Episode 02: Belly Breathing and Total Body Relaxation

In today's episode of the Alexis Anderson Podcast, Alexis is teaching us about the parasympathetic nervous system and how belly breathing and full-body relaxation techniques can activate this system to reduce stress, relieve tension, and promote overall well-being. Join in as she guides us through a calming practice to help relax, let go, and optimize our systems in the process.  

For your safety: Please do not complete this practice while operating heavy machinery or on the go. 

🎧 This episode has helpful visuals if you check it out on YouTube!  
 

Welcome to The Alexis Anderson Podcast. 

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SHOW NOTES  

1:04 – Alexis shares what is happening on the podcast today! 

1:33 – Alexis defines the parasympathetic nervous system and its functions 

2:47 – Alexis introduces belly breathing and its importance 

4:27 – Alexis notes that learning to relax takes PRACTICE – and a safety reminder! 

5:28 – Alexis suggests getting into a position where your body feels supported and you can relax  

6:33 – Alexis leads us through a guided belly breathing and total relaxation practice 

18:31 – Alexis brings the practice – and this episode – to a close 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Hello, and welcome to the Alexis Anderson Podcast. I'm your host, Alexis Anderson, public health physiotherapist and guide for anyone navigating the messy, confusing, and often isolating world of public and sexual health. This season for breaking down the mess, sharing real stories, and giving you evidence-informed tools to understand your body. Whether you're a patient, a clinician, or someone quietly struggling, you're in the right place. Let's take the shame out of the conversation, bring clarity where there's confusion, and make public health feel human, hopeful, and actually talked about. Before we get into it, let's talk to the legal stuff. While I am a physical therapist, I am not your personal physical therapist. So please remember, this content is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for personalized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Now let's get started. Hello and welcome to the Alexis Anderson Podcast. I am your host, Dr. Alexis Anderson, Doctor of Physical Therapy. Today I will guide you through a total body relaxation practice. This type of practice is incredibly important to tap into your parasympathetic nervous system. That is your rest, your digest, your pleasant system. This is incredibly important to practice, especially in this day and age. If you are human on this planet, I think every person should have a relaxation practice. The parasympathetic nervous system is the system that is responsible for our functioning when it comes to urination, to defecation, aka pooping, and sexual function. So if you think about this from an evolutionary perspective, if you are an animal and another big animal is trying to eat you, you are in your sympathetic nervous system, that stress system, that fight, that flight, that freeze system, right? So that stress system, that sympathetic nervous system that is geared to have you fight your aggressor, to flee from your aggressor, or to freeze and hide. So you are able to safely get away from that aggressor. Your parasympathetic nervous system is quite the opposite. That system is really reserved for when you're safe and you're hidden in your cave or you're hidden in your little hole. And now you can relax. And that is the time for you to eat. That is the time for you to digest your food. That is the time for you to relax, have a bowel movement, urinate. That is the time for you to enjoy sexual pleasure and possibly participate in reproduction. So now that you understand the parasympathetic nervous system and its importance, by practicing belly breathing and total body relaxation, you can tap into that system. Belly breathing and total body relaxation can also help relieve stress. It can release body tension. It can allow you to practice and to feel what it's like to let go. Oftentimes I have clients that don't realize that their body is clinched and tense. So I often call these patients my grippers or my white knucklers. For example, my father does this when he's driving his car and he's squeezing the steering wheel. He's like, man, I don't know why my hands hurt. And he doesn't realize he's gripping the steering wheel really tight, right? The same can be true for people who have upper back and shoulder pain. They just don't realize that their body is holding all of this tension and the stress. Your pelvic floor is no different. Oftentimes, people who have pelvic pain, they have constipation, they have any urinary disorders that are painful. We can be clinching our pelvic floor. People who have hemorrhoids or fissures or clitoral irritation or any irritation in the urethra, any irritation in the penis or the testicles, any irritation at all can cause tension, gripping, tightening of your pelvic floor. Patients who have endometriosis, for example, I can go on and on in different diagnoses. But when you participate in pelvic floor relaxation, belly breathing, total body relaxation, this really allows you to decrease that tension. This is something that should be practiced. Yes, most people have to practice and learn how to relax. This is something that I go through with patients over and over again. And I'm really excited to take you through this today. You can practice this before you go to bed. You can practice this before you're doing something like wand therapy or dilators. You can really tap into this anytime that you need to. So I suggest you getting into a position to where your body feels supported and you can relax. One of those positions can be sitting in a chair with your back against the back of the chair and your knees out to the side. You may want to place pillows underneath each knee so that your body is supported and you can release. You can sit on your bed with your back against your headboard and your legs supported by pillows, one under each of the legs, so that your body is in a position to where you are supported and you can be completely relaxed. You can also lie down in your bed with pillows underneath your knees to support your back so that you can fully relax. But feel free to get into any position that makes you feel the most comfortable. Once you have found your comfortable position, then we are going to get into your breath. Then I will take you through total body relaxation. Let's get into the breath. You're going to place one hand on your chest and one hand on your low belly. Now breathe in a way to where your top hand stays nice and relaxed. You are not going to breathe in and out of your chest. Rather, you're going to breathe in and out of your belly. As you inhale, the belly's going to rise. As you exhale, the belly's going to fall. Big belly inhale. The belly's going to rise. Exhale, long, slow, steady. Exhale, the belly's going to fall. Big belly inhale. Belly's going to rise. Long, slow, steady exhale. The belly's going to fall. Now, as you breathe and you inhale, can you also breathe into your pelvic floor? Big belly inhale, breathing into the pelvic floor, feel the pelvic floor open and expand. Long, slow, steady exhale, feel the pelvic floor go back to resting position. If you need a cue, you can think about breathing into the penis, breathing into the vagina, breathing into the clitoris, breathing into the anus, breathing into the perineum, any cue that allows you to get your breath down into the low belly, down into your pelvic floor. Now, with that belly breath, can you now breathe in away to where your exhalation is longer than your inhalation? It can be by at least two seconds. It can be more than that. But you just want to breathe in away to a big belly inhale. Feel your pelvic floor open and expand.

