When you habitually make movements that shorten and contort your torso, you will change the shape of the ribcage for the worse. In this video, we look at how subconscious movements re-shape the ribcage in a way that decreases the capacity of the thorax and interferes with proper breathing. We also look at a procedure for expanding the thorax and returning the appropriate curves to the ribcage. Features images made by Jeando Masoero. I offer lessons in the Initial Alexander Technique, which are conducted one-on-one with a teacher over Zoom. They are designed to help you gain conscious control over how you move your body. Most people have no idea what they’re doing with their body, and as they misuse their body, they end up with discomfort, pain, and other issues that they may not even realize are caused by what they’re doing to themselves. But how do you figure out what you’re doing wrong? And how do you change what you're doing and overcome lifelong habits? In an Initial Alexander Technique lesson, you will record yourself through Zoom, so you will be able to see and understand what you are doing when you stand, sit, walk, and perform other simple gestures. With the assistance of your teacher, you will come to understand how you are misusing the mechanisms of your body, and you will gain the ability to choose to use yourself in a more sensible way. You can learn how to use your body without pain. You can break free from long held habits. All you need is a system that works. For more information or to book a lesson, please visit my website: mechanicsofpoise.com/ You can contact me at: DelsarteAlexanderMasoeroYou@protonmail.com "This play is effected in the human body (and would be effected mechanically in the ribs of a boat, if they possessed sufficient elasticity) by the coming together of the ends of the “false” and “flying” ribs- that is, those lower ribs which are not attached to the bony sternum; this flattening of the curve of the ribs and the approach of their free ends towards each other reduce the thoracic cavity, just as in our illustration of the boat its capacity would be reduced if we forcibly narrowed the distance between the thwarts. On the other hand, we see that by increasing the thoracic capacity, and so increasing the distance between the ends of these ribs, we are applying a mechanical principle which by a reverse action tends to straighten the spine." F.M. Alexander
I’m very grateful! I am looking forward to applying this more. My breathing feels very relaxed even after just the time to watch this. Thank you very much 🙏🏻
Well the question hinges on “fully” there. I would say the average person can get an extremely far way in about two years. You should see continuous improvement the whole way, too. Many people that take lessons can have visible changes in a few weeks, even a week. However, there is a lot to overcome to really get out of lifelong habits. And if you want major lasting changes, a year to three years is typically necessary. In some ways it’s comparable to learning something like piano. You could play a simple song in a day, play a decently hard song in a few months, but to be a great piano player? Surely that takes years. Using your body is arguably easier than learning the piano, but because we’re up against such strong habits, there are real challenges. But the nice part is that it’s not like working out, where if you stop doing it, you lose a lot of your progress. As long as you’re applying your directions and conceptions in your day-to-day lie, there is no specific task like going to the gym that you have to maintain. You just have to keep using your mind in concert with your body and you will sustain the beneficial changes you've made for the rest of your life.
I don't know if this is a stupid question but where should we feel movement when we breathe? I take it that if the ribs expand laterally when we breathe it is not right? And is belly breathing also not right? (belly potruding out with inhalation, retracting with exhalation) When I try to pull my lower ribs back and up and sternum forward and up, while simultaneously narrowing my lower ribs, I can't really breathe. And is narrowing our lower ribs and having a narrow infrasternal angle the same thing? I've heard of that concept before.
The expansion of the ribs is not something you do, it’s something that happens. What you don’t want is to expand the lower ribs at the front (where there are no lungs) because most people are already way overextended at the lower front end. You don’t want the abdomen to expand forward with breaths as that does nothing to help you breathe and will also tend to narrow the back. What’s tricky is that most of us in the modern world have certain feelings we associate with breathing. One is the the feeling of air rushing quickly in through our nose. Many people will feel like they’re not breathing, even though they are, if they don’t allow themselves to muscularly suck air in through their nose (or mouth). Air will naturally flow into the partial vacuum in your lungs, you don’t want to make an audible sucking noise with the nose or mouth. Getting around the feeling sense with breathing is difficult at first, but if you are in fact expanding your ribcage and correctly orienting it, air will flow in and the ribcage will expand as it should. You just need to prevent the unwanted movements that shorten and narrow the ribcage.
