July 13, 2023 • 39 mins
On episode two, season three, of ‘We’re Not Blowing Hot Air,’ Dr. Sarah Petrich – a physical therapist extraordinaire with a background and certification in Postural Restoration & Pilates – explains how the everyday way you move and hold your body is directly related to how you breathe. This highly-sought after expert in rebalancing breath, posture and movement patterns shares her hot take on why belly breathing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Plus, Dr. Sarah and podcast co-host, Lauren Carlstrom, unveil a new multi-part breathing series she created with Oxygen Plus. All this, and more, on this breathtaking episode of ‘We’re Not Blowing Hot Air.’.
About Dr. Sarah Petrich:
As a specialist in Postural Restoration, Pilates, & Dance Medicine, Dr. Sarah Petrich provides physical therapy and Pilates training focusing on re-balancing posture, alignment and breathing for patients and wellness clients.
When not in the clinic or on zoom, she's often traveling around the nation teaching educational courses to healthcare professionals, Pilates instructors and other movement specialists. You can find her and her courses on her website www.sarahpetrich.com and on Instagram @drsarahpetrich.
Catch Oxygen Plus at @oxygenplus on TikTok and Instagram
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the We're Not Blowing Hot Air podcast,
powered by Oxygen Plus. Thisseason, we're all about the
newest proven wellness hacksthat'll help you think, feel,
and perform your best. Today,Dr. Sarah Petrich, a physical
therapist extraordinaire,shares what Chin knows about
the breath and movement. Let'sstart training for the game of
(00:24):
life with this episode'sspecial guest on We're Not
blowing hot Air. Dr. SarahPetrick . Pleasure to have you
today on We're not blowing hotair.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's great to be here, Lauren.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yes, it's indeed.
Robert is , uh, sends hisregrets. He is in Vegas living
it up. Um, so it's a shame hewon't be here to learn with us,
but I'm sure he'll pick up there the recorded podcast episode
later on.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well just have to survive without him . Yeah,
Speaker 1 (00:59):
We can do it. We can do it . Uh, it'll be a
good time. I'm excited. I Ijust wanna introduce you a bit
more to our, our listeners. Um,well, first of all, you're a
friend of our company. We'veknown you for quite some time,
and , um, personally I've hadthe privilege of working with
you in the realm of physicaltherapy. Um, you are a
(01:20):
specialist in posturalrestoration through the Po po
Postural Restoration Institute.
You are a certified Pilatesinstructor and also have
training and dance medicine,which sounds mm-hmm . Amazing.
Um, you provide PT and Pilatestraining to help rebalance
posture, alignment andbreathing for patients and
(01:42):
wellness clients. You do thatboth in person in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, as well as via Zoompost Covid. So that's
fantastic. And you are also, Ithink you should , I should
mention you're very highlysought after and people fly you
all around the country whereyou teach about the education
of what you do to bothhealthcare professionals and
(02:03):
instructors and other movementspecialists. So I think it's
quite amazing and awesome tohave you here today. I do think
you are an individual who,who's highly specialized in
what she does, and , um, I canpersonally and professionally
attest to , uh, yourexcellence. So thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Thank you, .
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Great. Well, so I just wanna know, I mean, not
everyone, I've, I've met ahandful of PTs, but I have not
really met anyone who has goneinto more of a specialty after
that training. Can you sharewith us why you got into the
deeper dive that you did in theworld of pt?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Uh, to be honest , um, uh, it's because I went
into physical therapy school ,uh, really wanting to get to
know , um, and understand howthe whole body moves and not
just each segment. Uh, and Ididn't realize, you know, grad
school is just the beginningand that's kind of where you
need to start with yourbuilding blocks, but I really
(03:03):
wanted to know theinterconnectedness of how , uh,
a foot and how a foot works andhow it would affect a hip or a
shoulder. Uh , because I knowas my, with my background in
dance , um, I had studiedtechnique and form, but you
could also just sense and feelhow if you change one little
(03:24):
thing, it could change yourwhole posture. And so , uh,
really being able to , uh,intertwine the whole body and
how it moves and address that ,uh, with my patients and with
clients to change how they feelin their bodies and help them
feel better. Uh , that's,that's what drove me down that
(03:44):
avenue.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Hmm . Okay. What kind of dance did you do?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Oh, I did , uh, all the , the traditional types
like jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, um, musical theater. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I couldn't , oh ,
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Okay . I couldn't stop growing up..
Speaker 1 (04:00):
You had the bug.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah. I mean, even the grocery store aisles, I'd
be tap dancing, .
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I love it. I love it. I still dance in the
grocery store sometimes, andsqueaky shoes especially. Gotta
make it known that, you know,you're enjoying life, right,
?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yes , you bet.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Um , movement is such an important part of
enjoying life. And, you know, Ithink we we're gonna get into
it a bit more, but the, theconnection between movement and
breath. I mean, I, as a myself,I was a, a classical,
classically trained balletdancer up until like 17. I had
to decide like, I'm gonna go goto college and go that route,
or am I gonna like try to getinto a b t in New York and
(04:40):
like, take that avenue and be astarving artist? And I choose ,
I did not choose that one. I'mhere today instead. But I
remember like in my training,which was quite rigorous, and
usually like six, seven days aweek, like, I remember like
oftentimes like , um, having tobreathe and catch my breath,
but like, I absolutely, it hadto be through the nose and I
(05:02):
absolutely couldn't let anypart of my body show that I was
breathing. And no one talked tous about how to breathe. They
just told us, like you said,like the technique and you
know, if , if it looked correctand or it felt right. Right.
But how, how is, I guess, likeas a dancer, did you have that
experience? Did people talk toyou about breathing or was it
(05:22):
more like overlooked and justsomething you had to learn your
on your own?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Well, I actually , um, had difficulty breathing.
Uh, and part of it is becausenobody trained me. How so , uh,
dance, they, they really careabout how you look and
not as much about how you feel.
And guess what, it doesn't feelso hot when you can't breathe.
And , uh, and the emphasis isso much on core stability and
(05:47):
placement and , uh, of coursejust , uh, aesthetically trying
to look thinner of course. Andthat's part of correct
placement as well. Uh, gettingyour core stability there, but
nobody taught you, taught youhow to breathe and have core
stability, which is a bigproblem. So actually when I was
, um, 12, actually, I think Iwas a little younger , um, but
(06:09):
, uh, I remember doing aperformance and walking off
stage and, and I realized, oh,I'm not, I'm not breathing that
hard. That's amazing. And thenI realized I wasn't breathing
at all and um, and I took adeep breath of variant and I
started hyperventilating andreally ended up with me passing
out and getting diagnosed withexercise induced asthma. Whoa.
