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Activating the abdominal wall will bring the ribcage down and back into a more neutral position. This can cause neck strain if the thoracic spine or ribcage is stiff. Elevate your head by placing a thin towel under it to reduce the tension in your neck.

I am very happy that you find our material helpful. Just like the ribcage must expand during inhalation, it must also contract back to its physiologically correct expiratory position during exhalation. However, the ribcage, especially the lower ribs that serve as the attachment point for the diaphragm, must always be stabilized. In the absence of respiration, the diaphragm should be actively stabilizing the body to the degree that reflects the applied load. To answer your question, the ribcage comes back to its expiratory position but this position should be as close to ideal as possible.

@@TeamGasparin pointing out what lower ribs role is was helpful. Much easyer to activate, hold contracted and feel diaphragm when thinking more of lower ribs. Your comments are pure gold aswell! Thank you sensei😀

Thank you for your kind words. I wish you well on your journey towards learning more about stability, posture and movement. How did you learn about DNS?

Thank you for your generously kind words. I am glad that you find our videos helpful. Creating ideal stabilization and movement is all about the little but vitally important details. Too often, this is overlooked or not taught correctly.

I am very saddened to learn about your struggles. It must be very challenging to remain hopeful. Training exercises for breathing may not be enough. Are you getting counselling? Breathwork is an excellent tool to help train better core stability and can help with depression and anxiety too. Many factors can cause anxiety and its debilitating effects cannot be ignored. Continue to work on your breathing, but please seek professional counselling too.

Is my spine (lumbar lordosis) affecting my diaphragm from functioning normally. I didn't knew until I saw the video(hourglass syndrome) on the dns prague school channel. Can I cure it and regain the normal diaphragm working and be able to breathe normally as everyone else🥺.. with this dns treatment

The alignment of the head and neck relative to the rest of the body is essential in all developmental positions. However, certain positions can be more advantageous for training head posture. I would recommend the Prone 3-month position if the goal is to improve neck posture and stabilization.

@@TeamGasparin thank u for the answer. but in prone position, what are the exercises tht we can use? Is that on one of ur videos abt 3 months prone position? Tia

If you use the link provided, you will connect to my video for the Prone 3-month position: th-cam.com/video/tmmdjQ_Yg84/w-d-xo.html @@vinamiller

Thank you, I am happy that you found the video to be helpful.

I have used the core 360 belt as an aid to correct my own breathing/IAP. The belt provides tactile awareness for creating an expansion of the abdominal wall that isn't only out the front of the belly. It also provides awareness of the abdominal expansion during exhalation.

@@TeamGasparin do you think it would be comfortable to wear while walking for exercise in order to practice proper breathing while upright? This is my intention. Thanks in advance, and God bless.

@@honkhonk1555 The problem with wearing a belt or theraband wrapped around your abdomen is that eventually, you aren't aware of it anymore. I have gone from using a belt to just checking my IAP and breathing with my own hands. If hiking, I will evaluate my pressure every 15 minutes for about 20-30 paces. I like using a belt, but I find my hands provide much more feedback.

Thank you for your kind words of appreciation.😁

Thank you, Vitor for your words of appreciation.

Yes, the exercises in our videos can be very difficult when performed correctly. Unfortunately, when people find them easy it usually means that they are cheating.

@@TeamGasparin I'll try my best to do what you teach in the video. Thank you

Thank you for your kind words😁.

Thank you Julia, I am glad that you are enjoying our channel.

It is difficult to give advice considering that I have not been able to examine you or get any kind of idea about your medical history. Please understand that I do not know your history and the information provided would be for someone that I have already examined and treated. Generally speaking, I always start my patients by a) establishing a physiological breathing pattern and b) creating an ideal abdominal canister. If these two prerequisites are very difficult to achieve then the underlying causes must be identified and corrected. The next step would be to train dissociation of the hip from the pelvis. Keeping a neutral trunk and pelvis, can someone move their lower extremities independently of their pelvis? This must be trained before moving on to the next step. Our Dead Bug video teaches this progression. Following this, I would probably begin training someone using the 6-Month Prone position.