@@delsartealexandermasoeroyo9147Ive been trying to fix my “rushing air” breathing habit, but when I breath slower the back of my mouth gets super cold/dry. Am I doing something wrong?
hello, one question, in your videos you comment that the back should be straight when seen in profile, but the spinal column is supposed to have slight natural caves for proper functioning of the movement of the body, perhaps I misunderstood it because English is not my first language…
@@TheBrucepix his argument is that the back is lengthened when the back is straight, but just in the lower part because as you saw in this video the ribs decrease in size as you go up and therefore the upper back curves sighty forward
The standard model of posture says that the spine should be bent like an S. Many people who use this model say that you need these curves in your spine. But when you try to get an explanation of why these curves are beneficial, you’ll find there really is no good argument. Some say it absorbs the shock, but that doesn’t really make sense. Does that mean you want your spine to compress and bend in response to load? The model I support is based on the work of Jeando Masoero. The guiding principle is getting the fascia of the body to be taut and not slack. When you have an S shaped spine, in practice what that means is your midsection and pelvis are spilling forward, while your upper torso is pulled back. This bends the lower back and shortens the torso: making the thoracolumbar fascia slack. In Masoero’s model, the lower back is essentially straight (there is a small curve due to the size of the vertebrae, but it’s not visible - we don’t look at the spine unless there’s an x-ray, we’re seeing a back that is covered by muscles and fascia), and the upper spine curves forward because, as the ribs get smaller in diameter, the spine and sternum must get closer together. When the spine curves forward at the top, it allows the head to be forward and up, opening the airway and counterbalancing with the midsection being brought back in space.
I don’t suggest exercises for two reasons. First, people will use their old habits to do an exercise. If you’re going to do some body weight exercise, for instance, you’re likely to go deeper into your habit of shortening in order to accomplish the challenge of the exercise. So rather than changing your habitual posture, you’ll be making the habit stronger. Second, beginners will be mightily challenged by much simpler tasks than what’s typically considered an exercise. I’ve had many students who were quite athletic and fit, but when I asked them to shift the weight of their pelvis a small amount while standing, they were quickly worn out. Traditional exercises aren’t getting at the coordinated movements that we need to genuinely lengthen the torso and increase one’s stature. In my view, what’s needed to fix your posture is a system of conscious guidance and control. That means that you use directions to guide yourself through gestures. The basic starting point I have for students is to just have them stand or sit. Then I explain a set of directions that the person uses to guide themselves into lengthening their torso. For instance, I will have them lift their ribcage in a specific way that causes the ribcage to move up away from the pelvis without tipping forward or back. That will lengthen the torso and remove the bend (what you call “APT”) when coordinated with a proper movement of the pelvis. I do have various procedures that you can try yourself. They pop up throughout the series I have in my playlists. But generally I work with a system of directions, so that you can understand the unintentional movements that you’re currently making that are bending your back and causing you “APT” (which does indeed decrease your stature), and intentionally make the movements that will unbend you and increase your stature.
I would have thought that the area of the floating ribs in the front would have offered the most flexibility and therefore ability to expand during inhalation but you are saying it's in the back that we should find the most expansion Given that the ribs are made of bone and can't expand could you say a bit more about this?
What would be the purpose of widening the lowest ribs at the front? As I said in the video, you don't have lungs there. F.M. Alexander pointed out the harmful results of this many times. Here's one quote from MSI: "The striking feature in those who have practised customary breathing exercises is an undue lateral expansion of the lower ribs, when several or all of the above defects are present. This excessive expansion gives an undue width to the lower part of the chest, and there are thousands of young girls who present quite a matronly appearance in consequence. The breathing exercises imparted by teachers of singing are particularly effective in bringing about this undesirable and harmful condition." This widening of the lower ribs will create a force that narrows the upper ribcage, which is where the lungs are. You'll get expansion where you don't need it and restriction where you need expansion. The reason we want to expand the back of the ribcage in breathing is because overly expanding the front will tend to narrow and hollow the back. If you recall the image Alexander uses in MSI of the boys who were given deep breathing exercises, they have chests that he describes as resembling a pouter pigeon. You can also clearly see that though their chests are expanded at the front, their backs are hollowed. Really what I'm saying is that we want to keep the back widened and lengthened while breathing, and expanding the lower ribs or overly expanding the front of the ribcage will narrow the back. You ask how ribs can expand when they're bones. Well, a couple sentences earlier you said “ the floating ribs in the front would have offered the most flexibility and therefore ability to expand.” It seems like you might have some idea how ribs can expand. Expansion can be vertical between the ribs, and the ribs can be either narrowed or expanded at their joint with the spine.
