September 11, 2017

You might be asking yourself why you’re reading this post about breathing.

We breathe in, we breathe out, hands up, now hands down, (back up, back up), tell me watcha gonna do now.

*Ahem*

In and out. It’s that simple, right?

Yes and no.

Breathing happens automatically.

When we’re babies, we breathe through our diaphragm. This is natural for us.

As we get older, though, we generally breathe through the chest. We forget how to do deep breathing, and that means it’s easy to forget how to breathe properly throughout our day, and especially during exercise.

In this article, I’m going to explain why breathing is the foundation of exercise and of life, and how to get the most of out of your DDP Yoga workout with proper breath.

Why Breathing Is Important

To be blunt, you need to breathe in order to live.

You can survive without water for around a week, and you can survive without food for several weeks.

You can only survive without air, however, for a few minutes. Even trained divers can only hold their breath for an average of about five minutes.

That means that breathing is the key to life.

More specifically, breathing fuels your muscles.

The Physiological Purpose Of Breathing

Breathing consists of two parts: the inhale and the exhale.

When you inhale, your trachea carries air to your lungs. Muscles in your torso raise up and outward as your lungs expand and pull air in. Finally, your diaphragm contracts and pulls downward.

This inhaled air brings oxygen into the blood, which is first delivered to the heart before being transported to the rest of your body.

When you exhale, the reverse happens. Your diaphragm relaxes and springs upward. Your lungs shrink as they push air out. Your torso muscles relax as your ribcage moves downward and forward. Your lungs shrink as they expel air through your nostrils or your lips.

The exhaled air is rich in carbon dioxide, a waste product. Too much CO2 in your body can lead to respiratory failure.

In short, inhaling fuels your body, while exhaling eliminates waste.

Why Breathing Is Significant In Yoga

The term “yoga” is Sanskrit for “union,” the integration of mind and body disciplines.

Pranayama, another Sanskrit term, is “the practice of voluntary breath control, consisting of conscious inhalation, retention, and exhalation,” according to the American Council on Exercise Personal Trainer Manual.

The nonprofit American Council on Exercise (ACE) educates, certifies, and represents more than 60,000 fitness professionals, health coaches, and other allied health professionals.

Pranayama could be coupled with a posture, or “asana,” to prepare an individual for practicing breath control and meditation. Practitioners used these asanas to acquire spiritual freedom and meditative states.

Physiologically, ACE says yogic breathing has been found to create a “mind-body” pathway between muscles and the brain, “affording direct access of muscular activity to the mechanisms of perception and cognition”.

In other words, according to ACE, breathing is an intermediary between the body and the mind.

“The fundamental purpose of breath work is to develop the ability to:

(a) sustain relaxed attention to the flow of the breath,

(b) refine and control respiratory movements, and

(c) integrate awareness and breathing to reduce stress and enhance psychological functioning”

The Medical Benefits Of Proper Breathing

In my research for this article, I found literally dozens of benefits of mind-body exercise and, specifically, yogic breathing.

For this article, I’ll look at three benefits: blood-pressure reduction, stress reduction, and increased blood flow.

Yogic Breathing Can Reduce Systolic Blood Pressure

Using a 2:1 breathing pattern, people with high blood pressure can decrease it.

From ACE:

“Adhana (2013) found that, in patients with hypertension, exhaling twice the time of inhalation caused a response similar to those patients taking one or two blood pressure medications.”

That’s a stunning finding.

Simply by altering our breathing pattern, we can cut out blood pressure medication. We can save money and prevent side effects by doing something our body does naturally for free.

ACE warns, however, that people with cardiovascular or pulmonary disease should focus on standard breath work and not progress to advanced techniques, such as rapid breathing, breath retention (pausing after inhaling), or breath suspension (pausing after exhaling). These techniques are mentioned later in this post.

Yogic Breathing Reduces Stress

In Yoga for Regular Guys, Dallas and the Yoga Doc mention another benefit of yogic breathing: it helps reduce stress.

Long, slow breaths decrease the “fight or flight” feeling, a segment of the sympathetic nervous system that is activated by the perceived threat of danger, such as a thug or an angry dog.