(06:31):
So it was kind of an extreme ,um, experience. And I had a ,
luckily enough I had a danceteacher who just kind of taught
me just, just to focus on mybreathing, which does help
quite a bit. Um, but fastforward , uh, um, I am, you
know, in my twenties I startedto learn a little bit more
about breathing mechanics , uh,after grad school. Uh, and I
(06:54):
don't, I don't need an inhaleror anything. Um, I think I was
misdiagnosed to be honest. Ithink I just didn't know how to
breathe. Mm-hmm . And have goodcore ability and good posture
at the same time. And so it ispossible to have both, but
unfortunately it's never notreally well known . Uh, it's
not really well talked about.
If you google breathing ordiaphragmatic breathing, you're
(07:15):
not gonna get , um, you're notgonna get a, an approach that
allows you to find your corestability and breathe well.
Usually what you'll find isbelly breathing. So you'll get
a lot more , uh, education onthat, which guess what, that
doesn't work if you're a danceror an athlete , uh, trying to
perform. When was the last timeyou saw like a , an elite
(07:36):
gymnast or an elite , uh, uh,sprinter belly breathing while
they performed? Uh , they'renot gonna do that cuz they need
their core stability for thatperformance too. So you need
both.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Yeah. Yeah. So an that , that's I think one of
the main things we wanted totalk to about today is this,
this idea of belly breathing. Imean, it , it seems like it's
such a hot topic still in sportactually. Um, how is that
possible if it isn't thathelpful to breathe through your
belly cuz you lose that corestability that you're talking
(08:11):
about?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Um, well , uh, we , uh, you and I , uh, actually
record our whole , uh, segmenton this. And so, and that's, we
did secret . I'm really bad atkeeping the secret. Um, but ,
uh, so , uh, that goes a littlebit more into it, but mm-hmm .
, if you just ,um, if you think a little bit
(08:33):
logically , uh, well bellybreathing , uh, your lungs are
not in your abdomen. So what'sexpanding is your internal
organs are being pushedforward. So when you inhale
with belly breathing, you'rejust sending the airflow
straight down into your lungs.
And if you ever have looked atwhat lung tissue looks like, we
(08:54):
often depict it like reallylike upside down trees where
leaves are going all differentdirections, not just straight
down. So you have lung tissuethat can expand forward and
back and side to side and evenall the way up to your
uppermost ribs. So we wannatake advantage of all that lung
tissue when you need it. Andyou can't really do that with
(09:16):
just belly breathing. Thatbeing said , um, you're gonna
find a lot of research and alot of proponents of belly
breathing and it's not entirelywrong. Um, if you focus on your
breath , um, just by itself,it's gonna help calm your
nervous system and relax youmore, which is gonna help
decrease anxiety, which is whyit's often talked about in ,
(09:37):
um, psychology circles andmindfulness , um, meditation
type of activities. However,you can also get good breathing
mechanics and have some corestability too . And that is
something that we're nottraining. Um, and so there's
also research that supportsthat too. Uh, and so it's just
(09:58):
, uh, there's , um, some , um,the , there's some , uh,
challenges in what research wehave that doesn't really
compare different type ofbreathing styles really well
against each other. Um, but ifyou just look at focusing on
your breath, you're gonna findbenefits no matter what, for
(10:18):
the most part. So my ,
Speaker 1 (10:19):
So correct me if I'm wrong or being too reductionist
in my thinking, but is it thatit, the application, so it's
okay and like functionallybeneficial to breathe through
your belly if maybe you'retrying to relax, like just
zoning out, meditating, maybejust getting acupuncture as I
did this morning, kind of justdo that kind of breathing more.
(10:41):
But if you're wanting to beactively engaged and moving
your body, is that when bellybreathing doesn't really pass
the muster?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Um, I'm glad you asked that. Um , so it really
depends on how , uh, bellybreathing instructions are
interpreted. So if you'reliterally just trying to fill
your belly, really trying to ,uh, almost make yourself look
like you have a pregnant bellywhen you inhale, and that can
be problematic. Uh , uh, wedon't really wanna be pushing
our internal organs forward andsome people will also push
(11:13):
downward on their pelvic floor.
And so , uh, I think there'ssome , uh, possibility that if
you push and bear down too hardwith that type of breathing,
that you could also pre createsome problems. Um, belly
breathing is best , um, done inlike an observatory type of ,
(11:34):
um, way where you're just, ifyou put your hand like a hand
on your abdomen and hand onyour chest and you're just
doing it while you'remeditating, that you just go,
oh, my belly expands a littlebit, but really some movement
through your rim cage is goodbecause, well, that's where
your lungs are mm-hmm .
and , uh, and youactually want ribs to be nice
(11:55):
and mobile. In fact, if youbreathe and you get a little
bit expansion in through thatrib cage , uh, it keeps your
you more mobile even whileyou're sitting at rest, which
is always good for us. We don'twanna get stiff and , uh, tight
. If you're one of those peoplethat gets stiff after sitting
for a while , even some , um,good quality breaths where you
(12:16):
get breath that it helps expandeven , uh, it gets your pelvic
floor moving a little bit withyour breath, but also gets your
rib cage to expand. Um , thatcan be helpful with reducing
some of that stiffness ifyou're sitting for a long time.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Wow, that's neat.
Um, so is it more like it's allabout the lungs? Is that more
of where the accuracy is inthis statement? I mean, we
don't wanna create enemies ,um, but like, is belly
breathing just as kind of a, apractice even for like r and r?
Not really what we wanna aimfor.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
I I ,
Speaker 1 (12:51):
I'm trying to cause trouble, Sarah . I'm just , I'm
just trying to get, get the ,the scootie on it.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
, you know,
I, I just, I'm, I'm kind of
towing the line. I don't wantpeople to think that your belly
doesn't expand at all.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
It doesn't , it is not that it doesn't move at at
all. It can move a little bit.
Um, I don't like people pushingit out. Uh , got it . And
that's usually, so I tend torant against belly breathing,
full disclosure. Um, and thereason is because most people
try to push their abdomen outand when you try to push your
abdomen out, you're pushingthose organs out and you could
(13:27):
be bearing down on your pelvicfloor. You also, in order for
that belly to expand, what doyou have to relax? You have to
relax your abdomen. And if youlook at the research, you
actually want at least a littlebit of core stability, even at
rest, even at when you'resleeping at night, because your
abdomen should actually beparticipating in your rib cage
(13:50):
posture as you breathe. So ithelps control the posture of
your rim cage and to someextent your pelvis as well, so
that we have good diaphragmdiaphragmatic movement and
pelvic floor movementintegrating all together with
how you hold your body itself.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Awesome. Like the perfect machine, the vitruvian
man, like every, all the, likewhen I learned about fascia
after I was a ballet dancer, Ilearned about it. I, I was like
, it suddenly all made sense tome. And how we talk about like,
even breathing into like yourtoes at the end of your
fingertips and, and meditationand stuff, sort of like it ,
it's this idea of like havingone whole solid but always
(14:32):
moving body. Is that more oflike what we're going for when
we talk about, as Joseph Pilatesaid, above all, learned to
breathe correctly?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Ooh , good quote Lauren . I mean you said that
in
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Your series, but Okay .
