Lesson 1: Getting Started

Our bodies were designed to breathe in two different ways; abdominal breathing and chest breathing.

Abdominal breathing is with the belly. This is how we were designed to breathe most of the day. One reason we know this is that the diaphragm muscle responsible for belly breathing is an endurance muscle and it creates very little strain on the neck or back. A child, like a baby in the womb, breathes with his or her belly most of the time.

Chest breathing is designed to get air moving quickly, either with strenuous activity or anticipation of something strenuous. It shouldn't be surprising that stress promotes chest breathing. Constant chest breathing creates a lot of strain on the chest and neck, and eventually causes the low back to become unstable, and encourages the bladder and uterus to drop. Even though it is not natural, most people chest breathe excessively.

The FRTD strengthens abdominal very effectively, but you must be able to belly breathe properly before using it. That is the purpose of Exercise 1.

Exercise 1: Belly Breathing On Your Back

First, watch this video of abdominal breathing.

While on your back, breathe in and out. Put one hand on your belly, and one on your chest. Notice which hand is moving. If the belly is moving, you are belly breathing. If the chest is moving, you are chest breathing. You need to learn to belly breathe on your back before moving to the next lesson.

Try this: As you inhale (through your nose), inflate your belly. You could also put a book on your belly and try to lift it up as you inhale (through your nose). Once you learn to do this, practice several times a day when you are relaxed. If you can belly breathe reasonably well, you can progress to lesson 2.