Physiologically, “fight or flight” manifests as an increased heart rate, resulting in quicker breathing, as well as tense muscles and sweating. According to Harvard Health Publications:

“The carefully orchestrated yet near-instantaneous sequence of hormonal changes and physiological responses helps someone to fight the threat off or flee to safety. Unfortunately, the body can also overreact to stressors that are not life-threatening, such as traffic jams, work pressure, and family difficulties.”

The Harvard link also mentions a study in which relaxation techniques (which included yoga and deep abdominal breathing) helped wean participants off blood pressure medication, supporting the study referenced by ACE in the previous section.  

Yogic Breathing Increases Blood Flow

Dallas and the Yoga Doc say in their DDP Yoga certification manual that people get sore when they work out for the first time (or after a period of inactivity) because blood oxygen levels are low, and your body doesn’t get the oxygen it needs.

Accelerating your heart rate brings a 25% increase in blood flow through vertebral and internal carotid arteries, according to a study referenced in the DDP Yoga Level 1 manual (that I couldn’t track down in the October 2007 issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology). This means that your blood vessel diameter increases and is sustained during exercise.

The Importance of Breathing in DDP Yoga

Proper breathing during your DDP Yoga workout will help you sink deeper into your positions so that you can increase flexibility and your heart rate.

You’ll also be able to acquire mental and physical focus, endurance, balance, flexibility, and power.

“If you try to consciously fill your entire body with oxygen each time I ask you to inhale,” writes Dallas, “you will break up the tension that lives in the different corners of your body. You will get even greater benefits if you try to ‘push’ each inhalation into those tight spots.”

Breathing in this manner also increases your heart rate to get into your fat-burning zone, a topic I’ve covered previously.

Focus on each breath you take in class. It is challenging, but it is worth it.

How To Breathe

The key to breathing in DDP Yoga, and in general, is your belly.

Just like when we were babies.

This is called diaphragmatic breathing, or deep abdominal breathing.

The goal is to fill your abdomen up like it’s a balloon.

Both the DDP Yoga system and ACE recommend similar ways to achieve this goal (each with their own unique personality), and I’ll explain them both.

The DDP Yoga Way

1. Lay on your back.
2. Bend your knees.
3. Put both hands on your belly.
4. Inhale for a count of 3, expanding your belly like Santa Claus.
5. Exhale for a count of 3, pushing your belly button to the back of your spine.
6. Repeat.

If you’d like, you can use counts of 5, 10, or whatever number you like. A greater number means greater breath control.

See Dallas walk through it on video here.

The ACE Way

1. Lay on your back. Place a blanket or pillow underneath your head.
2. Place one hand on your abdomen and one hand on your chest.
3. Take 10-15 slow, deep breaths.
4. Expand your abdomen during inhalation. Pause for a few counts after you finish your inhale.
5. Contract your abdomen during exhalation. Pause for a few counts after you finish your exhale.
6. Keep your chest as still as possible.

Each method varies just a bit, but I think you’ll see the similarities.

When we do this deep breathing, we see a host of benefits (in addition to the ones listed above):

• We create space between each vertebra, which helps heal compressed spinal discs.
• We squeeze trapped blood out of our organs, eliminating waste.
• We bring fresh, oxygenated blood back to our organs.
• We fix our posture and break up scar tissue caused by slouching, sitting, or driving for extended periods.

When To Breathe

ACE recommends a warm-up of 3-5 minutes of quiet contemplation or meditation before low-level aerobic activity or flexibility exercise. They also recommend ending those workouts with a similar breathing cool-down.

You’ll notice a similar model in DDP Yoga. Classes typically begin and end with a breathing focus, and your certified instructor will be able to guide you through it.