Speaker 2 (14:46):
. Okay .
Well, I was gonna say, where'dyou get that? How you
You did say that. And really ,um, your breath moves you , uh,
and your whole body canintegrate with your breath. But
um, yes, you're , um, becauseyou're the , we think of just
the diaphragm, but thediaphragm, like I had mentioned
(15:07):
earlier, works with your pelvicfloor and we're really
controlling air pressurethrough your whole trunk. But
even the ability to sense yourfeet on the floor and be
grounded also really helps youutilize certain muscles that
support the posture of yourtrunk, that help you manage air
pressure and breathe and , um,open and it decompress and
(15:30):
compress , um, through yourtrunk dynamically. So our
breath is dynamic and it alsoworks with our movement. And in
fact , um, the best voiceteachers will tell you you're
not just breathing with yourdiaphragm and singing with your
diaphragm. You are singing withyour whole body. Oh , cool . I
took a , I took a wonderfulvoice , um, seminar was just
(15:52):
all about vocal chords and, andum, of course they're gonna
talk about breathing, but , um,I remember this , uh, elite
instructor that , um, that she,if you wanna be someone on
Broadway, that's who you gotake your voice lessons from.
Wow. And she kind of did alittle whisper to the audience
that was all medicalprofessionals and she goes, I
(16:13):
am so excited I get to tellpeople this, but you gotta use
your whole body, you gotta useyour legs, you gotta use your
core. And you don't wanna bejust, she actually said you
don't wanna just be bellybreathing. You've gotta use
your core too to support yourbreath, to , to project well
and not hurt your vocal cordsin the long run.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Sarah , I got, I got the goose. I did, I got
goosebumps on that. I, I thinklike, cuz it what to me, like
what it connects with in myheart and life is like, just
like that again, like beingconnected, heart, soul, mind,
body, all of it . And then justlike taking whatever it is you
do or enjoying the world or dayand just doing it in full and
like letting you know, likethis vessel of our body, like
(16:57):
letting the breath like leadand connect and drive it. Like
that's, I think what isexciting and, and, and I think
we all can connect with nomatter what we do for a job or
what we're doing on a givenFriday. Like it's, it's about
like, how is our breathingsupporting what we're gonna be
stepping into, you know? And Ijust, so it's, it's just, I
think it's such breath, how tobreathe, the most important
(17:19):
thing you can do above all,learn to breathe correctly. I
mean that it, it really is apart of it, but is it just that
easy? And this might lead intoour, again, Sarah's Dr .
Sarah's very first video seriesever , which Oxygen Plus
finally recruited here afterlike three years of hardcore
negotiations , we
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Finally,
Speaker 1 (17:42):
We finally struck a deal with her.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Um , and it's mostly pinning my schedule down .
Well,
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yeah, time.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
That's , that's
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Vital. That's the , the the biggest resource,
right? Like constraint . Right. But no, and we have several
now several videos that we'regonna be rolling out to our
audience and our listeners and,but it's really best to watch
him. But , um, sothey'll be on YouTube, on our
YouTube channel on Oxygen Plus.
But what, like, what that , andso we do talk about belly
(18:13):
breathing in those, but is itjust the lungs and, and using
the lungs more to be connectedto your breath? Or are there
other missing major elements?
Like how would you approach,how would you approach just
talking to somebody about like,Hey, I don't think I'm
breathing correctly. How do I,how do I like go through this
with you in my head?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Well , uh, there's a reason why we have several
series , uh, on talkingabout breathing and, and still
there's even more , um,subjects that one can talk
about because , um, you've got,you've got an upper airway, so
you've got your nasopharynx andthen you've got your throat.
And so all of that can getreally complicated and there
can be certainly things thatblock that , um, that airflow.
(18:58):
And, and then you also have ,uh, just the more of the lower
airway, which is much more ofwhat we were, we've been just
discussing, right . Uh, whichis , uh, lungs and diaphragm.
Uh, and if you , uh, starttalking to like a pelvic floor
physical therapist, you starttalking about the pelvic floor
even being part of thatbreathing system. Um, so it can
get really complicated reallyfast, and it means that we have
(19:21):
also several , several valvesalong the way. And so there's a
lot of areas for restrictionand problems. Uh, so one of the
first things if people arereally concerned about airway,
and we talk about this in oneof the series, is we talk about
really it's , it's superimportant to be able to breathe
your nose and inhale throughyour nose. And we talk about
all the reasons why , uh, ifyou , um, want to impact your
(19:43):
health in a multitude of ways,not just even feeling better
with your breath, but , uh,cardiovascular health, all
sorts of pieces of your healthhealthcare are affected by just
the small little thing of beingable to breathe your nose. It's
huge. Um, and then your breathreally is the starting part, a
starting place for yourposture. So , uh, a friend of
(20:05):
mine or a colleague of mine ,uh, James, Dr. James Anderson ,
uh, he , uh, has , uh, oftensaid, you don't hold your
posture. Your posture holds youmm-hmm . . And
what he is really getting at isyou can try to think yourself
to death and having the bestposture ever. Uh, you can tense
all the muscles up to get thereand have the best Instagram
(20:27):
picture ever, but , uh, itdoesn't matter if you can't
breathe. So it really kind ofstarts neurologically and also
respir. So your breath reallydoes control your posture. We
wanna get and achieve goodposture in a way that feels
good. It doesn't really matterto me if you have the most
(20:48):
beautiful looking posture, butyou have tensed everything up
and you're coming in withmigraines and neck pain and low
back pain and pelvic floordysfunctions because you, you
ha you've figured out how toget beautiful looking posture,
but you don't know how tobreathe and manage air pressure
and feel good internally. So wewant your posture to really
(21:10):
start inside of your body. Andif you have all the internal
biomechanics working well foryou, it will appear better too.
But it starts within instead ofstarting with a picture
Speaker 1 (21:25):
That is seriously profound. And I wish like
everyone on Instagram who'sposing weirdly could get that
message Well, like , sothey could feel better. I think
that's what it comes down to. Imean that's, and, and the
physiological benefits of, ofgetting your breath in order.
