♪ Bob and Brad the two most famous ♪
♪ Physical therapists ♪
♪ On the internet ♪
- Hi Folks, I'm Bob Schrupp, physical therapist.
- Brad Heineck, physical therapist.
- Yeah, we are the most famous physical therapists
on the internet.
- And in our opinion, of course Bob.
- Today we're gonna talk about how to reduce stress,
and sleep better.
We're gonna show you a two minute breathing exercises.
This is certainly the time to know this.
Isn't it Brad?
- Right. - We're all under a lot
of stress, a lot of unknown things going on.
- Exactly. - Uncertainty.
- Need to learn to relax.
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- There you go Bob!
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- There you go Bob.
Bob, again, you mentioned stressful times.
It's, you know, everyone's involved now
at the same stress.
Plus there's other things in our lives going on.
Family, school. - Yeah.
- Are you're getting things done?
And once your body gets that stress in you,
you start get the shallow breathing
often times, that flight or fight response.
It's a natural protective mechanism.
Our body had for the last hundreds, or thousands of years,
depending on your belief system and that.
But one way or another, everything gets tight,
and we need learn how to relax.
- Yeah, I think
this is huge, Brad. - Mm hmm.
- This is probably one of the most important things
you can do to reduce stress.
- Right. - Have you had friends
that have had anxiety attacks, Brad?
- Yes. - I have had two.
And I totally attribute to the fact that they got to
that shallow breathing. - Yeah.
- And once it gets wound up,
it's really hard to wind back down again.
Isn't it, Brad? - Exactly, exactly.
- So you wanna get ahead of it with breathing.
- Right, so how do we do it?
We're gonna give you three options,
three different ways that you can
change this stress into becoming
clear, relaxed, your mind is clear.
- Yeah. - And things all of sudden
become much more reasonable
to live with. - Right, exactly.
- So, what we wanna do, and again,
I did wanna mention when we're breathing in,
if this helps people visualize,
as you breathe in, you're bringing oxygen
in through your lungs, and you breathe out,
you get that carbon-dioxide
which is wast products throughout your
muscles and your body.
We gotta get that out, so you're doing a brief, functional
task here. - Yes.
- Chemically in your body.
And that leads a lot of things
to achieve those goals.
So before we-- - And you're not being
as efficient if you're doing shallow breathing.
- Right, precisely. - Yeah.
- So before we get started,
number one, a quiet setting
can be very helpful. - Yeah.
- Actually, almost necessary
but it depends on how well you can
block things out. - Guys, you can be out
in the woods or something
like that. - Oh, yeah.
- I mean you can't beat that. - Yeah.
Find a place where there's, you got a room
in your house, somewhere in the backyard.
Out in the woods, like Bob said.
And next thing is your posture.
If you're gonna do this in the seated position
which I think is a good way to do it,
make sure your posture,
I'm gonna show a side-view, Bob.
Show you the front,
and if you're like this 'cause you're relaxed,
we need to change it.
You're not going to breathe very efficiently,
slouched forward. - Yeah.
Your chest can't expand, your diaphragm can't expand.
You're squeezing everything down.
- Right. - So you've really gotta allow
the diaphragm room to expand.
- Right, exactly. - When you breathe in.
- So get a firm chair, probably not a soft chair.
A soft chairs allow you to sink in.
A firm chair, and often times, I'll slide
to the edge of the chair,
so that your pelvis can go forward,
your lower back can arch, shoulders go back.
You're in a good posture, and then relax,
hands, palm on your thighs,
just like this. - Unless you're driving.
'Cause I've done these when I'm driving.
- Right, right, but I would practice 'em
not driving. - Right, right.
- Get used to them first in a safe place.
And there you go.
So first thing is posture.
Second thing, and then we're gonna do
the abdominal breathing which is critical.
So you're not gonna keep your core tight,
you're gonna actually loosen your core,
and your stomach muscles, so that when you breathe in,
your diaphragm can go down.
So the stomach muscles have to relax,
and you're gonna actually
push your belly out. - I think a lot
of people are mistaken by that.
They think when you take a deep breath,
like abdomen goes in.
- Yeah. - Like no, a breath goes in
abdomen goes out.
Opposite. - Exactly, right.
And then after we get that established,
and clear your mind, just think about the breathing.
That can help clear it.
Once you get good at the breathing,
then you can go somewhere else.
In other words, you know, if you have a place
where you like to out just thinking,
when I was in Grand Cayman Island.
- Grand Cayman Island. - Yeah, the breeze was
coming off the ocean.
It was quiet, the sand was beautiful.
And everything was just relaxing
as I could've imagined.
So put yourself there, wherever you wanna go.
Alright so-- - Your happy place.
- Yeah, there you go.
So we got three different ways to breathe.
Go through those things first,
get yourself set up with posture,
abdominal breathing, and we're gonna do
the 4-7-8 method, okay?
Again, three methods, do all three of them.
Do the one that works best for you.
Or practice either one, and you'll figure it out.
- I actually mix it up a bit.
I often use the 4-7-8 when I do this one driving.
