Demented Mechanic: hands off my back while I breathe out

You’ve been training your Demented Mechanic well. He’s behaving more sensibly today than he has in the past. Your chest is no longer being hauled off your belly as it used to be.

If the above is true, then you will certainly remember how your Demented Mechanic was not content with the support his car-lift was providing when he raised your car to work underneath it in the garage. You’ll remember how he used to roll up a crane to dangle your car above his hydraulic lift. (If you don’t remember, the link to the article you need is at the bottom of this one).

So what’s your Demented Mechanic doing now?

He’s grabbing your back when you breathe out

You’ve kind of convinced him that he doesn’t need to use a crane to lift your car off his car-lift before its safe to work under it. But he still thinks he needs a crane to lower your car back down to the garage floor. He believes that, when he reduces the hydraulic pressure in the car lift, it will stop providing any support at all. He believes that, without a crane to hold it up, your car would suddenly drop six feet and come crashing to the ground.

As always, his belief is totally demented — and it creates some serious problems for your back.

How does this relate to your back?

As you already know, like the car resting on the lift, your rib-cage and chest naturally rest on top of your belly.

As you remember, the support your belly provides is the hydraulic support you get because your Transversus Abdominis muscle is holding the sides of your belly-bag together so that it doesn’t collapse when you rest most of the weight of your chest on top of it.

What happens when you breathe in

That hydraulic support is why, when your diaphragm tightens, it is able to lift your ribs up and out, making space for air to rush into your lungs.

So, if the hydraulic support is there when your diaphragm tightens, what happens when your diaphragm relaxes again to breathe out?

Here’s what your Demented Mechanic believes.

What your Demented Mechanic thinks happens when you breathe out

Your Demented Mechanic thinks the supporting hydraulic pressure disappears when you breathe out. He thinks that your diaphragm just drops your chest.

“Ah!” says your Mechanic as you start to breathe out, “now I really do need to use my back as a crane. I really do need to pull back with my back in order to haul my chest up. Otherwise my chest will drop right down into the space left by my relaxing diaphragm and I’ll end up sagging into some kind of crumpled heap.”

(Like most habits, your Demented Mechanic thinks he’s you).

How do I know your Demented Mechanic thinks like this?

I’ve asked.

I’ve watched people I teach as they begin to allow their bellies to support their chests. I’ve watched and seen how, as soon as they start to breathe out, many start to tighten and arch their lower back again.

So I’ve asked them: “What happens to the hydraulic support when you breathe out?” The answer I get back is that, since their diaphragm is no longer tightening, there can’t be any support at this point. No wonder even people who know about their Demented Mechanic still tighten their backs.

Why does your Demented Mechanic make this mistake?

Your Demented Mechanic is confusing the job of your diaphragm with the job of your Transversus Abdominis. It’s your Transversus Abdominis that keeps your belly bag in place to support your diaphragm and chest. But since your diaphragm isn’t responsible for this, when your diaphragm releases your belly-bag stays where it is.

Release of your diaphragm doesn’t mean a dropping of your rib-cage. Release of your diaphragm just gradually lowers your still-supported ribs from the top of your belly-bag. In effect, your ribs abseil down the side of your belly-bag. The contents of your belly are all still in place, still providing support. Your belly doesn’t sag at all when your diaphragm releases.

So what really happens?

When you breathe out, not only does the top of your belly not fall, it rises. In fact, it rises quite a long way. How can that be? How can your belly rise when your diaphragm releases?

Remember your diaphragm is both the top wall of your belly and the bottom wall of your chest. When it lowers your ribs so that they abseil down the side of your belly bag, your rib-cage narrows around your belly-bag, making it thinner. It has to because that’s how your ribs are hinged to your back: your ribs don’t fall straight down, they fall down and in.

Since your belly bag can’t be squashed, making it thinner also makes it taller. As your diaphragm relaxes, it becomes more sharply domed. (The dome of your diaphragm was relatively flat when it had your ribs lifted up and out and your lungs were full of air). So, as you breathe out, your lower ribs abseil and come to rest further down the sides of a higher dome.

But the hydraulic pressure under the dome remains constant.

What happens when I point out your Demented Mechanic’s mistake?

Once people understand what I’ve just explained to you, they become able to stop tightening their backs as they breathe out. They allow their bellies to continue to support their chests so that their backs lengthen and become more alive.

If you’ve understood this, you will do the same.

…

You can find the Demented Mechanic article I mentioned here.

This article is included under the following categories:‒

Personal Coaching by Philip Pawley

If you want to get the best kind of help, come to me for an introductory lesson in Liverpool.

If you’re too far away, then the next best thing is to get personal lessons and advice from me online at Repoise.com, my on-line school. (Both far-away and local pupils use Repoise).

In more detail:–

If you’re in Liverpool (or can get to Liverpool)

There’s nothing better than individual lessons. My practice is at 37 Hope Street, Liverpool L1. Ring me on 0151 708 6172 to book an initial consultation and first lesson. (Leave your number so I can get back to you).
If you’re short of funds, you can still have first class training from me — though it will require a little more work on your part.

The thing to do is have an individual, in-person lesson just once a month. That will entitle you to also get regular on-line lessons from me through Repoise. That way, you have the best of both worlds: in-person lessons and very regular, even daily, on-line Personal Coaching by Philip Pawley from me. That’s a real bargain because Repoise costs the equivalent of three lessons a year to everyone else.

Ring me on 0151 708 6172 if you want to arrange this.
I occasionally run group lessons. If you’re interested in these, go here for details.

If you’re further away and can’t get to Liverpool

There’s still nothing better than individual lessons. Here’s where you can find a teacher near you in the UK or elsewhere
I suggest you also get direct day-to-day guidance from me by joining Repoise.
If you’re having plain Alexander Technique lessons from someone else, you still need to discover the Smiling Back Method of the Alexander Technique. You’ll get a lot more out of your lessons when you do.

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Philip Pawley

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