Right?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Yeah. And then , uh, what's challenging is, you
know, what's easier is whenyou're addressing posture and
even um, with breath is tovisually try to figure it out,
oh, it's supposed to look likethis. Um, and then, then we are
going down the rabbit hole ofjust trying to make it look
(22:03):
like the right thing instead oftrying to figure out how it
feels. So , um, and, and me asa physical therapist , um, I
don't always trust everybody with if, if they even
know what a good breath feelslike. To be honest, there's a
lot of people who haven't beenbreathing well since they were
a kid . Um , so what I rely onare actual objective tests to ,
(22:25):
uh, figure out if someonereally has good posture of
their rim cage that supportsgood breath mechanics. Uh, and
that is gonna be revealed to ,uh, by looking at shoulder
range of motion and some ribtests. And so , uh, that's
another thing that we kind ofhave a sneak peek at looking at
(22:45):
in, in our series. So if you'rekind of curious Hmm . Maybe ,
uh, I fall into one of thesecategories , um, I can I I show
you a little bit of some signsthat you could also be not
breathing well , uh, that are alittle more objective.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
That is very cool.
Cuz we don't often hear aboutthat. We often hear you have to
breathe well to like, put thattape over your mouth and sleep
at night and that's gonna fixeverything if you to be a nose
breather. But it can go pastthe upper respiratory as you
were saying, and actually beinghow your ribs are for the
majority of the day. Right.
Your posture. Yeah . How allthat is. That's incredible. And
(23:26):
also like what about like ifyour knee or hip or leg is off,
is that also something that canaffect how your lungs work and
or your upper respiratory?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Uh, well, I'd actually say it backwards. So ,
um, our diaphragm is inherentlyasymmetrical. So you have , uh,
everybody, unless you have avery rare genetic , um,
disposition, it's called insomething like in situ verti
that I might be pronouncingthat wrong. Uh, but it is super
rare. In fact , uh, it , it wasdiscovered that a 93 year old
(23:59):
woman had passed away likeseveral years ago and it's so
rare that it was on thenational news that she had
this, this disorder. And it'snot really a disorder, it's a
genetic , um, mutation , uh,per se. And it's just where all
your internal organs arereversed. So instead of your
liver being on the right side,it's on the left side . Wow.
(24:19):
I've never seen a person withit. Um, and I've never even
heard of somebody who's seen aperson with it. Yeah . It's so
rare. Wow. So, so , uh, therest of us, which is everybody
pretty much , uh, your rightdiaphragm is more dominant and
more domed up and the left sideis more shallow and weaker and
(24:40):
we even have more nerveinnervation to the right side
than the left. You have morefibers of the right side of the
diaphragm in intersecting intothe spine versus the left. So
we get actually a asymmetricaltendency even through our
breath patterns. And if thatgets past a certain threshold
of imbalance, it can reallypull and twist your body into
(25:03):
certain pretty predictablepatterns. And so that's part of
why, why I got really intotesting breath is because it
also helps me figure out thesemovement patterns that are
causing hip pain, knee pain,all sorts of different types of
, uh, compressions andimpingements that occur
(25:24):
throughout the body because thediaphragm actually has a huge
role , uh, or an huge influenceon the spine. And if it's
influencing it in an imbalanceway and pulling it into more
compression or extension on oneside, it's gonna start to
rotate the body and create apattern that can be not , uh,
(25:47):
not beneficial long term forsomeone if they get stuck in
that cycle.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
So, and some of the tests that are in the series
that we're gonna be unveiling,they actually, people can do
these at home by themselves.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Um , well , uh, they're a little tricky to do
at home in the sense you cankind of maybe screen yourself a
little bit. Um, you , I think Ikind of demonstrate , uh, some
easy ones so they're lessvaluable. Uh , sometimes people
will cheat. So , um, okay .
There's that. So then Iguess Yeah . But you can kinda
(26:23):
look at a few of them and getan idea. Uh , and then if
you're really , uh, if youwanna look more into it , uh,
then you can uh, try to find apostural restoration , uh,
certified , uh, therapist nearyou . They're really well
trained on that.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Okay. And so they are, they do exist,
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Right ? They do exist, yep . You're the only
one
Speaker 1 (26:44):
I've ever met, but
Speaker 2 (26:45):
They're , they're not in all parts of the country
to be honest. Ok . Alright .
Um, but uh , they, they doexist and they have , they ,
they're the website of theinstitute. You can find them on
there . They've gotta find aprovider there.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Great. The Postural Restoration Institute.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
You got it. Okay .
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Got it. All right , great. Yeah. And um, I would
just say if there is a listenerthat has something and they can
find someone, just message usdms on Instagram or wherever at
oxygen at oxygen plus, andwe'll try to connect that , um,
to you. Cuz I can, again, I canpersonally attest when I
started realizing my alignmentwas off, not like in the
(27:26):
chiropractic sense, but in howI, my body mechanics, how I
breathed , how I moved was I, Ihad to, with use Dr. Sarah , I
relearned how to, how to movein my patterns and how to
change and , and then my breathfollowed and now I'm perfect.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
I'm just kidding. Ok . I still work on it. That's,
Speaker 1 (27:44):
That's the other key, right? Like, it's not one
and done. Like it's alwaysbeing aware of, of your body.
Can you speak to that? How doyou take care of yourself in ,
on the matter of , of breathingwell and, and wellness?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Well, I think e e every physical therapist and
and movement professional canattest to always working on
themselves. Yeah . You reallynever, you're really never ,
um, perfect. And part of thereason is , um, we all have
asymmetrical biases , uh, andit's just inherent in how we're
built. We're builtneurologically that way. And
(28:17):
actually it's , uh, really ablessing in disguise. Um, it's,
it kind of gives us a littlemomentum to get started with
some movement. Uh, so it's notreally that bad. It's just bad
when it becomes really overdominant in one way or the
other. And that can reallyeasily happen, especially in
our society , um, how we'reliving today. So we sit a lot
(28:39):
more , um, yeah . We're ,
Speaker 1 (28:41):
We're not supposed to sit Right. Like even
sitting's not like a humandesign.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Right . Uh , we're , we weren't, we weren't
evolution. We're not, wehaven't evolved, let's put it
this way. We haven't evolved tochairs Yeah . Yet , uh, not
enough time has passed. Um, wehaven't evolved to western
toilets, which is why we havedeveloped, not we, but there's
been the development of squattypotties. Yeah . Thank goodness.
Um , we really not to squatsquatty
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Potties , um, so much like how they do maybe in
parts of, of like I , when Iwas in Beijing mm-hmm.
, I saw, is thatwhat you mean? Where you just
literally squat into the hole?
Like you
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Lean . That
, that , that's , uh, love
Speaker 1 (29:24):
We're about this .
