Annette Bray
Free Your Body
Live & Love Empowered
Blog Layout
The breath is capable of enabling alignment, strength and a more balanced nervous system. We so rarely engage it in its fullest capacity when we disconnect from feeling our own body. This misunderstanding of our kinesthetic ability is significantly short-changing our health.
Rhythmic breathing is the even pacing of the inhale and exhale. It’s an effective way for us to use our breathing muscles closer to their potential so we reap all the inherent benefits. An exception to breathing in this way is when we are at higher levels of exertion and need a more forceful breath to expel the fast buildup of waste products. But most of the time, we can slow the breath down and benefit from its power.
Our diaphragm muscle and our core muscles operate like a bellows when we are seeking stability. When the diaphragm contracts, it descends an inch or so from its parachute to take some space from the upper core. When it relaxes, the upper core engages to replace the space taken by the diaphragm. The lower core muscles, which include the pelvic floor, remain engaged when we are in movement. At least, this is what we hope for a healthy body.
The stabilizing aspect of the breath comes from the internal pressure that builds as the diaphragm draws air in. In this way it helps to brace the spine. As that pressure decreases with the relaxation of the diaphragm, the action of the core more fully engages upward. So often the exhale is short which disengages this stability rapidly. Couple this with core weakness and we hardly have anything left to help brace the torso. The strength that comes with rhythmic breathing can be instrumental in resolving these issues of weakness.
Start by setting aside some time to practice feeling your breathing movement. This foundation will help you adopt a pattern that you can engage more frequently in the moment. Lie with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. You can use a 5 pound bag of rice on the ribs to give the body input to respond to. Pace your inhale and exhale the same and simply notice the even rise and fall of the breath cycle. Take this awareness into a simple activity such as walking and make it a meditative practice so you begin to notice the power and calm that comes from this simple action. It’s so often these small acts engaged with commitment that bring about the most profound transformation!
The physical body, in tandem with the emotional experience, will hold tight tissues within the body in response to a stressor. The more off alignment you are when a force is applied, the more discomfort you will experienced from the binding process in the muscles and fascia. With regard to emotion, the more negative feeling patterns you enact, the more they become solidified in your nervous system. They ultimately become manifest as pain in your body. We end up creating this affect when the cause of the body's misalignment or negative emotional loop, remains without disruption. So, release is actually a liberating of the energy that binds the tissues of the body and keeps the nervous system in a holding pattern of negative feelings. Letting go of this energy is so important for a being to come back to alignment in body and mind. In the physical body it impedes the posture that creates integrity, In the mind of emotion, it blocks our openness to seeing options other than the negative spiral we're stuck in. And one of the most imperative tools to freeing this up is to be present with feelings and sensations without judgement. Judgement is effectively the manifestation of binding in the body. When it's already there, more of it will halt any liberation of the energy that is limiting you in the first place. There are many techniques that facilitate this process, but of course, I love somatic presence as a gateway since I know how profound it can be. It integrates the physical with the emotional experience so change happens from both of the triggers that hold the loop in place. I'll be putting this into practice later in the week on my FB live. Join me and feel free to ask questions if you want more clarity. Wishing you well :)
In Yoga, this central channel of energy is called the Shushumna Nadi. It's anatomically aligned with your spinal column. And it's understood to be linked to how functional your spine and the internal systems are, within the torso, neck and head. What I see in my clients and so many others is that their movement here is very restricted. It's not good for a body. Where there's limited mobility, there is limited stability. The spine moves in stuck sections of vertebrae which then shuts down the small, yet continuous stabilizer muscles necessary for health. Poor movement means a lack of blood flow and lymphatic fluid to the vertebrae, muscles and fascia, as well as decreasing nourishing energy that powers the nervous system along this central channel. It also disrupts the flow of SCF (cerebrospinal fluid) which bathes and nourishes the brain and spinal cord. And as you explore feeling and movement along this central line in your body, you begin to discover the emotional state that is intertwined within it. If you engage in a somatic movement practice with this part of your anatomy, it can be uncomfortable, yet it's so worth the effort. I have cycled through this exploration for years and revisited with more earnest intention in the years I journeyed through my treatment process. There's so much wisdom the body will share about what it wants to release...and then seek on the other side of that pain, when we call on our courage to feel it. I used my knowledge of anatomy and it's emotional connection, to release and transmute that stuck energy to a realization of innate wisdom and power. Spending dedicated time and presence along remarkable part of your anatomy can change the your body in ways you can't imagine. If you're curious, ask me how...