SPEAKER_00 8:38

Longer, long, slow, steady exhale.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Big belly inhale, breathe into the belly, breathe into the pelvic floor. Long, slow, steady exhale.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

Now that you've got that, maintain that as I take you through total body relaxation. Close your eyes if you feel comfortable doing so. And get into your breath. Big belly inhale.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Breathing down into the pelvic floor. Fill it up with air.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

Long, slow, steady exhale. Let's tune in to the muscles of the scalp.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

Can you allow the muscles in your scalp to release, to relax, to soften?

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Allow your head to be really heavy and let it go. Tuning into the muscles around the eyes, softening them, and allowing your eyes to fall down into their sockets.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

Moving into the jaw, allow the muscles in the jaw to release, unclenched, and allow a space between the top and bottom row of your teeth.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

The tongue softens and rests in the mouth. Focus on the muscles on the back of the head, in the back of the neck, in the front of the neck, and around the throat. Allow these areas to soften, to release, to let go. Tuning in to the shoulders. Can you allow them to relax and fall down away from the ears? Focusing on the front of the chest, that heart space.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Allow the chest to relax. Allow it to be heavy and to release down towards your back.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Tuning in to the muscles of the upper back. Now the mid back and the low back. Allow these muscles to soften, to release, to let go. Allow the belly to be soft as you inhale and exhale out of it. Think about the organs in the abdomen. Allow them to release.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Breathing into the belly, breathing into your pelvic floor. Allowing them to open. With that long, slow, steady exhale.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Releasing and softening. Focusing on the hips and the buttocks. Allow them to relax. Release any clenching. Release any tension. Tuning in to the hips.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Tuning in to the front of the thighs. The back of the legs. Allow your hips to let go and feel the support from the pillows under your knees.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

And just let the legs fall into them. Feel the support of the surface that you're laying on. Let them go. Tuning into the knees. Get the muscles in the front of the shin. Get the muscles in the calves. Tuning into the ankles and the feet. All the way down to the toes. Let them go. Let them be heavy. Let them be soft.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Now take an inventory of your body. Is there anywhere that you feel tension? You feel tightness? You feel discomfort? Allow your breath to breathe into that area. Fill it up with air. And on that long, slow, steady exhale, relax.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

Release. Let it go. Now tuning into your whole body.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Can you allow your whole body to melt? Relax. Release. Let go. Fall down into the surface that you're lying on.

SPEAKER_00 17:50

And let it support you as you surrender. Now, when you're ready, come back into the room.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Start to wiggle your fingers and your toes. Start to slowly come back into the body.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

And when you feel comfortable, blink your eyes open. How do you feel?

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Probably a lot more relaxed. Your mind is probably a lot more calm. Your body is soft and released. And that is practicing how to let go. That is tapping into your parasympathetic nervous system. And I would encourage you to practice this on a regular basis. If you don't have a relaxation practice, now's the time to start. Thank you for joining me today. And I hope you are well. I hope you are relaxed. And I hope that you practice this to balance out your nervous system. Take care. Thank you so much for joining me in today's episode of the Alexis Anderson Podcast. I hope you learned something that brings you more clarity, validation, and compassion for your body and your journey. If this episode supported you or you think you could help someone else, please share it, leave a review, or send it to someone who might need to hear it. And if you're a clinician or a patient looking for more resources, tools, or support, you'll find everything linked in the show notes. Remember, you're not alone, you're not broken. And treatment exists that treats you as a whole person. I'll see you in the next episode.