@@TeamGasparin hi thanks for replying , am doing as u said . am now dealing with creating an ideal abdominal canister it's kinda tricky but am giving time .thanks for ur time ,u are a life changer for me

@@abdechafikamal5178 Thank you so much for your generously kind words. It is incredibly encouraging to know that all the courses that I have taken and all the brilliant people who have influenced me go to helping others. Learning to is a lifelong journey, I hope you enjoy the trip.

You are very welcome!

I am glad to read that the exercise is activating those muscles well. My interest in DNS grew when I created a balanced activation of the agonists, synergists and antagonist muscles of the hip that came more as a reflex than simply trying to "squeeze" my glutes. Whenever we create a solid base of support, ideal intra-abdominal pressure, proper postural uprighting and the correct direction of muscle pull, you can be sure good things will happen.

Thank you for watching.

Breathing should always be relaxed, especially while resting or during light activities. The corrections necessary to develop a pattern of respiration that is truly physiological depends upon a person's presentation. Some people tend to have a very tight or hollowed upper/mid abdomen. This person also tends to have very low muscle tone in their lower abdominal region. They must learn to relax the region that is tight and drawn in allowing it to expand during inhalation. Also during inhalation, they must be able to activate the lower abdominal muscles. The other challenge for someone with this presentation is to keep the upper abdominal region from hollowing during exhalation. Here, we should definitely see the abdominal canister become smaller during exhalation, but the abdominal wall should never become drawn in or hollowed. The key is to maintain the same amount of intra-abdominal pressure during both inhalation and exhalation. The only thing that changes is the circumference of the cylinder. The other common presentation is what we call a "Frog Bell". This would be someone with lots of pressure but very little activity of the abdominal wall. The pressure they create causes the abdomen to balloon out to look like a frog's belly. They must learn to activate their abdominal wall without pushing their belly out more. Using very long exhalation will naturally help to activate the abdominal wall into a cylinder and it will also help to pull the ribcage down into position. So, do have an abdomen that is too tight and hollowed or is it too relaxed and not able to contain the pressure? Also, how tight/stiff is your ribcage?

My abdomen is narrow and I have a tendency to hollow it. My rib cage does increase in circumference at inhale when I pay attention to the cylinder shape, so it probably is not tight. I have a tendency to arch my lower back to stick my buttocks up, which I am correcting when I notice. I am slender but have a fat pooch in lower belly (had c-section twice also) and I have a difficulty activating the lower abdominal muscles (I do not even know how). Before learning the correct way in your video, I used to breathe into front belly and then deflate (hollowed mid abdomen and curving the spine) at exhale. I am going to keep practicing and hope that I will find the way to keep lower abdominal activation and the internal abdominal pressure while exhaling. Thank you for your guidance and I appreciate any additional help for someone like me.

@@chiem5687 What you are describing is an abdominal "hourglass" presentation. There is hyperactivity in the upper abdominals and rectus abdominis. This is creating a narrowed or hollowed appearance. Consequently, there is minimal reflexive activation in the lower abdominal region. This will cause the "fat pooch". Also, scar tissue like that from a C-section will inhibit the abdominal wall. The scar must be massaged and mobilized before you will be able to activate the entire abdominal canister. It is my experience that using long consonant vocalization during a very protracted exhalation can facilitate the activation of the abdominal wall. Place a couple fingers on each side of the abdominal wall just above the inguinal ligament. During exhalation try saying "OOOOOOOOOOOOO" with a fairly loud volume for the entire duration of your exhale (5-6 seconds). You should be able to feel the lower abdominals activate towards the end of the exhale. Once you feel the activation, try to inhale down into the same area (feel for it with your fingers). Next, try to maintain that same activation during your exhalation (can be without vocalization). Tactile stimulation will also help your brain to become aware of where you are trying to pressurize/activate.

@@TeamGasparin I have found out that I do suck in and tighten my mid and upper abdominal muscles very often, not only at exhale, often when I shift my body positions, as in bracing. I was surprised to find this, since it is my own body doing it without me knowing. So I am catching myself, then relaxing the front mid abs, and do the 360 degrees breathing. I have started massaging the scar tissue from the C-section. I did find the lower abdominal activation by saying "OOOOOOOOO". However I cannot tell if I am maintaining the activation during exhalation (probably not). I feel tense and not relaxed, trying to maintain the abdominal activation at exhale, which puzzles me a bit because you say breathing should be relaxed, but I guess once this becomes habitual I will be able to remain relaxed and activate at the same time? I now am hopeful that I will be able to breathe correctly to support my spine and the whole body. Thank you very much for your help.