Last week I shared with you that I was having my last surgery to complete the process of breast cancer treatment. As it is with so many others who face this diagnosis, it's a long story with lots of details. There's much confusion when it comes to emotions and decisions, and sometimes leads to a longer journey than one would hope. I believe all my doctors and medical professionals were kind, caring and skilled. And...I also had internal wisdom that I may not have given full credence to when considering my course of action. This intuition is something that runs through me, and everyone. My body was always there giving clues that if I stayed present with long enough, I would hear. I didn't listen perfectly, and so perhaps my journey was a bit longer. But regardless of what happened, I can move forward in each moment to heal and claim that wisdom and all the strength contained within. Several of you reached out and I know many of you have lovingly been holding me in your thoughts. I wanted to take a moment to express genuine appreciation for this. When we care from our heart and connect to those around us, it heals...us and those we love. We reside in these amazing and wise bodies...with all the discomfort and beautiful expression that's available to us. I thank you because you care...and because you reaching out helps me to know that I can help others. That what I care to do for people and this incredible world, really matters. Keep reaching out , I appreciate you ❤️
As many of you may be aware of, I began treatment for breast cancer in April of 2021. I had already been heading down the path of learning and sharing somatic work for about 5 years prior. I did my level best to stay in my body through the process, but inevitably disconnected when the pain and discomfort became too great. And in the instance of several surgeries, my body and nervous system where having an experience that my conscious awareness wasn't having. And thank goodness... the anesthesia works to prevent an overwhelming quantity of pain that I certainly didn't want to feel. But, that doesn't prevent the nervous and other systems of the body from having their "memory" of the trauma. That truth, is something I've necessarily faced as I heal from the effects of cancer treatment, albeit imperfectly. The language of this trauma is feeling. I know I must be present with and process through feeling in order to thrive on the other side. As I'm present to unwind the physical sensation and emotion I am tracking within me, there's an avenue to release and find the re-alignment I was born for...in my body and mind. This upcoming Wednesday I have my final surgery. And, all is and will be well. I wouldn't have asked that 3 years of my life be occupied by the major hiccup of cancer, but here I am. I am lucky to be living after the journey. Even though I am closing this chapter, It is my earnest intention that the wisdom of it will forever flow through me. I look forward to connecting with you soon to share it :)
In my 25 years in the wellness field, I have engaged with many individuals who don't know the answer to this question. Why? Because at the pace we live in the western world, few of us have been taught to be still long enough to actually feel much of anything. The only thing that is felt are the limited and extreme emotions of anger, despair, melancholy or overwhelming happiness. There's nothing wrong with feeling these, it's just a restricted representation of what's going on within each human. The cost of this, is a lack of subtle awareness of the misalignments of the physical body and off kilter emotions that precede pain in the mind and body. Developing the skill of feeling slight downshifts in mood and the way the body responds to this, is invaluable to preventing big pains. If we can habitually tune into the way we feel, we can process challenging emotion ongoing. The result is the disruption of negative patterns in favor of feeling each moment in an authentic way. When we do this well we can cycle through the rhythm of ups and downs of the human experience without getting perpetually blocked from growth. Our ability to move through physical pain often mirrors the same logjam of our mind. We tend to only notice pain when it's big. We get stuck in the frustration of it until we solve the pain...at least temporarily, only to get frustrated again when the pendulum swings back. I've worked diligently in my own life to create a better way of resolving pain in both my body and mind. It's why I have been on a never ending quest to understand it and help others. If it resonates with you, ask me how I can help you...
When it comes to awareness, many of us are walking heads. As I share what I mean by this you can check in to the truth of this for yourself. You may be aware of emotions as you move about your environment and possibly even some thoughts as they arise. But likely, many of the thoughts and their corresponding emotions are drawn up as you react to the world surrounding you. What occurs is knee jerk behavior rather than authentic awareness of what's challenging you and intentional choice to see beyond it to expanding possibilities beyond the pain. These unconscious reactions are neural patterns yet to arise in your conscious awareness. But while you haven't been paying attention, your body has been tracking it the whole time. And these physical and emotional guarding responses will pull you out of alignment and into eventual pain...every time. I do believe there are many body oriented ways to help disrupt these dysfunctional patterns. And one of them I use in both the release and re-building process is called orienting. When we were subjected to potential dangers in nature, this was an innate tool we employed to know we were safe in our environment. It's so simple, yet can be productively used to cut through old patterns and help us adopt new ones. If you're curious about it and want to understand how I use it, please send me a message . I'm happy to share it's magic...