Your DDP Yoga instructor is also trained on how to cue you for breathing during the workout. If he or she forgets, though, Yoga Journal has some better breathing tips that inspired this short list of how to breathe during DDP Yoga workouts:

Exhale when bending forward

• “Hulk it up!” on Diamond Cutter
• Catcher
• Cat Arch
• Down Dog
• Butterfly
• Broken Table Crunches
• Extended Side Angle
• Human Cannonball

Inhale when lifting or opening the chest

• Ignition
• Diamond Cutter
• Superstar
• Cat Lift
• Cobra
• Thunderbolt
• Road Warrior 1
• Bent-legged Bar Back (or Stiff-legged Bar Back)
• 3-legged Dog
• Broken Table
• Bridge

Exhale when twisting

• Road Warrior 2
• Twisting Lunge
• Twisting Triangle

Again, there are a number of other breathing cues throughout the DDP Yoga workouts on the DVDs and in person with your instructor, so pay attention to them.

Try It Out

As we’ve learned, breathing is essential. Breathing should be an active – not a passive – part of our everyday life.

We should look to babies as models for how to breathe so that we get full breaths each time.

Proper breathing assists you with getting a great workout, and provides a number of physiological and mental functions, as well.

On your next DDP Yoga workout, concentrate on your breathing. See how it affects your activity during your workout. 

Maybe you’ll find you get more out of it.

Interested In A Class?

I teach DDP Yoga. Come out do it during your 1:1 personal training session at Titan Fitness in Washington, or my group fitness class Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. at the Metamora Park District office.

May 18, 2011

Well, to be completely honest, I guess this is how you would make six of them.

But to understand why these commercials were made, I think it’s necessary to first explain the context behind them.

This semester was our senior project, also known by just three numbers – 413. 413 is the capstone class of Bradley University’s Department of Interactive Media. The spring semester’s project was working on America Live!, an interactive performance in collaboration with Bradley’s Theatre Department.

Personally, this has been my defining project at Bradley University and the experience was immensely valuable. I talked a little about it on the AdamBockler.com portfolio page but wanted to include more about it here.

America Live’s concept is that of a television game show that pokes fun at the media in general, where the host was exposed for rigging contest votes and debate teams argued over silly topics such as what our national food should be and ludicrous stories. Audience members were eligible to be chosen as the co-host (who audience members voted on through using their cell phones) and to be on the debate teams.

IM department head Jim Ferolo and Theatre department head George Brown developed the concept over the course of a few years, while Slane scholar in residence Jeff Wirth was brought in from Florida to write the script and direct the show.

Of course, like any TV show, the performance needed commercials. Several of the commercials sponsored punishments for the losing debate teams, such as dihydrogen monoxide itself, H2-Whoa; a gooey concoction called Body Bash; the “alternative alternative” nuclear energy, Mirage International; and finally USA Power & Electric, which wound up electrocuting somebody at the end of the show.

I’ve already written in detail about the production of these commercials on the America Live blog, but I had written that blog from mostly the perspective of the class. This write-up will include some of the more personal thoughts I had while borrowing material from some of my original posts.

How I wound up producing the commercials

Though there was more to it than I share here, Jim came to class one day about a month in and was talking about what we needed to do. We got to the commercials when Jim looked at me and said, “How about Adam takes charge of those?”

Not knowing what exactly I was getting into, I nodded and said, “Okay. Let’s do it.”

Despite the fact I didn’t initially feel up to the task based on a variety of reasons, I felt honored to be asked to lead the charge. I felt that I owed it to myself, to him and to my team to live up the expectations placed upon us.

The beginning stages

I had actually come in to work on the commercials a few weeks after Jes Schroeder and Darion Clay had started working on them. They had produced a few elements, such as figuring out what talents and props we needed and had produced a few logos.

I reread the commercial scripts, which had already been written. I began modifying the list of talent and props that we were going to need, and Jim had asked me to start coming to weekly production meetings. There, I informed other students and faculty working on the show about each stage we were at, what we had accomplished and what we needed. It was the first time I’d been in a professional setting such as that, and I wanted to take my maximize my effectiveness there.

I have already written some of this information about preproduction at the America Live blog. And since I wrote that content, I will be borrowing some of it for this piece.

Script breakdowns

Script breakdowns are a great organizational tool. I created one for each commercial, which included…

• talent
• wardrobe
• schedule and location
• props, and who was responsible for them
• sound effects
• special effects
• who would edit the videos in post-production

Each breakdown received multiple revisions over the course of a month. They were extremely helpful to members of the theatre department working on them, mostly the props and wardrobe people. I’d honestly questioned the usefulness of such a deliverable until Becki Arnold, the faculty member in charge of costume design, told me how much they had helped her during one of our production meetings.