Speaker 2 (29:26):
We didn't know we were gonna go down the pelvic
floor route, but , uh, we're ,we're still designed as human
beings to squat as we defecatemm-hmm. . Um, and
so, and actually , uh, I have awhole book called Nature's Best
and it's all aboutsquatting. Uh , and, and the
reason why it's good for youfor your , uh, internal organs
(29:49):
, uh, in countries that they dosquatting all the time for
mm-hmm . Um, going to thebathroom , uh, they have , uh,
very low or no incidents ofappendicitis and other kind of
, uh, uh, digestive systemissues, which is interesting
mm-hmm.. Um, butthey, they also, part of the
(30:09):
reason is they , uh, there's amuscle that releases when you
go to the bathroom that way andit allows full , um,
elimination. So we don't, wedon't have any like old, you
know, junk stuff. Your , but wedon't need , like , when
Speaker 1 (30:24):
You get older, you don't need like colon . Do they
not need colon screenings orwhatever that stuff is when you
get older?
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Well, I , I can't attest colon that , oh , I , I
can't attest to that. I'mguessing l and I don't know if
they've done that research ornot. So I haven't looked at
that. What's
Speaker 1 (30:40):
A squatty body ?
That's something we can now buyin the western world. Mm-hmm.
. Okay .
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Yeah. So it's, it's just a stool that you put in
front of your toilet mm-hmm.
and you , itraises your feet up so that
you're more in a squatting likeposition.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
So it's a stool
Speaker 2 (30:53):
. It's just
a stool , no
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Pun intended. Yeah .
Speaker 2 (30:56):
It literally is a . No . Why have
I not ever thought of thatbefore ? I
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Dunno . I have a dirty mind.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
, but, but
yeah, it's like a stool and the
, the squatty potty itself,it's just shaped so that it
fits around your toilet so thatit kind of tucks in and it's
not in the way.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Yeah . Now available on oxygen plus.com , I think
we're gonna kill it with
Speaker 2 (31:19):
That .
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Make our own ,
Speaker 2 (31:21):
We're gonna make our own . How do we get our topic ?
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Um, I dunno , I kinda actually manifested it. I
really wanted , I did in myhead really wanna get you
talking about the toilet squad. I dunno how it happened, but
it's
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Good .
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Hilarious. Cause it's No, no, because it's also
true. Like, it's thinking aboutjust how we function and how
it's awkward and our world hasbecome awkward and unfriendly
to how our bodies need to be.
Like thinking about even posingfor photos all the time or
working at a desk all day. Um,it, like, it's , uh, just about
and , and lack of movementmm-hmm . . Right
(31:56):
? Like, I, I try tointentionally every, every so
often when I remember I'mcoming back from the bathroom
at work, I try to do a , acouple cartwheels once a day
, you know, justbecause like, I want, like I
love it. I just, yeah. I justwanna like stay active and ,
and mobile and not be thatstiff person. I did my, my tip
(32:16):
for from this today is toreally remember to breathe
while I'm sitting during a longperiod at work. Like if I have
that is that my breath canactually gimme momentum and
freedom and not lock me up. Ilove that. So thanks for saying
that.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Mm-hmm.
. Yep . And , uh,and there's the , even even if
you're , um, at a desk andyou're doing a standing desk ,
um, that's, that's nice intheory, but we're still not
meant to stand still for longperiods of time either. Mm .
And we're not even meant tolike, converge our eyes for
that long. So all of thosethings kind of in general kind
(32:49):
of make us a little more narrowand tense where we really need
to get movement and get broaderand um, and uh, and breathe. Of
course. So , uh, so just kindof generally how we live our
lives, even as a physicaltherapist, I move all day. Yeah
. I still have to take care ofbalancing myself out cuz I
(33:11):
still sit in front of TV for acouple hours every night,
. That's alright . Yeah.
You know, and I still have mypaperwork to do, so, you know,
you gotta keep yourselfbalanced somehow.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Awesome. Well I think it's like, honestly being
in community, like knowing you,knowing other wellness minded
people and healthcareprofessionals that like are
really like, trying to do itand trying to give it and help
make people healthier and make,you know, the world a better
place to live in. That to me islike what kind of keeps me in
balance. It's just beingconnected like that. So , um, I
(33:47):
I will say , um, so we talked alot about the nasal breathing
series. I'm so excited aboutit. It's gonna lot , it's gonna
drop soon and um, we'll sendthat out on , on social and all
that good stuff. Um, if I wannaknow though, if you could tell
our listeners one thing thatyou want them to know about
physical therapy that maybe notevery , uh, other physical
(34:10):
therapist knows. What is thatone thing
Speaker 2 (34:13):
? Well , uh,
the first thing, I mean, it ,
it's gonna be a repeatingpoint, but Okay . It's okay.
Uh, it, it really begins withbreath. Um, everybody needs to
learn how to ace breath. Um,and uh, that means being able
to breathe through your noseideally and being able to
(34:35):
expand your lungs in threedimensions so that when you
inhale, you don't just expandyour abdomen, but you expand ,
uh, your ribcage just forwardand back and side to side . And
you should be able to get airin your upper chest. That's not
illegal. You just don't wannause your neck to do it. Um, so
we really wanna have goodexcursion of that rim cage
(34:55):
while having good corestability . So good breath
mechanics through the nose.
Good. Um, diaphragmatic , um,mechanics that integrate with
your abdomen and your pelvicfloor is really essential. The
most, essentially the mostimportant thing you can do to
help decompress your spine andkeep yourself from getting
impingements , uh, throughoutyour body. Um, pain syndromes
(35:18):
and things like that.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Thank you Dr . Sarah . We're all gonna be free and
happy and move about and havethe best day every day . Thanks
to you. I, I do mean that. Ithink it's, it's, it's just,
it, all these things areimportant that we talk about,
about wellness, but the breath, I don't think that there's a
more important subject. Um,
Speaker 2 (35:38):
You do it every moment of the day.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
How do you breathe oxygen plus
Speaker 2 (35:44):
? Ah . Um ,
Speaker 1 (35:46):
I'm surprising you with that question . We used to
ask all of our , our gueststhat question.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
Um , well, I , I actually helped , uh, helped
you guys change theinstructions a little bit on
how you breathe. O plus. Um ,
Speaker 1 (36:01):
I can no longer take credit. No , I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
We worked together on that. That's so true.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
It's so true. That is awesome. That is awesome.
And,
Speaker 2 (36:10):
And we changed it , uh, to incorporate making sure
we exhale completely. Becauseif you don't get the air out,
you can't get new and fresh airback in. Um, and you also want
to raise your CO2 levels alittle
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Bit . James Nester , thank you very much. Yep .
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Yep . And it's, it's really so that you have enough
CO2 in your bloodstream so thatyou can take the oxygen when
you inhale from the hemoglobinand deliver it to your tissues.