Closing off our body and emotions is a function of the nervous system's quest to find safety. When we're facing a threat of harm to our body, it makes sense to get small and protect the precious physical resources at our center. It's something that most of us learn in our early years before our mind has the skills to analyze the physical safety of our environment. We can feel threatened by physical or verbal advances. Because we don't have the faculties early on to sort through what happened, why it happened and have the realization that it doesn't have to continue, we develop a patterned response in thought, feeling and in body. It's a circuit in the nervous system whose wire gets tripped when a trigger is presented. And...our physical form manifests this presentation which, ultimately, causes a misaligned posture and all the discomfort that can bring. You know the experience...when you're in the presence of someone you care for and trust, vs someone who's constantly critical, you're body looks totally different. If you haven't noticed yet, pay attention. If this is a commonly embodied state for you or someone you know, it's also creating a negative feedback loop that compels the fear emotion to persist. One of the greatest realizations about this, is that as you develop awareness of closed posture, you can help it at both ends. You can be present with the patterned emotion as you become aware and when you notice a closed posture, it can queue you that you're playing out a fear program. It takes very committed intention to release and select a new way of being, but it's the way to transform it and go beyond coping with the pain. Please ask me if you'd like to learn how this can impact your pain . Wishing you well :)
I've worked in health and fitness for 25 years and there's one approach to wellness that I've seen fail over and over again...using self criticism as a motivator. Fail is a super strong word for me to use, and ultimately, if you don't quit you can't actually fail. But nothing will cause a person to fall short of their goal more consistently than criticizing themself for what they didn't do or do as they thought they should. And then there's those who don't know they're in self judgement. So they don't have the opportunity to evaluate that self defeat is holding them apart from getting out of pain in their body and mind. As I referred to hip tightness last week, specific physical tools are really important to alleviate pain. But, as important, is the presence with which you engage the action in non-judgement so the nervous system responds well. Whether it's the imperfect way you do your stretches or missing them for a day or two, being self critical of this is a temporary tactic, at best, to get you to do the thing you want. That's why somatic (body awareness) is so helpful in transforming the pain you have in body and mind. It can help you work kindly and effectively with your body when you perform the exercise(s) that helps...and gives you reason to keep going when you aren't as consistent as you'd planned. Why? Because self-criticism is the very energy of resistance that gets in the way of you seeing and acting clearly. Have you ever experienced how this works? I love to help...
If you're lucky, you feel the discomfort in your hips before it results in back or knee pain. You've probably heard many stories, or even experienced it yourself, back pain coming out of nowhere. Or go on a long walk and all the sudden you get a sharp pain in the knee. We're meant to walk and move our entire body, so pain of insidious origin isn't as insidious as you may think. The way we hold our bodies can tell quite a story of how we live our lives. We carry thought and emotional patterns in our connective tissue guided by the patterns of our nervous system. We feel scared, despairing or are self-critical and it takes form within us and is expressed as an outward manifestation. The posture or carriage we hold can result from many areas of the body being tight. One of the oft felt areas of this restriction are the hips...and all too many people can relate. I believe that this area can be so problematic because of it's proximity to a multitude of sensitive structures and organs as well as being the connector of the upper and lower body. It must navigate a lot of force transmission and can get stuck in so many ways given the mobility from the spine coming in and the hip itself being a ball and socket joint. Given all this, the possible emotional signaling to the brain that encourages a feedback loop of muscle and fascial guarding is immense. If we're unconscious of that emotional/physical connection, we will miss the progressive tightening over time that causes the pain of misalignment and poor form. But there is a way to unravel the tightness by using effective physical tools combined with the awareness of sensation and emotion, without judgement, to release this dysfunction. It's something I do everyday with those that I serve. Please start with a question here and see why this work is so effective in changing patterns.
So far as I have seen, some level of pain in the body and mind goes along with being human. But I have also seen a somewhat apathetic approach to the experience of pain as demonstrated through people's words and actions. Being in the health field for 25 years, I'll hear an individual express a forgone conclusion of limitation or a ceiling on their ability to heal pain. But as the cliche goes..."you don't know what you don't know". The irony of shifting out of pain is to be with it in the moment of occurrence with a receptivity to seeing other options. So many hang out endlessly in a loop of pain, either because they think they have to or that the way out is more pain. The body (through the nervous system) doesn't change a pain pattern when all it experiences is that very habit. The biggest culprit in staying stuck in this is resistance. And here's a an odd thought to chew on...people resist feeling ease almost as much as they resist feeling pain. So...the solution is to become familiar with and engaged in the pattern of feeling...to NOT resist feeling. I'm not suggesting you try to feel when in a traumatic moment such as a car accident. Our nervous system takes us into freeze states to not overwhelm our own being in these extreme circumstances. (we just have to find a way out of the freeze which is what we're exploring) What I am talking about is shifting out of a habitual pattern of shutting down feeling. Take for example, chronic hip pain, if you open yourself up to the range of physical and emotional feeling as you explore resolution you may... 1. begin to ease tensions that cause the misalignments of dysfunction and pain 2. start to see treatment options that you had not been aware of due to tunnel vision While this is all about feeling, there is process and tools to become skilled so that you open yourself to the ease that is so accessible when you stay present through pain. Please ask me how I can help...