breath, ribs
More about Ribs
Sunday Jun 06, 2010 Filed in:
Rolfing
I
am obsessed about ribs. I find them to be such a fundamental area
for everything else around them to work “right.” I have spent the
last 11 months working and exploring my own ribs and discovered
some amazing things:
1. Chronic shoulder tightness and pain always involves the ribs.
2. Postural issues always involve restrictions in the ribcage.
3. There are 12 ribs on each side. When one rib is restricted, the whole ribcage is affected.
4. Freeing the individual ribs involves working in the intercostal muscles and fascia. Remember, there are 24 ribs with 16-20 inches of circumference. This may take some time to free!
5. We take on average 17,000 breaths every day. Each breath either reinforces the freedom or the restriction of the individual ribs.
Bring on the ribs!
1. Chronic shoulder tightness and pain always involves the ribs.
2. Postural issues always involve restrictions in the ribcage.
3. There are 12 ribs on each side. When one rib is restricted, the whole ribcage is affected.
4. Freeing the individual ribs involves working in the intercostal muscles and fascia. Remember, there are 24 ribs with 16-20 inches of circumference. This may take some time to free!
5. We take on average 17,000 breaths every day. Each breath either reinforces the freedom or the restriction of the individual ribs.
Bring on the ribs!
Breathing
Monday Nov 23, 2009 Filed in:
Awareness
Breathing
is probably the most complex movement we humans do. It is a
symphony of movements orchestrated to create a wave through the
body on mechanical as well as chemical levels. I am intrested in
the mechanical aspect since many of my clients come to my office
with various issues connected with their breathing. My ears always
perk up when I hear that they have a hard time taking a deep
breath.
Many disciplines prescribe a way to breathe: into the belly, only through the nose, counting to five, etc. For many of us, just ordinary breathing feels like a lot of work. And to think about it feels like even more work. So what could cause a person’s breathing to be restricted?
One of the most obvious and common answers is the ribs. There are 12 ribs on each side. Each rib wraps around the half of the chest (with the exception of the 11th and 12th ribs). That is a long distance. In my own body, this distance measures 18 inches.
The intercostal muscles attach the ribs to each other. It is a lot of muscle for such a small crevasse. These muscles, when healthy and undisturbed, lengthen and contract, giving the ribs ability to move like a bucket handle, up and to the sides. They allow the space and ability to take a deep breath.
However, most of us have ribs that shifted from their natural position. You may feel them when breathing or touching them, especially in the armpit. They may feel harder or not smooth. Some ribs feel more superficial than others around them.
I find the ribs to often tell the tale of how the person sits. Most of us sit a lot. Most of us don’t have a good posture when sitting. We spend hours sitting in the front of the computer unaware that we are collapsed in our chest area. Some Rolfers believe that this posture is started during the first few years in elementary school when a child cannot sit on the bony sitbones and instead, shifts his or her weight on the more padded sacrum. The result is a shortening of the front abdominal area which ends up compacting the ribs onto one another. The intercostal muscles become shorter and denser and change the rib arrangement.
I have found that chronic shoulder tightness almost always relates to the ribs being unsupportive. The shoulders need to find a balanced place on the ribcage in order to relax. This is the fundamental idea of alignment.
Because there are so many of the ribs and intercostal muscles, the differentiation and lengthening can take some time. It is a job! One by one, the ribs can be freed allowing the ribcage to expand. The lungs can allow deeper and easier breathing. Yay!
Many disciplines prescribe a way to breathe: into the belly, only through the nose, counting to five, etc. For many of us, just ordinary breathing feels like a lot of work. And to think about it feels like even more work. So what could cause a person’s breathing to be restricted?
One of the most obvious and common answers is the ribs. There are 12 ribs on each side. Each rib wraps around the half of the chest (with the exception of the 11th and 12th ribs). That is a long distance. In my own body, this distance measures 18 inches.
The intercostal muscles attach the ribs to each other. It is a lot of muscle for such a small crevasse. These muscles, when healthy and undisturbed, lengthen and contract, giving the ribs ability to move like a bucket handle, up and to the sides. They allow the space and ability to take a deep breath.
However, most of us have ribs that shifted from their natural position. You may feel them when breathing or touching them, especially in the armpit. They may feel harder or not smooth. Some ribs feel more superficial than others around them.
I find the ribs to often tell the tale of how the person sits. Most of us sit a lot. Most of us don’t have a good posture when sitting. We spend hours sitting in the front of the computer unaware that we are collapsed in our chest area. Some Rolfers believe that this posture is started during the first few years in elementary school when a child cannot sit on the bony sitbones and instead, shifts his or her weight on the more padded sacrum. The result is a shortening of the front abdominal area which ends up compacting the ribs onto one another. The intercostal muscles become shorter and denser and change the rib arrangement.
I have found that chronic shoulder tightness almost always relates to the ribs being unsupportive. The shoulders need to find a balanced place on the ribcage in order to relax. This is the fundamental idea of alignment.
Because there are so many of the ribs and intercostal muscles, the differentiation and lengthening can take some time. It is a job! One by one, the ribs can be freed allowing the ribcage to expand. The lungs can allow deeper and easier breathing. Yay!