by Judith Windover

Created on: November 07, 2008   Last Updated: June 29, 2009

Mary's face flushed as she struggled to do a crunch.

"Breathe Mary," I shouted. "You're holding your breath."

"I know," she sputtered. "I'm killing myself."

I stopped the music and did a quick survey to find out how many of the other students were having difficulty with their breath. All but one raised their hands.

I carried my ball to the center of the floor and sat on it. "Leave your balls where they are and come gather round me."

The class formed a circle around me.

I rolled the ball away from my buttocks into the small of my back. "For now I just want you to watch and listen."

I inhaled deeply then slowly lifted my upper body away from the ball as I deeply exhaled.

"Now watch my stomach," I said. I lowered myself slowly back onto the ball, pointed to my stomach, and inhaled.

"If you were watching closely you would have seen my rib cage expand and my stomach open up. How many of you saw that?"

All heads nodded.

"Good. Therefore, when you lower your body back onto the ball, inhale. Now watch what happens when I lift up."

I lifted my body up and away from the ball and exhaled deeply.

"What happened to my rib cage?" I asked. "Did you notice how it closed up and created less space as it contracted?"

All heads nodded.

"Did you notice how when that happened I exhaled?"

All heads nodded.

"Good. So when you lift your body away from the ball, your stomach contracts. The space between your pelvis and your rib cage gets smaller. Thus no air gets in and you exhale."

I stood, walked the inside perimeter of the circle and made eye contact with each and every one.

"When you hold your breath, you create an internal environment of tension and hostility."

I let the message sink in.

"How well do you perform in a tense and hostile environment?" I asked.

Eyebrows raised.

"In order to get the most from your workouts and life, your muscles need to fluctuate between a state of tension and relaxation. Your muscles simply cannot do that when you hold your breath."

I scooped my ball and walked back to the front of the room.

"Now I want you all to practice what I just showed you. Forget about reps and sets. Just focus on your breath. Breath is energy. When you focus on your breath, intention follows. Everything follows the breath."

Input equals output. That's what I always tell my class. You get out of a thing whatever you put into it.

"You have two nervous systems in your body." I shouted. "The first is the sympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible to help you form a contraction.

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