Otherwise you aren't reallygonna utilize your product the
best. So you wanna be able toexhale completely. I have
people pause to give them alittle bit more time to let
(36:51):
their diaphragm dome up andrelax. Well, because it will be
more efficient and, and it willcontract better , uh, from a
more relaxed state. And then wehave changed the instructions
so that you inhale to yournose, which , uh, you're just
gonna have to watch the , uh,video series to find out why
that's so important. Cuzthere's so many reasons you
(37:12):
won't even be able to get intoit here.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Nose breathing is the best. I wanna see like a
ton of Instagram videos nosebreathing out there. That's
what I , that's gonna , I'mjust gonna like put that out
there right now. If you're alistener and you have an
Instagram, like anyonefollowing you, just do a , do
an oxygen plus nose breathing.
Make it funny, make ithilarious. I don't care. I just
really wanna , um, I wanna getthe word out that it's all
(37:35):
about the nose breath. And weknow now our, our abdomen,
lung, lung support breathing isimportant. Let it let it flow
forward, backwards outside allof it. Sarah , this is like,
you're, you're setting us free.
I love it. I really do. I'mgonna get drop your website and
um, your Instagram. So it'sdoctor , it's not doctor,
(37:55):
sorry, you are a doctor, butit's Sarah Petrick. So s a r a
a p e t r I C h.com.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
You got it.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
And then it's at Dr . Sarah Petrick . So we will
have this in the, the notes onthe bottom of the, the show
episode. So you can find herthere. Do you want them to
email you personal questions?
Speaker 2 (38:19):
? You can
email me or Instagram me
. Yeah , either
Speaker 1 (38:25):
One . You can DM or anything you want. Guys, you
heard it here. I'm justkidding. Um , yep .
Speaker 2 (38:30):
There , just know it takes me a few days. I'm a slow
emailer .
Speaker 1 (38:34):
It's all right .
Right . Oh, did you have anactual email you wanted to give
or just dm?
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Oh, it, it's on my
Speaker 1 (38:39):
Website. Oh, great.
Okay. Awesome. You're veryavailable. Um, and affable and
just all around . Amazing. SoI, Dr . Sarah , thank you so
much for being on. We're notblowing hot air. You're
welcome. Anytime . But really,we're gonna just, just savor
these amazing videos that we'lltalk about more breathing and ,
(39:00):
um, and we just are glad you'rehere. Thanks.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
Thanks for listening. If you love our
podcast as much as we do, do usa solid and subscribe to share,
rate and review. We're notblowing hot air, so more people
get the chance to catch thepowerful wellness hacks we're
bringing to our world.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Today's episode is powered by Oxygen Plus. We're
not Blowing Hot Air is producedby Robert Burns and me, Lauren
Carlstrom. Our editor andengineer is Katie Cox. Our
assistant producer is JordanSchultz . Keep breathing easy.
Welcome to the We're Not Blowing Hot Air podcast,
powered by Oxygen Plus. Thisseason, we're all about the
newest proven wellness hacksthat'll help you think, feel,
and perform your best. Today,Dr. Sarah Petrich, a physical
therapist extraordinaire,shares what Chin knows about
the breath and movement. Let'sstart training for the game of
(00:24):
life with this episode'sspecial guest on We're Not
blowing hot Air. Dr. SarahPetrick . Pleasure to have you
today on We're not blowing hotair.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's great to be here, Lauren.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yes, it's indeed.
Robert is , uh, sends hisregrets. He is in Vegas living
it up. Um, so it's a shame hewon't be here to learn with us,
but I'm sure he'll pick up there the recorded podcast episode
later on.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well just have to survive without him . Yeah,
Speaker 1 (00:59):
We can do it. We can do it
good time. I'm excited. I Ijust wanna introduce you a bit
more to our, our listeners. Um,well, first of all, you're a
friend of our company. We'veknown you for quite some time,
and , um, personally I've hadthe privilege of working with
you in the realm of physicaltherapy. Um, you are a
(01:20):
specialist in posturalrestoration through the Po po
Postural Restoration Institute.
You are a certified Pilatesinstructor and also have
training and dance medicine,which sounds mm-hmm . Amazing.
Um, you provide PT and Pilatestraining to help rebalance
posture, alignment andbreathing for patients and
(01:42):
wellness clients. You do thatboth in person in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, as well as via Zoompost Covid. So that's
fantastic. And you are also, Ithink you should , I should
mention you're very highlysought after and people fly you
all around the country whereyou teach about the education
of what you do to bothhealthcare professionals and
(02:03):
instructors and other movementspecialists. So I think it's
quite amazing and awesome tohave you here today. I do think
you are an individual who,who's highly specialized in
what she does, and , um, I canpersonally and professionally
attest to , uh, yourexcellence. So thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Thank you,
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Great. Well, so I just wanna know, I mean, not
everyone, I've, I've met ahandful of PTs, but I have not
really met anyone who has goneinto more of a specialty after
that training. Can you sharewith us why you got into the
deeper dive that you did in theworld of pt?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Uh, to be honest , um, uh, it's because I went
into physical therapy school ,uh, really wanting to get to
know , um, and understand howthe whole body moves and not
just each segment. Uh, and Ididn't realize, you know, grad
school is just the beginningand that's kind of where you
need to start with yourbuilding blocks, but I really
(03:03):
wanted to know theinterconnectedness of how , uh,
a foot and how a foot works andhow it would affect a hip or a
shoulder. Uh , because I knowas my, with my background in
dance , um, I had studiedtechnique and form, but you
could also just sense and feelhow if you change one little
(03:24):
thing, it could change yourwhole posture. And so , uh,
really being able to , uh,intertwine the whole body and
how it moves and address that ,uh, with my patients and with
clients to change how they feelin their bodies and help them
feel better. Uh , that's,that's what drove me down that
(03:44):
avenue.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Hmm . Okay. What kind of dance did you do?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Oh, I did , uh, all the , the traditional types
like jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, um, musical theater. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I couldn't , oh ,
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Okay . I couldn't stop growing up.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
You had the bug.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah. I mean, even the grocery store aisles, I'd
be tap dancing,
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I love it. I love it. I still dance in the
grocery store sometimes, andsqueaky shoes especially. Gotta
make it known that, you know,you're enjoying life, right,
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yes , you bet.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Um , movement is such an important part of
enjoying life. And, you know, Ithink we we're gonna get into
it a bit more, but the, theconnection between movement and
breath. I mean, I, as a myself,I was a, a classical,
classically trained balletdancer up until like 17. I had
to decide like, I'm gonna go goto college and go that route,
or am I gonna like try to getinto a b t in New York and
(04:40):
like, take that avenue and be astarving artist? And I choose ,
I did not choose that one. I'mhere today instead. But I
remember like in my training,which was quite rigorous, and
usually like six, seven days aweek, like, I remember like
oftentimes like , um, having tobreathe and catch my breath,
but like, I absolutely, it hadto be through the nose and I
(05:02):
absolutely couldn't let anypart of my body show that I was
breathing. And no one talked tous about how to breathe. They
just told us, like you said,like the technique and you
know, if , if it looked correctand or it felt right. Right.
