Breathe.

Breathe, breathe, big breathes, audible breathes, 360 degree breathes, in to every rib, expand your sides and back and fill your entire belly.

Breathing is so simple, we do it all day, but it is without a doubt the biggest challenge for postpartum women that I have seen, myself included!

I knew this was a challenge but I witnessed much more prominently this past week, the mental hurdle of connecting the breathe with the lower belly and allowing that space to be fulled with air. C-section scars in particular turn a challenge in to an impossible barrier. The physical cut in the middle of your lower belly and not wanting to push on or disrupt that scar. When the reality is that to regain normal function you have to move the scar tissue and get it acquainted with the rest of your body again.

With so much pressure to “bounce back” ladies don’t want to expand their belly and make it “look big” to practice breathing.

Your breathing muscles, inner most transverse abdominis or TAs, pelvic floor, diaphram. All should expand with a big breathe in and contract and an audible exhale to get the most stabilization and engagement.

The reality is, your innermost abdominal muscles, the transverse abdominis is responsible in large part for that flat belly and simply by BREATHING in to it, you are working it, just like any muscle, It will get tighter and flatter the more you work it. So the start of any belly pouch or flat belly program has to be the breathe. The more you expand, the more you can pull in and work those muscles! The audible breathe sends a cue to that area of your body to WORK.

So let’s work hard by taking a minute and a longgg slow breathe in and even bigger out. Rid ourselves of the bad air, and start fresh today!

xo