Storyboards

Essentially, the storyboard is a still image of what the camera shot would look like when we got to production. That way, the director has an idea of what shots to get, how to focus the camera and so on. Our storyboards were created by Kristen and Jes.

I was able to download this storyboard template from Deviant Art. In retrospect, we probably could’ve used some of the spaces better or altered it for our needs. But time was of the essence, so we went with what we found.

Logos

Jon Andrews flexed his graphic design muscle in creating logos for several of the products in the commercials, along with Jes Kristen DeRosier.

The logos had to be different since they have to represent unique brands. Designers could not get away with mimicking the same design on each logo since the actual theatre show is similar to a television show. Obviously, actual product makers don’t want their logos to look similar to another logo, especially within the same industry.

Organizing talent

Right before spring break, we had a meeting inviting members of the theatre and communications departments together to be cast in these commercials. Jim made the decisions as I, along with assistant line producer Arianna Brown, wrote down who was cast in each role. Once the casting choices were made, I would be in constant communication with each actor, specifying the role they would have, letting them know what time to be there and answering any questions they had.

As a communications major, too, this was my strong point. There are many IM students who are good communicators, but I feel that organization and the ability to coordinate this information is one aspect that sets me apart from many.

Sound effects and voiceovers

Darion’s passion is in sound. Unfortunately for us, unlike the real production studio we were able to shoot the commercials in, we didn’t have that luxury for the voiceovers and had to set up shop in an office in between shelves full of books and other equipment. We turned some appliances off, plugged a snowball microphone in and had at it.

While in our makeshift studio, I experienced something on the fly – directing voice actors. After having reviewed the scripts numerous times, I felt like I knew what Jeff was going for. And without him to be there to guide us, that meant I had to make sure I got what I wanted out of the performance.

One of the voice actors named Mary – who was also a granddaughter in Memory Mulch – was a student I’d never met before. She was reading only a few noises for Body Bash. “Mmm…ahh…ohhh…yesss,” was all she needed to say. But Mary had never met either me or Darion, who were sitting in a quiet room with her while she made sensual noises. Needless to say, she felt uncomfortable.

“Let’s pretend like you have a boyfriend,” I said, trying to ease the awkwardness. “He’s fresh out of the shower with only a towel on, and he’s just used Body Bash and you love the smell of it. Now let’s try these lines again.”

I don’t know if my spur-of-the-moment direction got anywhere with her, but we got some great lines out of her regardless.

Animatics

With images and sounds, we had what we needed to create the animatic. The animatic doesn’t look pretty – it’s just storyboards that are cut to the length of the voiceover. Creating the animatic was entirely practical and very useful because we knew how roughly how long each shot was going to be in the final version and made sure to shoot enough on each side for coverage.

After presenting these animatics at a production meeting, it was time to head into the studio.

Trial by fire in the studio

I don’t have much to add to the America Live commercial shoot days compared to what I’ve already written. Though this was the first time that the rest of the class really came in on these commercials, meaning that my and Kristen’s knowledge was heavily relied upon for shots that Scott wasn’t sure of. Kristen especially jumped in as the assistant director and fed Scott which shots we were doing, how long they were supposed to be and what lines the actors needed to say.

To summarize it, none of us had ever worked on a large production like that before. Scott Cavanah was a great faculty mentor to work with in setting it up and his relaxed demeanor coupled with knowing exactly what he wanted made the shoots go smooth.

Post-production

Again, I feel I did a pretty decent job covering post-production on the America Live blog.

The hours were rough – and 8-hour day following the shoots, along with 7 to midnight each night for the rest of the week – but each pair of students tag-teamed a commercial and everybody churned out quality final products. I’m very happy with the results. Even though I didn’t get my hands dirty with much editing, I learned what types of things to look for and what will add to or detract from the product.

Key takeaways

After having had some time to get out of the world of America Live, I feel there are several key takeaways here.