@@TeamGasparinwhen you say you should be able to feel the lower abdominals activate towards the end of the exhale, are you speaking of the TVA at the bottom activating? Thanks in advance. Your channel and information are amazing and very well presented. edit: I think my biggest issue is I have some rib flair, especially on the left side, and I have a hard time breathing down low because of this. It’s wrecking me because I have lost all access to internal hip rotation, and not have si joint, lumbar, and outer hip pain due to what I believe is all my accessory muscles kicking in to protect and stab alive me instead of my big movers, and shakers.

Hi Mortisha and thank you for that excellent question. The challenge for you is to create a balanced co-activation of the ENTIRE abdominal wall and not just the rectus abdominis are only the upper 1/2 of the abdominal wall. Another challenge is to control the amount of intra-abdominal pressure that you create. People with an abdominal diastasis tend to be low tone in their internal/external obliques and the transversus abdominis (TrA) muscles. They also tend to have poor alignment of their diaphragm relative to their pelvic floor. Now, research has made very clear that activation of the TrA will reduce the doming affect of poorly controlled intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) that pushes out the front. What is also important to recognize is that the TrA should never be isolated in its function. Rather, the TrA should always be co-activated along with the obliques, the respiratory diaphragm and the pelvic floor. It is my experience that using long exhalations or long vowel sound vocalization will activate the abdominal wall without creating too much IAP. The trick is to avoid pushing your belly outward or drawing your umbilicus inward. Instead, try exhaling as long as possible without pushing your belly out. Place your fingers in the lower part of the abdominal wall just above your inguinal ligament, your thumbs in the back portion of the abdominal canister and the web of your hand in the lateral area. Feel the TrA activate under your finger tips towards the end of the exhalation. Next, during inhalation, try to get your abdominal wall to expand (without artificially pushing out) into you thumbs and the web of your hands. Try to hold this expansion during the next exhalation. Lower back pain is often the result of incompetent stabilization. While bracing is a strategy for stabilization it is critically important to understand the correct strategy for creating a brace. The abdominal brace should only be produced by an inside-out mechanism. That is, activation of the respiratory diaphragm to descend within the abdominal canister to create IAP and consequently activation the abdominal wall, lumbar multifidus and the pelvis floor as a reflex. Most people with use on outside-in strategy to simply tighten the abdominal wall and lock the thorax to the pelvis. While this strategy may be an effective means of stabilizing the trunk and pelvis, it is also creating huge compressive loads into lumbar joints and discs. This is not what anyone wants. Also, breath holding is only necessary or acceptable during a maximum effort lift such as a 1 rep max dead lift. Respiration should always be maintained. A physical therapist from Chicago often teaches that IAP and core activation should always be as little as possible and only as much as necessary.

@@TeamGasparinwhat a thorough response! Thanks so much for this! Exactly what I’ve been searching for.

@@TeamGasparin Thank you very much for this information!

Thank you Master Tule. Breathing correctly is the essence of health and wellness. Breathing incorrectly will bring a lifetime of ailments.

Thank you Oli. The effectiveness of the exercises comes from ensuring all the details like maintaining the correct points of support, intra-abdominal pressure, and postural uprighting. Each and every DNS exercise is about training the brain.

The amount of hip flexion should optimize the position of the pelvis. It will be much easier to create a canister when the pelvis is positioned correctly. The ideal position may not be with the hips at 90º. Sometimes a little more flexion works better.

@@TeamGasparin I thought that with feet and knees pointing outward hips are more externally rotated and therefore it's harder to inhale fully

@@2fastnfurious4u The initial position with pelvis in neutral, the knees inline with the shoulders and the feet inside the knees (heels are inline with the ischial tuberosities) creates an environment for the best possible muscle synergies. The position of the knees and feet, to the best of my knowledge, should not impact a person's ability to breathe or brace. However, when the knees are poorly positioned the ability to centrate the hip joints will definitely be compromised. Decentration of the hip joints will consequently have a negative affect on the entire kinematic chain. We must be able to effectively breathe and brace regardless of what position the knees and feet are in. Additionally, internal rotation of the hip joints while in flexion is not a normal physiological position and can also inhibit the obliques and transversus abdominals thus limiting the ability to create a canister for breathing and bracing.

