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Breathe Easier, Move Better

Jennifer Love

Are you recovering from surgery or illness? Do you find that movements you used to be able to do are now restricted? Is your breathing shallow?


Through some gentle Feldenkrais movements that engage you proximally (meaning, gentle movements of the ribs, shoulder blades, spine, and pelvis), you can breathe and move more easily again.

I saw a client who was able to lift one arm over her head but the other arm would only go up about halfway. She’d had surgery and had lost the ability to raise one of her arms. During our session, we worked primarily with her ribs, shoulder, and pelvis. Everything we did was gentle and comfortable.



She called after the appointment and told me that her restricted arm had 50% more mobility after our Feldenkrais session. While her experience may not be what everyone experiences post-op, exploring Feldenkrais seems like a worthwhile pursuit after initially recovering from surgery when feeling the mobility isn’t where it needs to be.


There is a common misconception about ribs, likely stemming from the term “rib cage.” The word “cage” conveys to some the image of a structure that is fixed in place, not bones capable of the movement they actually are. And without this movement, other parts of us may start overworking and become strained or injured.


Once movement is found again in the ribs, spine, and pelvis, often the distal parts that have been overused and hurting or tense from the lack of support proximally get major relief.


The ribcage protects many of internal organs and plays a part in the function of breathing. An immobile ribcage can lead to compensatory movement in the spine which can create low back back and muscle tightness that seems unrelated, but actually originates from stuck ribs. Rib movement is essential for comfort in breathing and ability to achieve ease in tasks such as walking, turning, standing, and sitting.


Injuries that restrict movement in the ribs and affect the ribs and other parts sometimes originate from surgeries, particularly mastectomies and open-heart surgeries which cause trauma to the muscles, joints, and soft tissues of the ribcage and armpit.


During the Covid lockdown, I had the opportunity to see a client with Long Covid. I noticed that his ribs had very little mobility, which likely had to do with the effects of Long Covid and the stress he was under. During our session, I noticed that his breathing became deeper, his ribs began to move again. He had been struggling with insomnia and he became so comfortable and relaxed that he fell asleep on my table.


This client was an athlete, and due to his Long Covid, he couldn’t exercise vigorously anymore. The combination of stress, Covid, and a sedentary career sitting at a desk created a habitual holding of his ribs.


Feldenkrais sessions and classes can help people start moving out of pain and into comfort. The connections within the body make it so that sometimes working with someone’s feet will affect their head and neck, gently moving their ribs will help their shoulders, and lifting/turning their pelvis can benefit their knees.


If you seek pain relief, increased mobility, and better breathing through individual Feldenkrais sessions with me, click here.








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