Teamwork

I needed to rely on others, just as others needed to rely on me. I hated working in teams in high school and still hate it in some classes in college because people don’t take their responsibilities seriously. But members of both departments realized how important working as a team was and made a really cool final product as a result.

Communication and organization

As somebody whose second major is also Communications, I feel like this allowed me to flex those muscles differently. I’m used to doing class work related to written journalism. But for America Live, I needed to communicate both orally and in the written form. I viewed my position for a long time as a liaison between the IM and theatre departments, as I was one of the main sources of information each had regarding the commercials.

I had to email numerous people in a clear and concise fashion. With many of us receiving numerous emails every day, I tried to keep mine succinct.

I also got used to presenting updates to a group. I know I’ll need to do this in the workplace someday, so this was a nice way to ease me into that. Doing karate demonstrations is one thing, but it’s a completely new experience to do this

Above all else, I got to develop relationships and learned how certain people operated along with the best methods for interacting with them.

A critical eye

While I didn’t necessarily have the final say in all production elements, I did take into account things like audio levels and video cuts. If Scott or somebody noticed something they didn’t like, I would pay attention to those details and try to point them out if they came up later.

America Live was a learning experience. In some ways, I already knew how to do everything coming in when I take a basic look at it. I’ve done preproduction work in previous classes and I’ve coordinated a group before. But I’ve never done anything to this scale.

I couldn’t have asked for a better team throughout this process. We had a few issues along the way, but I had so much fun with everybody that the best moments overshadow the not-so-great ones.

After an intense two months, I’m satisfied with laying America Live to rest while I finish my undergrad career.

December 8, 2010

As a student in the design or technological industries, you may be asking yourself how to further hone your skills or network with potential employers to earn more freelance jobs.

One way to do this is to attend a conference.

Recently returning from the Adobe MAX event in Los Angeles, Iona Group solutions architect Chad Udell eagerly discussed his trip and offered advice for anybody looking to attend his or her first conference.

First, “you need to determine the reason you would want to attend a conference,” Udell said.

Udell, who graduated from Bradley University in 1999 with a degree in graphic design, develops primarily Flash and mobile applications for e-learning.  He said there are three primary reasons why people attend conferences: networking in order to meet people in your industry who you want to seek business with or promote your services to, to learn from the best and the brightest, and for presenters to share their knowledge.

“From there,” he said, “determining what conference you go to is a function of what your purpose is.”

Finding a conference

There are several ways to get involved and hear about conferences.  Udell is on a variety of different mailing lists and in user groups that are tied to national organizations.  Locally, for example, the Peoria Ad Club is tied to the American Advertising Federation. Adobe and Microsoft, too, have local user groups for this purpose.

He also finds out about events through blogs and Twitter.

After you start finding out which conferences are available, you can begin to narrow down which ones you would want to go to.

“First-time events are always kind of iffy,” Udell said, having been to 20 to 25 conferences.  “The first time is like a rite of passage.”

He said if a conference is brand new or if somebody who has never done one before is putting one on, conference-goers need to verify session schedules by checking the credentials of people on the list.

Last year, Udell, now an adjunct professor in Bradley’s interactive media department, attended the Designer/Developer Workflow Conference in Kansas City, Mo.  He wasn’t interested in speaking at it until he saw other interesting speakers on the bill.

On the other hand, some of the bigger organizations have more polish, and they feature higher profile speakers, celebrity appearances and giveaways.

“If it’s a perennial event, such as Microsoft Mix or Adobe MAX,” Udell said, “rest assured it’s going to be a pretty cool event.”

Events such as these typically have a keynote speaker and different subject matter every day.  For example, Udell said a day might consist of six hours of concurrent sessions and conclude with an evening event, followed by a reception.  Afterward, he might head out for cocktails or dinner with people he met.

The cost

The cost of a conference fluctuates based on several factors.  Udell said smaller, regional events might cost anywhere from $150 to $500, depending on the catering, how many days the conference lasts and what type of venue it’s in.

“You’re getting a lot of good knowledge there,” he said in response to the cost.  “The value is commensurate with the stuff you get.”

Udell said MAX organizers gave away $700 worth of hardware this year.  Its highest price was $1,695 for a full conference pass after on-site registration.  Earlier pricing was cheaper.