But I'll, you know, also worked on it
like sitting in a hot tub even.
You breathe in for four seconds.
You're gonna breathe in through the nose.
That's usually the best way to go.
- Right. (softly inhales)
- So it's just breathe in for four, hold for seven.
- So you're gonna count it out in your head.
- And then, oh no, out for seven,
right, and then hold for eight, isn't it?
Yeah that's it, I'm sorry.
I'm little bit off here. - Okay.
- In for four.
Hold for seven, and then out for eight.
(heavy breathing)
- And with this technique, it's been recommended
that you do a pursed breathing,
or you bring your lips together
like your gonna blow through a trumpet.
And that gives some resistance to the air coming out,
so it can go out slower to get that slow release.
For eight count.
(softly breathing)
Feel yourself relax. - Yeah.
It's really worse at night too.
Sometimes you have trouble sleeping.
- Right.
- I've used this one many times or the next one.
- Do you go with your eyes closed or open?
- Do I-- - Obviously when you're
driving your eyes are open. - Right, right.
- But other than that.
- Other than that, usually eyes closed.
- Yup, I agree, and it's often times recommended.
I personally have much better luck with eyes closed.
So, and we're gonna do this
for like the title says, two minutes.
Set yourself a timer.
Now, this takes practice.
You're not gonna sit down and do it,
and relax the first time.
You need to go through it a few times.
And you will get better every time.
Let's go to the next one though.
Four-square breathing. - Four-square's
the one that actually, they used it
in the service, apparently.
Like, some of the Navy Seals and stuff like that,
before they're-- - Right.
You had read an article on this right?
- Yeah, right, so basically, it's four.
You're gonna make a square, and you're going.
You can go four seconds, you can go three seconds.
- Four to be the same in form. - Right.
- Four count. - We'll go four.
- Right. - In for four,
in through the nose.
Hold for four.
Out for four.
And then hold one more time for four.
- So it's same as, it's very similar to the first one.
But the count is different.
- Right. - Instead of having
4-7-8, it's square. - Yeah.
- That's why it's called square.
It makes it more even.
This is much easier for me to do
than the first one, personally.
- And I guess I mix it up. - Yeah.
- And they both seem to work.
- Yeah, should we give it a go?
- Sure, on your four?
- I'll just do it on my own. - Okay.
- 'Cause I count different than you.
- Well, we need to say something
while we're doing it. (chuckles)
- We don't have to.
You're gonna count in your head.
People are very astute.
- Okay, we hang out that time.
Let's go ahead, Brad, why don't you show
the last one? - Okay.
Now the last one, years ago, 20-some years ago,
when I was in Aikido, which is a Japanese martial art form,
this is where I was first introduced
to this type of breathing.
And we would sit.
This is very traditional way to sit in Japan.
And in Aikido, you'd sit like this.
Actually, they got some technical is you cross your big toe.
You don't have to worry about that.
But you sit here, if you can do this.
You know. - Sure.
- If your knees flex as much,
you're able-bodied to sit this way.
It actually forces you to that good posture.
Just sit like this, and then arch your back.
Everything lines up, and it really allows
that ribcage to open up.
Hands on your thighs,
and then again, now I don't do any counting.
You know, I just do what's comfortable
for me with this.
The big difference is what learned here,
and I really like this,
is when we do the exhale portion
instead of pursed lips.
I will contract my throat slightly.
Keep my mouth open, and you'll hear it.
Let me know if you can hear this, when I go through this.
I'm going to breathe in. (inhales)
I'm going to hold.
And then exhale. (exhales)
I'm assuming you can hear that.
He's chuckling. - Yeah.
- So you're not picking a certain amount
of time do this, or-- - No.
I-- - Sure.
- In class, we would do it as a group.
But when I do it by myself I don't.
There's no reason why you can't
do a 4-4-4. - Sure.
- However you like. - Right.
- But I do it so that I let the stomach come out.
Hold.
And I just think about relaxing
like butter on a picnic table,
in the sun on a hot summer day.
(chuckles)
If you visualize, everything just relaxes.
- Couldn't it be on a hot pan?
- Why Bob, why! (Bob laughs)
I'm trying to do a good demonstration here.
(heavy breathing)
- By the way, very quickly Brad.
If someone is having trouble doing abdominal breathing,
I want you go ahead and lay down,
and this is...
Can you get me Mike?
So when you're laying down on the floor,
or on the bed,
it's a lot easier to do abdominal breathing,
if you're doing it for the first time.
You can actually even put something
like a towel, or something on your abdomen.
And you breathe in, and you wanna raise that up, yup.
Oops, it fell off.
- There, see the ball rise?
(heavy breathing)
Oops.
- I think you can see it, my tension.
- Right. - So that gives you
that idea, and it's a lot easier
than to start this way.
And then once you start sitting up,
you can translate it, or transfer it
to that motion. - Right.
- So it's a great way to start.
Remember Brad, we can fix this
about anything. - Except for--
- A broken heart. - Very good.
Good luck with your breathing exercises.
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