Forget Six-Pack Abs
By Fernando Pagés Ruiz
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Keep in mind that deep, diaphragmatic
breathing does not entail pushing your belly out deliberately. Full
belly breathing just requires a naturally alternating engagement and
release. To assure deep diaphragmatic breathing, first engage the
abdomen in a complete exhalation, then allow your lungs to fill up
naturally, relaxing the abdomen but not pushing it outward. This
fluid interplay of abdominal muscles and lungs provides an excellent
focus for a meditation that you can use to complete your abdominal work.
Lying on your back in Savasana (Corpse Pose), breathe slowly and
deliberately, sensing the strength of your inner core as your obliques
and deep transversus muscles compress to expel the air from your lungs
completely. Then enjoy the flow of oxygen that fills your chest as these
muscles release, creating space for prana to stream into your heart like
water flowing into a basin. After a few minutes, allow your breath to
resume its natural pattern. Observe it without criticism or effort.
Imagine your abdominal cavity as the fluid container of your deepest
wisdom and feel the energy at your navel radiating throughout your body.
Your Sacred Center
Our center of gravity lies just
below the navel, a spot many yoga teachers call the "power center." The
source of our vitality, the abdomen is a sacred space in our bodies, so
we would do well to shift from criticizing how it looks to respecting
how it feels. Ana Forrest, owner and primary teacher at Forrest Yoga
Circle in Los Angeles, says she's observed that as people begin to sense
and move from their lower torso, over time they experience a surge in
creativity and sexuality. Throughout the world's healing and
mystical traditions, the belly is seen as an important center of energy
and consciousness. Tantra yoga sometimes represents the navel as the
home of rajas, or solar energy. In Tantric practice, the yogi
stirs up rajas in the belly by using the breath, helping to create a
divine body endowed with paranormal powers. You've probably noticed that
many of India's great spiritual adepts sport prodigious bellies. These
tremendous tummies are thought to be full of prana. Hence, Indian
artists often depict their deities with a paunch.
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