Hi Barkha. I am in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. I tried previously to hold virtual training sessions but it was a complete disaster. Stability training works best when I am able to be hands-on with my patients. I need to feel if the patient is maintaining ideal intra-abdominal pressure. I also need to be able to use verbal and tactile cues to help the patient to create and maintain the appropriate points of support as well as guiding them into ideal posture and helping them with muscle synergies. Some trainers, doctors and therapists may claim to have virtual training sessions, most often those training sessions are only reinforcing what the incorrect patterns that already exist.

Hi Barkha. It is a prerequisite for stability training to establish solid points of support. Your support points and fixed points serve as anchors for your muscles to pull towards. This is why my videos spend so much time explaining how to create and maintain ideal support points. As best as possible, you must try to keep your shins in contact with the surface. If your ankles are too stiff try placing a rolled up towel under your ankles. Press your shins into the towels. Eventually you should be able create proper support without the towels. Whenever someone's lower back rounds during breathing we know they are probably either over activating their rectus abdominis, hollowing their abdominal wall or using spinal flexion in place of intra-abdominal pressure. Relax your chest, back and abdominals. You might need to have some fascial/muscle work done in those areas to allow the ideal breathing/pressurization to develop.

Thank you Joshua, I am glad you find the video helpful.

I am glad that you find the information helpful💯

You are very welcome

Like any other muscle in your body the muscles that make up your core are always engaged to some degree. The amount of stiffness they create is meant to reflect the load applied to your body. During inhalation the muscles of the abdominal wall and the pelvic floor are supposed to engage eccentrically, lengthening under tension and then holding isometrically. During exhalation, these muscle switch to a concentric activation in order to tighten down so the amount of intra-abdominal pressure is maintained. So, the muscles are always on but are either lengthening or shortening depending on the phase of respiration.

@@TeamGasparin ok. Yes. That makes sense as I have seen emgs showing consistent signals that a muscle is firing. I guess it's just type 1 which are firing most of the time. What order does DNS say the muscles of core contract to a fuller state?

@@adamswinnerton6336 Activation of the abdominal wall is meant to be reflexive in response to IAP created when the diaphragm descends and displacing the abdominal viscera. However, there is much more to the core mechanism than simply breathing and creating pressure. One must take into account the shape of the abdominal canister as this provides clues to the quality and strategy of stabilization. If someone has a hollowed or drawn in abdominal canister they must first learn to relax their abdominal wall. Self massage and mindful relaxation are necessary. For someone with an abdominal canister that lacks tone and is distended will require activation prior to respiration. For them, the ribcage must be drawn down towards the pelvis and integrated into the canister. If not, they will never be able to control their pressure directing only out the front of the abdominal canister creating a balloon out the front resembling a frog's belly. Prolonged expiration is good way to activate the abdominal wall and bring the ribcage into position prior to pressurization. Inflating a balloon or prolonged phoenetics (SHHHHH or OOOOOOOO) are other techniques that can be used.

@@TeamGasparin ok. This is super interesting. Where online can I find research surrounding the testing and validation of DNS?

@@adamswinnerton6336 Just go to the Prague School website: www.rehabps.com/REHABILITATION/Home.html Click on the tab "DNS Literature and Research".

Well, that is a rather difficult question to answer with a few lines of text. I always begin the process by assessing my patient's deficits- what they cannot do. Also, it is important to understand that stabilization begins with learning how to breathe with a pattern of respiration that is physiologically normal. If one is not breathing correctly do they have the necessary resources to breathe correctly. Can the person create an abdominal cylinder and can they pressurize that cylinder correctly. Then it is a matter of assessing and correcting stabilization in the sequence in which it develops during the infant developmental process: sagittal plane first, then the transverse plane and lastly the coronal plane. It is always best to be assessed by someone who is proficient in DNS and has good clinical skills.

Thank you Neil

Thank for your kind words and good luck with your studies.

Thank you Moya, I am glad you find our channel helpful,

I am sorry, but I do not understand your question. Would be able to rephrase your question to make it more concise?