From: Linda.Cummings@f34.n375.z1.fidonet.org (Linda Cummings)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Birmingham Pain Clinic
Date: 17 Apr 92 19:50:34 GMT
Reply-To: Linda.Cummings@f34.n375.z1.fidonet.org
Organization: FidoNet node 1:375/34 - Batteries Included, Montgomery AL

Index Number: 21242

[This is from the Spinal Injury Conference]

The following handout was given to me at the Birmingham Pain Clinic:

BREATHING EXERCISE

1.  Lie down.......or sit.

2.  Breathe through the nose, equal time inhalation/exhalations:
    slow, regular.

3.  Count steadily (one thousand 1, one thousand 2, etc.) as you
    inhale and repeating equal counts as you exhale.

4.  Put one hand on chest to be sure it stays still; other hand
    on abdomen as it rises and falls.

This exercise stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, the
calming part of the nervous system.

Keeps body calm, promotes relaxation.

Mental arithmetic diverts "busy" thoughts.

Monitoring chest and stomach gives you something to do with your hands.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

THREE DIMENSIONAL BREATHING

Lie on your back.  Place your hands on your upper chest and send
your breath there.  Focus your attention on the exhale; expel all
the stale air and then allow the breath to enter.  Inhale into the
upper chest and exhale, sending all the breath down the arms and
out of the hands.  As you breathe, feel yourself expand in all
three dimensions:  top to bottom; that is (from head to mid-
chest), side to side (between the shoulders), and front to back
(from the sternum to upper spine).

Next, place your hands on the lower rib cage, in the area of the
diaphragm. Visualize the diaphragm moving beneath your hands:  as
you inhale, see and feel it moving into the abdomen; as you exhale,
see and feel it relaxing upward into the chest.  Feel the expansion
and contraction of this part of your body in all three dimensions.
Feel your ribs lift up and away from your spine.  Feel how your rib
case expands and contracts at your sides.  And, feel how your body
lengthens and contracts here at your middle with each breath.

Now, place your hands on the lower abdomen.  As you inhale, feel
your breath move into your abdomen.  Then exhale, sending the
breath down and out through the legs.  Feel your abdomen expanding
from front to back (from the stomach wall to the tailbone), from
side to side (feel the movement at the sides of your abdomen and
pelvis), and top to bottom (feel your lower back release and
lengthen with each breath).

Finally, place your hands where they are most comfortable.  Allow a
complete exhalation, and let your inhalation be natural and full.
Focus in turn on all three areas.  As you breathe, track your
breath from top to bottom, feeling how you lengthen from head to
toes.  Track your breath from side to side in your lower abdomen
and pelvis, upper abdomen, rib cage, and shoulders.  Track your
breath from front to back, noticing the changing space between your
back and the front of your chest, at your diaphragm, and in your
pelvis and lower abdomen.

Linda

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