Not all companies pay for their workers to go to a conference, but again, it depends on the type of conference and the type of agency a person works for.  Udell said some companies budget for training and others don’t.  Some events may be less about conferencing and more about being a trade show.

“A lot of companies won’t pay for things like that,” he said, because the show is less about learning and more about selling.

Event speakers usually get in for free, he said, but sometimes he gets his lodging and airfare taken care of.

Finding a session

Once you’re at a conference, it’s your decision to figure out what sessions you want to attend.

“That’s always tough,” Udell said.

With smaller events, there are only one or two tracks to take since there might only be 200 attendants.  At an event like MAX, which Udell estimated to have hosted 4,000 people, it’s a little more difficult to choose.

Most big conferences allow you to register early and specify your agenda, but also allow participants to reschedule if they wish.

For example, Udell said at events like MAX, Microsoft Mix or Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, the organizations usually unveil brand new technology.  Previously unannounced sessions are then revealed for that technology, and “people flock to rearrange their schedules,” typically by using an online application.

The results of attending

Udell said conferences generally yield two results for participants.

One aspect of conferencing is coordinating talent.

“I may be able to find new freelancers,” he said, and he has found several for the Morton-based Iona Group.  “[Conferences are] great if you’re a freelancer, especially if you’re extroverted.”

Freelancers can now put their works on a handheld device or an iPad, so “you can always have your demo reel with you.”

People also attend conferences to get new business.

“Generally speaking,” he said, “a lot of people that are there would entertain business opportunities.”

Udell also has connected with at least one agency to make sure Iona’s prices are a good value for their vendors.

Udell started going to conferences just to learn and find out more about his industry.  Now, before he boards his plane, he makes a short list of people he wants to reach out to in order to share a drink or dinner with.

“That’s not something I would’ve done even a handful of years ago,” he said.

Udell said one of his favorite stories from attending conferences comes from this year’s Adobe MAX.

“I ran into a Bradley alum that I haven’t seen since graduation,” he said.

Udell knew his friend was working in the industry but didn’t know he shared as many contacts as he had.

“Reconnecting with somebody on the other side of the country that used to go to the exact same school and the exact same program…to meet him and find out he’s friends and acquaintances with people that I’m friends and acquaintances with is interesting.”

On the other hand, Udell said not all aspects of attending conferences are fun.

“Travel can be terrible,” he said, noting layovers and delays and sleeping in a hotel for three or four nights.

Days can stretch to 12 hours long by the time you get there, register and go to the keynote speech and concurrent sessions, followed by the gathering at the end of the night.

He said people think, “‘Oh, you get to get off work for three days and go to these conferences?’

“It’s basically working 12-hour days for the time you’re there.”

Being on the other side of the podium

As noted earlier, Udell has both been a participant and a presenter.  While he said it’s relaxing as a participant, “it’s cool being on the other side.”

With a speaker tag on his badge, Udell said people approach him to talk to him.  He said he may get invited to other events or get perks such as freebies.

“But it can also be a drag,” he said, having experienced speaking six times over three days at one conference.

As a speaker, Udell said, you’re far less apt to go to other sessions as a participant due to mingling more with other conference attendees.

“As a participant, you’ve paid for the event and want to hear people,” he said. But it’s not the same feeling for presenters.

Udell said he has ranked fairly high on the surveys collected at the events.

“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a below-average rating,” he said.

Udell has shared several of his sessions on SlideShare, which creates an online slideshow of PowerPoint presentations.  Several conference websites have featured his slides.

To follow up on his experiences, Udell typically uses e-mail, his blog, or Twitter.  He also gets many LinkedIn requests.

Final advice

Udell had advice for anybody looking for his or her first conference experience.

“If you’re thinking about doing something,” he said, “find a local, regional conference first.”

He said there are many opportunities in St. Louis or Chicago, and it probably wouldn’t cost more than $200 to $300.  Udell said people most likely already knew somebody in one of those cities, and that you could “probably just crash on somebody’s pad.”

For Udell, it really came down to one snippet of advice.

“Just go check it out.”