Breathing Exercises - Applicability

I know there was a lot of information given to you at one time, and it might be real hard to absorb all the great information presented. But it is crucial for me to begin practical training.

This part aims to facilitate your awareness of your level of your arousal in pre and during competition, and aids to regulate your arousal. So put in simpler terms, I am here to help you learn to control your own emotions, hence reducing stress and anxiety.

The reason we did this breathing technique is to show you the proper way of breathing, and most importantly inhale all the way to abdomen through the diaphragm. It is necessary for you to learn the fundamentals from this breathing technique, so you would be able to relax and reduce high stress and anxiety during your pre-competition for your Seattle pro-tour, coming up next week.

2^nd Practical Breathing Exercise

Another pre-competition breathing exercise:

Ok, now let's move to another breathing exercise.

1. Inhale slowly and hold for 10 seconds (tension building in lung and chest?)
2. exhale with a sigh as you let go of the tension in the rib cage
3. now just allow yourself to inhale naturally whenever it needs

Between your exhale and inhale, can you feel that moment of quietness and calmness?

If YES… continue

If NO… repeat if you can’t find the moment of quietness

4. If you can feel that moment of quietness and calmness, then you are relaxing yourself!
5. Whenever you are feeling too tense, try to find the moment of quietness by doing this exercise.

(It is critical for me to show you the proper way of breathing in order to bring effective relaxation techniques through breathing, so you can benefit from this session)

This breathing exercise aims to help you learn to find that moment of silence,

the moment of quietness, and calmness. This breathing technique will greatly

reduce tension, anxiety and stress when the moment of quietness is found.

These are only some of the basic breathing relaxing techniques…

3 types of relaxation technique - Meditation, Visualization, Autogenic Training

2nd Approach: Mind to Muscle

• efferent nerve control - stimulation from brain to muscles
• (meditation, visualization, autogenic training)

The chart below indicated 3 types of relaxation technique (Meditation, Visualization, and Autogenic) that associates with mind to muscle approach.




1^st Type of mind to muscle approach: Meditation

1. deep relaxation, facilitates concentration by disciplining the mind
2. basic components required for meditation

• quiet environment
• comfortable
• position
• mental device
• passive attitude
  

2^nd Type of mind to muscle approach: Visualization

1. a successful relaxation technique that imagine and visualizes being in a place conducting relaxation
2. images to provide athletes with a sense of calm and relaxation

3^rd Type of mind to muscle approach: Autogenic training

1. two physical sensations

• warmth and heaviness
• focus on sensation one trying to produce
• consist of 6-stage

Progressive Relaxation Exercise

Muscle to Mind: Progressive Relaxation Exercise

The chart indicated the 2 types of progressive relaxation exercise (active and passive PR) that can be used to release tension progressively with training. The purpose of this chart is to give a structural layout for the types of progressive relaxation exercise.

Progressive Relaxation Exercise

Muscle to mind approach

2 Types of Progressive Relaxation Techniques (Active, Passive)

1^st Type of Progressive Relaxation:

Active Progressive Relaxation (PR) Exercise

2^nd Type of Progressive Relaxation: Passive Progressive Relaxation (PR)

• Release muscle tension without first tensing them
• Let go of whatever muscle tension is in the muscle group
• Slow progression from one part of the body to another as participant relaxes more deeply by letting go any remaining tension
• Ex. One can focus on dominate hand and release tension from that hand
• Move to non-dominant hand after and then slowly, gradually move to forearms

1^st Type of Passive PR: Quick body scan

• Particularly useful during performance such as serving to start a rally…
• Scan body from head to toe and stop at a muscle group where tension is way to high, release the tension and continue to scan the body.
  

2^nd Type of Passive PR: Neck and shoulder check

• Common for athletes to carry certain amount of tension around neck and shoulder
• It is necessary to scan neck and shoulder for signs of tension
• Release it if there are,
• Releasing excessive tension in neck and shoulder will also spread relaxation to the rest of the body