But how, how is, I guess, likeas a dancer, did you have that
experience? Did people talk toyou about breathing or was it
(05:22):
more like overlooked and justsomething you had to learn your
on your own?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Well, I actually , um, had difficulty breathing.
Uh, and part of it is becausenobody trained me. How so , uh,
dance, they, they really careabout how you look
not as much about how you feel.
And guess what, it doesn't feelso hot when you can't breathe.
And , uh, and the emphasis isso much on core stability and
(05:47):
placement and , uh, of coursejust , uh, aesthetically trying
to look thinner of course. Andthat's part of correct
placement as well. Uh, gettingyour core stability there, but
nobody taught you, taught youhow to breathe and have core
stability, which is a bigproblem. So actually when I was
, um, 12, actually, I think Iwas a little younger , um, but
(06:09):
, uh, I remember doing aperformance and walking off
stage and, and I realized, oh,I'm not, I'm not breathing that
hard. That's amazing. And thenI realized I wasn't breathing
at all and um, and I took adeep breath of variant and I
started hyperventilating andreally ended up with me passing
out and getting diagnosed withexercise induced asthma. Whoa.
(06:31):
So it was kind of an extreme ,um, experience. And I had a ,
luckily enough I had a danceteacher who just kind of taught
me just, just to focus on mybreathing, which does help
quite a bit. Um, but fastforward , uh, um, I am, you
know, in my twenties I startedto learn a little bit more
about breathing mechanics , uh,after grad school. Uh, and I
(06:54):
don't, I don't need an inhaleror anything. Um, I think I was
misdiagnosed to be honest. Ithink I just didn't know how to
breathe. Mm-hmm . And have goodcore ability and good posture
at the same time. And so it ispossible to have both, but
unfortunately it's never notreally well known . Uh, it's
not really well talked about.
If you google breathing ordiaphragmatic breathing, you're
(07:15):
not gonna get , um, you're notgonna get a, an approach that
allows you to find your corestability and breathe well.
Usually what you'll find isbelly breathing. So you'll get
a lot more , uh, education onthat, which guess what, that
doesn't work if you're a danceror an athlete , uh, trying to
perform. When was the last timeyou saw like a , an elite
(07:36):
gymnast or an elite , uh, uh,sprinter belly breathing while
they performed? Uh , they'renot gonna do that cuz they need
their core stability for thatperformance too. So you need
both.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Yeah. Yeah. So an that , that's I think one of
the main things we wanted totalk to about today is this,
this idea of belly breathing. Imean, it , it seems like it's
such a hot topic still in sportactually. Um, how is that
possible if it isn't thathelpful to breathe through your
belly cuz you lose that corestability that you're talking
(08:11):
about?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Um, well , uh, we , uh, you and I , uh, actually
record our whole , uh, segmenton this. And so, and that's, we
did secret . I'm really bad atkeeping the secret. Um, but ,
uh, so , uh, that goes a littlebit more into it, but mm-hmm .
(08:33):
logically , uh, well bellybreathing , uh, your lungs are
not in your abdomen. So what'sexpanding is your internal
organs are being pushedforward. So when you inhale
with belly breathing, you'rejust sending the airflow
straight down into your lungs.
And if you ever have looked atwhat lung tissue looks like, we
(08:54):
often depict it like reallylike upside down trees where
leaves are going all differentdirections, not just straight
down. So you have lung tissuethat can expand forward and
back and side to side and evenall the way up to your
uppermost ribs. So we wannatake advantage of all that lung
tissue when you need it. Andyou can't really do that with
(09:16):
just belly breathing. Thatbeing said , um, you're gonna
find a lot of research and alot of proponents of belly
breathing and it's not entirelywrong. Um, if you focus on your
breath , um, just by itself,it's gonna help calm your
nervous system and relax youmore, which is gonna help
decrease anxiety, which is whyit's often talked about in ,
(09:37):
um, psychology circles andmindfulness , um, meditation
type of activities. However,you can also get good breathing
mechanics and have some corestability too . And that is
something that we're nottraining. Um, and so there's
also research that supportsthat too. Uh, and so it's just
(09:58):
, uh, there's , um, some , um,the , there's some , uh,
challenges in what research wehave that doesn't really
compare different type ofbreathing styles really well
against each other. Um, but ifyou just look at focusing on
your breath, you're gonna findbenefits no matter what, for
(10:18):
the most part. So my ,
Speaker 1 (10:19):
So correct me if I'm wrong or being too reductionist
in my thinking, but is it thatit, the application, so it's
okay and like functionallybeneficial to breathe through
your belly if maybe you'retrying to relax, like just
zoning out, meditating, maybejust getting acupuncture as I
did this morning, kind of justdo that kind of breathing more.
(10:41):
But if you're wanting to beactively engaged and moving
your body, is that when bellybreathing doesn't really pass
the muster?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Um, I'm glad you asked that. Um , so it really
depends on how , uh, bellybreathing instructions are
interpreted. So if you'reliterally just trying to fill
your belly, really trying to ,uh, almost make yourself look
like you have a pregnant bellywhen you inhale, and that can
be problematic. Uh , uh, wedon't really wanna be pushing
our internal organs forward andsome people will also push
(11:13):
downward on their pelvic floor.
And so , uh, I think there'ssome , uh, possibility that if
you push and bear down too hardwith that type of breathing,
that you could also pre createsome problems. Um, belly
breathing is best , um, done inlike an observatory type of ,
(11:34):
um, way where you're just, ifyou put your hand like a hand
on your abdomen and hand onyour chest and you're just
doing it while you'remeditating, that you just go,
oh, my belly expands a littlebit, but really some movement
through your rim cage is goodbecause, well, that's where
your lungs are mm-hmm .
(11:55):
and mobile. In fact, if youbreathe and you get a little
bit expansion in through thatrib cage , uh, it keeps your
you more mobile even whileyou're sitting at rest, which
is always good for us. We don'twanna get stiff and , uh, tight
. If you're one of those peoplethat gets stiff after sitting
for a while , even some , um,good quality breaths where you
(12:16):
get breath that it helps expandeven , uh, it gets your pelvic
floor moving a little bit withyour breath, but also gets your
rib cage to expand. Um , thatcan be helpful with reducing
some of that stiffness ifyou're sitting for a long time.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Wow, that's neat.
Um, so is it more like it's allabout the lungs? Is that more
of where the accuracy is inthis statement? I mean, we
don't wanna create enemies ,um, but like, is belly
breathing just as kind of a, apractice even for like r and r?
Not really what we wanna aimfor.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
I I ,
Speaker 1 (12:51):
I'm trying to cause trouble, Sarah . I'm just , I'm
just trying to get, get the ,the scootie on it.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
towing the line. I don't wantpeople to think that your belly
doesn't expand at all.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
It doesn't , it is not that it doesn't move at at
all. It can move a little bit.
