Effortless breathing for wind players and singers

Learn more about the different ways in which our body can breathe

About the influence of tension on your breathing and how Feldenkrais exercises help you become aware and release tension.

This is a Feldenkrais exercise that will help you to become more aware of your breathing and movement.

It is best to lie down while you listen. The text is also provided (note that the text in the video is slightly different).

Lifting the soft palate is a crucial phase in singing. It allows the voice to correctly resonate through the oral cavity, enriching the sound. At the same time, raising the soft palate greatly influences the way we breathe.

The breath is not only the air we inhale and exhale, but also life itself, at least according to ancient traditions such as yoga and tai chi. Our life begins with an inhale and ends with an exhale. The breath is life energy; prana or chi, and not just an exchange of gases.
This module adresses the influence of breathing on our health in a practical way. The way we breathe directly influences our health and our well being. For example; using the diaphraghm well will help the heart pumping ability and massages the organs, enabling them to remove body wastes. On the other hand: when forced, it has an adverse effect.

When we breathe, gases are exchanged: oxygen is inhaled and carbon dioxide is exhaled. It is always about creating the right balance.

The nose is for breathing and smelling, the mouth for eating, tasting and talking; this is the summary of what studies conclude. Breathing through the mouth is possible, especially when playing, but plan B.

Breathing is actually a processing of what you’re feeling. But sometimes the processing doesn’t go well, for example because you’re holding your breath in. Or because the stress response no longer stops and on a long-term basis you’re breathing too much. The breath is then the simplest way to let the entire system rest.

In this lesson I’ll tell you more about what happens in your body when you’re experiencing stress and how the breathing is involved.
The brain and spinal cord together make up the nervous system. We can consciously control a part of the nervous system, including our movements. The other part, the autonomic nervous system, controls the processes in your body that are always happening without you actively controlling them. Even if you don’t think about it, you will continue to breathe, but you can also consciously influence your breath, and that’s what makes breathing special.