I feel like I don't need to go to the gym anymore, this is a natural workout plus it will gain results even quicker than the gym as you do the coordination permanently 24/7 not an exercise routine as stated in the video
It’s funny how much of workout it can be to just slightly adjust your ribcage, pelvis, or limbs. While I can’t say conscious guidance and control will get you ripped, it will bring appropriate tone to the muscles of the body. It will also develop your ability to use the deeper postural muscles that are often largely neglected even in quite strong people (which can be proven by the fact that even quite strong people can get worn out if you simply ask them to make some small adjustments to the orientation and relative positions of their ribcage, pelvis, or limbs). Using this system will also help minimize or prevent the injuries that are commonly induced by typical workout regimens.
Why dont you note on every picture,what is fault and what is correct,so we are sure that we understand correctly ? Not everyone has the basic knowledge that is needed.
Bro... have you ever just sat back and observed olympic quality athletes on how they move their bodies. You ever see one of em looking the way you look when your trying to breath right. This content is almost laughable. No offense. Spinal curve is a real thing.
Have u ever seen the actor alain delon... He is arguably one of the most handsome man in the world. He also displays this flat sternum posture and i think this might well be the reason his facial harmony is so high, because he has no asymmetries on his torso
i didint understand the corrective exercise .. in your vidoes you talking about the problems more than taking about the solution . with respect to your effort .. ifound them useless
When you habitually make movements that shorten and contort your torso, you will change the shape of the ribcage for the worse. In this video, we look at how subconscious movements re-shape the ribcage in a way that decreases the capacity of the thorax and interferes with proper breathing. We also look at a procedure for expanding the thorax and returning the appropriate curves to the ribcage.
Features images made by Jeando Masoero.
I offer lessons in the Initial Alexander Technique, which are conducted one-on-one with a teacher over Zoom. They are designed to help you gain conscious control over how you move your body. Most people have no idea what they’re doing with their body, and as they misuse their body, they end up with discomfort, pain, and other issues that they may not even realize are caused by what they’re doing to themselves. But how do you figure out what you’re doing wrong? And how do you change what you're doing and overcome lifelong habits?
In an Initial Alexander Technique lesson, you will record yourself through Zoom, so you will be able to see and understand what you are doing when you stand, sit, walk, and perform other simple gestures. With the assistance of your teacher, you will come to understand how you are misusing the mechanisms of your body, and you will gain the ability to choose to use yourself in a more sensible way. You can learn how to use your body without pain. You can break free from long held habits. All you need is a system that works.
For more information or to book a lesson, please visit my website: mechanicsofpoise.com/
You can contact me at: DelsarteAlexanderMasoeroYou@protonmail.com
"This play is effected in the human body (and would be effected mechanically in the ribs of a boat, if they possessed sufficient elasticity) by the coming together of the ends of the “false” and “flying” ribs- that is, those lower ribs which are not attached to the bony sternum; this flattening of the curve of the ribs and the approach of their free ends towards each other reduce the thoracic cavity, just as in our illustration of the boat its capacity would be reduced if we forcibly narrowed the distance between the thwarts. On the other hand, we see that by increasing the thoracic capacity, and so increasing the distance between the ends of these ribs, we are applying a mechanical principle which by a reverse action tends to straighten the spine."
F.M. Alexander
I’m very grateful! I am looking forward to applying this more. My breathing feels very relaxed even after just the time to watch this. Thank you very much 🙏🏻
Thanks for watching!
Hello! How long it took your bad body posture to fully reconstruct, including bones, fascia and muscles for good posture ?
Well the question hinges on “fully” there. I would say the average person can get an extremely far way in about two years. You should see continuous improvement the whole way, too. Many people that take lessons can have visible changes in a few weeks, even a week. However, there is a lot to overcome to really get out of lifelong habits. And if you want major lasting changes, a year to three years is typically necessary.
