery 4y ago
The first part of learning to play a wind instrument (clarinet, flute, trumpet, etc.) is learning how to breathe. Muscles can only do two things: contract and relax. Lungs are controlled by two muscle groups: the diaphragm and the chest. The muscles in the front of the chest are the most obvious, and the least important: they only squeeze the air out, which doesn't really take active effort most of the time. The diaphragm is what pulls air in to the lungs. It does this by pulling the lungs straight down toward the stomach. Practicing this intentionally, by pulling your diagram down and holding it, is great exercise. Deeper slower breaths are more effective at cycling oxygen and CO2 through the blood stream, help you speak louder and longer, and can even significantly reduce your stress level. Breathing is something we do automatically well enough, but breathing intentionally is incredibly useful.
Laaas 4y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragmatic_breathing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragmatic_breathing
- OJFord 4y ago
  Er, is it weird/bad that that's natural to me? I can do 'traditional relaxed breathing (eupnea)' if I concentrate on it (but it's very fast and shallow) or 'gut in on inhale' as GP describes, but neither without thinking about it. I was surprised enough to read that GP could change subconscious breathing technique (or have had it 'wrong' to begin with) - I'm even more surprised that this is supposedly a health/musicians' exercise, not just normal.