What is the Air Body?
The air body includes the actual air that we breathe, and the mechanisms and organs and structures involved in breathing.
Physiologic breathing – that is to say normal day in, day out breathing – consists of the following steps
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We breathe in filling the lungs from bottom to top
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As we fill the lungs the ribcage expands two inches circumferentially
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There is no vertical translation of the ribcage
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After the lungs have expanded the ribcage two inches, they want to continue to fill. So they begin to displace the respiratory diaphragm downward, and to a lesser degree displace the thoracic outlet diaphragm
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As the lungs expand and displace the respiratory diaphragm, the core is engaged and expands circumerentially to allow for displacement of the organs
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Displacement of the abdominal organs causes displacement of the pelvic organs and descent of the pelvic diaphragm
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As we breathe out, the respiratory diaphragm and pelvic diaphragm elevate as do the organs.
Normal physiologic breathing should take three seconds to breathe in, and seven seconds to breathe out.
Normal physiologic breathing should occur six times a minute exclusively through the nose.
This pattern of breath activates the proper ratio of sympathetic (breath in) to parasympathetic (breath out) tone.
With proper breathing mechanics and timing, the organs, fluid system, chemical system, and musculoskeletal system are all activated, and the autonomic nervous system is optimized.