In some ways it’s comparable to learning something like piano. You could play a simple song in a day, play a decently hard song in a few months, but to be a great piano player? Surely that takes years.
Using your body is arguably easier than learning the piano, but because we’re up against such strong habits, there are real challenges. But the nice part is that it’s not like working out, where if you stop doing it, you lose a lot of your progress. As long as you’re applying your directions and conceptions in your day-to-day lie, there is no specific task like going to the gym that you have to maintain. You just have to keep using your mind in concert with your body and you will sustain the beneficial changes you've made for the rest of your life.
Thank you so much for answer and your videos!!!@@delsartealexandermasoeroyo9147
This is great, thank you!
I don't know if this is a stupid question but where should we feel movement when we breathe? I take it that if the ribs expand laterally when we breathe it is not right? And is belly breathing also not right? (belly potruding out with inhalation, retracting with exhalation)
When I try to pull my lower ribs back and up and sternum forward and up, while simultaneously narrowing my lower ribs, I can't really breathe.
And is narrowing our lower ribs and having a narrow infrasternal angle the same thing? I've heard of that concept before.
The expansion of the ribs is not something you do, it’s something that happens. What you don’t want is to expand the lower ribs at the front (where there are no lungs) because most people are already way overextended at the lower front end. You don’t want the abdomen to expand forward with breaths as that does nothing to help you breathe and will also tend to narrow the back.
What’s tricky is that most of us in the modern world have certain feelings we associate with breathing. One is the the feeling of air rushing quickly in through our nose. Many people will feel like they’re not breathing, even though they are, if they don’t allow themselves to muscularly suck air in through their nose (or mouth). Air will naturally flow into the partial vacuum in your lungs, you don’t want to make an audible sucking noise with the nose or mouth.
Getting around the feeling sense with breathing is difficult at first, but if you are in fact expanding your ribcage and correctly orienting it, air will flow in and the ribcage will expand as it should. You just need to prevent the unwanted movements that shorten and narrow the ribcage.
@@delsartealexandermasoeroyo9147Ive been trying to fix my “rushing air” breathing habit, but when I breath slower the back of my mouth gets super cold/dry. Am I doing something wrong?
hello, one question, in your videos you comment that the back should be straight when seen in profile, but the spinal column is supposed to have slight natural caves for proper functioning of the movement of the body, perhaps I misunderstood it because English is not my first language…
I think he says the front should be straight!!? Not the back.
@@TheBrucepix his argument is that the back is lengthened when the back is straight, but just in the lower part because as you saw in this video the ribs decrease in size as you go up and therefore the upper back curves sighty forward
The standard model of posture says that the spine should be bent like an S. Many people who use this model say that you need these curves in your spine. But when you try to get an explanation of why these curves are beneficial, you’ll find there really is no good argument. Some say it absorbs the shock, but that doesn’t really make sense. Does that mean you want your spine to compress and bend in response to load?
The model I support is based on the work of Jeando Masoero. The guiding principle is getting the fascia of the body to be taut and not slack. When you have an S shaped spine, in practice what that means is your midsection and pelvis are spilling forward, while your upper torso is pulled back. This bends the lower back and shortens the torso: making the thoracolumbar fascia slack.
In Masoero’s model, the lower back is essentially straight (there is a small curve due to the size of the vertebrae, but it’s not visible - we don’t look at the spine unless there’s an x-ray, we’re seeing a back that is covered by muscles and fascia), and the upper spine curves forward because, as the ribs get smaller in diameter, the spine and sternum must get closer together. When the spine curves forward at the top, it allows the head to be forward and up, opening the airway and counterbalancing with the midsection being brought back in space.
Hello i have anterior pelvic tilt which make me smaller -2cm
There is any exercices to stretch or to heal my posture ? Thank you
I don’t suggest exercises for two reasons. First, people will use their old habits to do an exercise. If you’re going to do some body weight exercise, for instance, you’re likely to go deeper into your habit of shortening in order to accomplish the challenge of the exercise. So rather than changing your habitual posture, you’ll be making the habit stronger.
