Gasp Exhale Belly

Above I discussed gasp inhale belly, now I talk about gasp exhale belly.

There are two variants of this exercise: (a) in one you do a normal inhale to the belly and then a gasp exhale, (b) in the other you do two gasps, one gasp inhale to the belly and then a gasp exhale from the belly. The latter exercise with a gasp inhale and gasp exhale is a very advanced exercise and should not be used until the gasp inhale belly and then the gasp exhale belly are individually both fully learned.

As you might expect, the chest should not move on either of the two variants. One difference here from the usual breathing is that there is no 'ah' sound to start the exhale. Use of the 'ah' sound slows down the exhale so that it is no longer a gasp. It is a bit unusual in English to talk about a gasp exhale. Normally we associate the gasp only with an inhale. But there is no reason to use a different word. Like the gasp inhale, the whole exhale takes only about 1/4 of a second.

With two variants, which do you start with? You start with the normal inhale to the belly only and then the gasp exhale. When you have fully mastered that, then you can proceed to the more difficult gasp inhale followed by the gasp exhale.

Further, if you do the gasp inhale and gasp exhale there is the danger that the breathing might become too rapid. I don't want that. Normal breathing is about 12 breaths per minute. That is a good speed. Do a gasp inhale, then a gasp exhale, then pause for a few seconds before you start the next round.

Remember, there is no 'ah' sound with this exercise. Trivial as it may seem, this is actually really important. If you start the exhale with the normal 'ah' sound it is then impossible to do a gasp on the exhale. Just by making the sound you have already slowed down the exhale enough that it is not a gasp.

There is another issue I will mention here only for informational purposes. The gasp should be not only without the 'ah' sound, but also without any throat sound. By the time you get to this point in your work, you may well have already eliminated the throat sound, but if not the discussion of how to work on that issue is in the next chapter.

Gasp Exhale Chest

As above I had gasp exhale belly, now I have gasp exhale chest. Again there are the two variants: (1) normal inhale chest followed by gasp exhale chest, and (2) gasp inhale chest then gasp exhale chest. Also as before get the two individual exercises of gasp inhale only and gasp exhale only both fully mastered before you try putting them together.

This exercise is more difficult than the belly gasp exercises. The diaphragm is a thin muscle and can move quickly. The chest, on the other hand, requires the contraction of all the muscles between the ribs to produce either the gasp inhale or the gasp exhale.

None the less, the speed of the gasp for the chest is just as short as the gasp for the belly, about 1/4 of a second.

I also want to add here the same cautions I discussed above for the gasp exhale belly. Don't let this exercise drive you into faster breathing, it is not panting, it is still about 12 breaths a minute. So even through each exhale (or each inhale and exhale) is rapid, the overall breathing rate does not change.

Next, recall that the chest gasp should not, in any way, involve the belly. You can use the same techniques I have mentioned previously of using your hands to insure that you have isolated the chest from the belly and that each can be invoked independent of the other.

Cry Breathing

During crying, if it is deep, the breath cycle naturally changes markedly. Instead of a single continuous inhale, the inhale is broken up into a series of short bursts. To give you a rough idea, the inhale (to the belly then the chest) is made up of six to eight mini inhales.

In this breathing method I am not concerned with whether the inhale is to the belly, the chest, or both. That does not, however, sanction paradoxical breathing. If both the belly and the chest are used then either it is first belly then chest or both together; it is never chest then belly.

This exercise mainly serves the purpose of eliciting character issues related to feeling sorry for yourself (self-pity). In some people just doing this type of breathing will bring on tears. If that is the case, just let the crying develop on its own. Don't try to deepen it, extend it, or control it in any way. Just to be technical about it, crying as such is not an emotion; it is an expression or manifestation of the emotion of self-pity.

There is, however, one rule about crying. Crying should never be soundless. Even if you only leak tears, always, always put sound to the crying. Never allow yourself in this work to cry quietly. If no sound seems to be appropriate, if no sound seems quite right or natural, then impose some sound on the crying. The appropriate sounds will come in due time.

Like all the exercises, don't overdo it. The deeper crying becomes, the more it tends to become weeping. Despite what you might have read in Reich or Lowen, weeping is not a goal of the therapy. It is, rather obviously, not the case that all people have such level of self-pity that they have occasion or need to weep.

If the crying becomes too strong for you then step in and stop it. Crying can be controlled. Think of the common technique we use with children when we want them to stop crying. We say "let me see a smile." The act of smiling is incompatible with crying that is why putting on a smile stops the crying. So if there is crying, let it develop to the point that it makes you uncomfortable or its seems to be getting artificial (that is you are putting on an act of crying) and then step in and stop it.

A good addition is that after a cry you lie flat on the bed and sense your body. Report your sensations out loud (see: POST EXERCISE SENSING AND FEELING on page 21). When you have finished sensing your body (no set time limit) then you can stop for the day or return to the exercises.