Second, beginners will be mightily challenged by much simpler tasks than what’s typically considered an exercise. I’ve had many students who were quite athletic and fit, but when I asked them to shift the weight of their pelvis a small amount while standing, they were quickly worn out. Traditional exercises aren’t getting at the coordinated movements that we need to genuinely lengthen the torso and increase one’s stature.
In my view, what’s needed to fix your posture is a system of conscious guidance and control. That means that you use directions to guide yourself through gestures. The basic starting point I have for students is to just have them stand or sit. Then I explain a set of directions that the person uses to guide themselves into lengthening their torso. For instance, I will have them lift their ribcage in a specific way that causes the ribcage to move up away from the pelvis without tipping forward or back. That will lengthen the torso and remove the bend (what you call “APT”) when coordinated with a proper movement of the pelvis.
I do have various procedures that you can try yourself. They pop up throughout the series I have in my playlists. But generally I work with a system of directions, so that you can understand the unintentional movements that you’re currently making that are bending your back and causing you “APT” (which does indeed decrease your stature), and intentionally make the movements that will unbend you and increase your stature.
what if on the contrary you have too much expansion on the back, and belly, but lower ribs looks contracted
I would have thought that the area of the floating ribs in the front would have offered the most flexibility and therefore ability to expand during inhalation but you are saying it's in the back that we should find the most expansion Given that the ribs are made of bone and can't expand could you say a bit more about this?
What would be the purpose of widening the lowest ribs at the front? As I said in the video, you don't have lungs there. F.M. Alexander pointed out the harmful results of this many times. Here's one quote from MSI:
"The striking feature in those who have practised customary breathing exercises is an undue lateral expansion of the lower ribs, when several or all of the above defects are present. This excessive expansion gives an undue width to the lower part of the chest, and there are thousands of young girls who present quite a matronly appearance in consequence. The breathing exercises imparted by teachers of singing are particularly effective in bringing about this undesirable and harmful condition."
This widening of the lower ribs will create a force that narrows the upper ribcage, which is where the lungs are. You'll get expansion where you don't need it and restriction where you need expansion.
The reason we want to expand the back of the ribcage in breathing is because overly expanding the front will tend to narrow and hollow the back. If you recall the image Alexander uses in MSI of the boys who were given deep breathing exercises, they have chests that he describes as resembling a pouter pigeon. You can also clearly see that though their chests are expanded at the front, their backs are hollowed.
Really what I'm saying is that we want to keep the back widened and lengthened while breathing, and expanding the lower ribs or overly expanding the front of the ribcage will narrow the back.
You ask how ribs can expand when they're bones. Well, a couple sentences earlier you said “ the floating ribs in the front would have offered the most flexibility and therefore ability to expand.” It seems like you might have some idea how ribs can expand. Expansion can be vertical between the ribs, and the ribs can be either narrowed or expanded at their joint with the spine.
I feel like I don't need to go to the gym anymore, this is a natural workout plus it will gain results even quicker than the gym as you do the coordination permanently 24/7 not an exercise routine as stated in the video
It’s funny how much of workout it can be to just slightly adjust your ribcage, pelvis, or limbs. While I can’t say conscious guidance and control will get you ripped, it will bring appropriate tone to the muscles of the body. It will also develop your ability to use the deeper postural muscles that are often largely neglected even in quite strong people (which can be proven by the fact that even quite strong people can get worn out if you simply ask them to make some small adjustments to the orientation and relative positions of their ribcage, pelvis, or limbs). Using this system will also help minimize or prevent the injuries that are commonly induced by typical workout regimens.
Why dont you note on every picture,what is fault and what is correct,so we are sure that we understand correctly ? Not everyone has the basic knowledge that is needed.
Bro... have you ever just sat back and observed olympic quality athletes on how they move their bodies. You ever see one of em looking the way you look when your trying to breath right. This content is almost laughable. No offense. Spinal curve is a real thing.
Have u ever seen the actor alain delon...
He is arguably one of the most handsome man in the world.
He also displays this flat sternum posture and i think this might well be the reason his facial harmony is so high, because he has no asymmetries on his torso
i didint understand the corrective exercise .. in your vidoes you talking about the problems more than taking about the solution . with respect to your effort .. ifound them useless
Bros voice is annoying but cool vid