Um, I don't like people pushingit out. Uh , got it . And
that's usually, so I tend torant against belly breathing,
full disclosure. Um, and thereason is because most people
try to push their abdomen outand when you try to push your
abdomen out, you're pushingthose organs out and you could
(13:27):
be bearing down on your pelvicfloor. You also, in order for
that belly to expand, what doyou have to relax? You have to
relax your abdomen. And if youlook at the research, you
actually want at least a littlebit of core stability, even at
rest, even at when you'resleeping at night, because your
abdomen should actually beparticipating in your rib cage
(13:50):
posture as you breathe. So ithelps control the posture of
your rim cage and to someextent your pelvis as well, so
that we have good diaphragmdiaphragmatic movement and
pelvic floor movementintegrating all together with
how you hold your body itself.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Awesome. Like the perfect machine, the vitruvian
man, like every, all the, likewhen I learned about fascia
after I was a ballet dancer, Ilearned about it. I, I was like
, it suddenly all made sense tome. And how we talk about like,
even breathing into like yourtoes at the end of your
fingertips and, and meditationand stuff, sort of like it ,
it's this idea of like havingone whole solid but always
(14:32):
moving body. Is that more oflike what we're going for when
we talk about, as Joseph Pilatesaid, above all, learned to
breathe correctly?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Ooh , good quote Lauren . I mean you said that
in
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Your series, but Okay .
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Well, I was gonna say, where'dyou get that? How you
You did say that. And really ,um, your breath moves you , uh,
and your whole body canintegrate with your breath. But
um, yes, you're , um, becauseyou're the , we think of just
the diaphragm, but thediaphragm, like I had mentioned
(15:07):
earlier, works with your pelvicfloor and we're really
controlling air pressurethrough your whole trunk. But
even the ability to sense yourfeet on the floor and be
grounded also really helps youutilize certain muscles that
support the posture of yourtrunk, that help you manage air
pressure and breathe and , um,open and it decompress and
(15:30):
compress , um, through yourtrunk dynamically. So our
breath is dynamic and it alsoworks with our movement. And in
fact , um, the best voiceteachers will tell you you're
not just breathing with yourdiaphragm and singing with your
diaphragm. You are singing withyour whole body. Oh , cool . I
took a , I took a wonderfulvoice , um, seminar was just
(15:52):
all about vocal chords and, andum, of course they're gonna
talk about breathing, but , um,I remember this , uh, elite
instructor that , um, that she,if you wanna be someone on
Broadway, that's who you gotake your voice lessons from.
Wow. And she kind of did alittle whisper to the audience
that was all medicalprofessionals and she goes, I
(16:13):
am so excited I get to tellpeople this, but you gotta use
your whole body, you gotta useyour legs, you gotta use your
core. And you don't wanna bejust, she actually said you
don't wanna just be bellybreathing. You've gotta use
your core too to support yourbreath, to , to project well
and not hurt your vocal cordsin the long run.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Sarah , I got, I got the goose. I did, I got
goosebumps on that. I, I thinklike, cuz it what to me, like
what it connects with in myheart and life is like, just
like that again, like beingconnected, heart, soul, mind,
body, all of it . And then justlike taking whatever it is you
do or enjoying the world or dayand just doing it in full and
like letting you know, likethis vessel of our body, like
(16:57):
letting the breath like leadand connect and drive it. Like
that's, I think what isexciting and, and, and I think
we all can connect with nomatter what we do for a job or
what we're doing on a givenFriday. Like it's, it's about
like, how is our breathingsupporting what we're gonna be
stepping into, you know? And Ijust, so it's, it's just, I
think it's such breath, how tobreathe, the most important
(17:19):
thing you can do above all,learn to breathe correctly. I
mean that it, it really is apart of it, but is it just that
easy? And this might lead intoour, again, Sarah's Dr .
Sarah's very first video seriesever , which Oxygen Plus
finally recruited here afterlike three years of hardcore
negotiations
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Finally,
Speaker 1 (17:42):
We finally struck a deal with her.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Um , and it's mostly pinning my schedule down .
Well,
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yeah, time.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
That's , that's
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Vital. That's the , the the biggest resource,
right? Like constraint . Right. But no, and we have several
now several videos that we'regonna be rolling out to our
audience and our listeners and,but it's really best to watch
him
YouTube channel on Oxygen Plus.
But what, like, what that , andso we do talk about belly
(18:13):
breathing in those, but is itjust the lungs and, and using
the lungs more to be connectedto your breath? Or are there
other missing major elements?
Like how would you approach,how would you approach just
talking to somebody about like,Hey, I don't think I'm
breathing correctly. How do I,how do I like go through this
with you in my head?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Well , uh, there's a reason why we have several
series , uh,
there's even more , um,subjects that one can talk
about because , um, you've got,you've got an upper airway, so
you've got your nasopharynx andthen you've got your throat.
And so all of that can getreally complicated and there
can be certainly things thatblock that , um, that airflow.
(18:58):
And, and then you also have ,uh, just the more of the lower
airway, which is much more ofwhat we were, we've been just
discussing, right . Uh, whichis , uh, lungs and diaphragm.
Uh, and if you , uh, starttalking to like a pelvic floor
physical therapist, you starttalking about the pelvic floor
even being part of thatbreathing system. Um, so it can
get really complicated reallyfast, and it means that we have
(19:21):
also several , several valvesalong the way. And so there's a
lot of areas for restrictionand problems. Uh, so one of the
first things if people arereally concerned about airway,
and we talk about this in oneof the series, is we talk about
really it's , it's superimportant to be able to breathe
your nose and inhale throughyour nose. And we talk about
all the reasons why , uh, ifyou , um, want to impact your
(19:43):
health in a multitude of ways,not just even feeling better
with your breath, but , uh,cardiovascular health, all
sorts of pieces of your healthhealthcare are affected by just
the small little thing of beingable to breathe your nose. It's
huge. Um, and then your breathreally is the starting part, a
starting place for yourposture. So , uh, a friend of
(20:05):
mine or a colleague of mine ,uh, James, Dr. James Anderson ,
uh, he , uh, has , uh, oftensaid, you don't hold your
posture. Your posture holds youmm-hmm .
what he is really getting at isyou can try to think yourself
to death and having the bestposture ever. Uh, you can tense
all the muscles up to get thereand have the best Instagram
(20:27):
picture ever, but , uh, itdoesn't matter if you can't
breathe. So it really kind ofstarts neurologically and also
respir. So your breath reallydoes control your posture. We
wanna get and achieve goodposture in a way that feels
good. It doesn't really matterto me if you have the most
(20:48):
beautiful looking posture, butyou have tensed everything up
and you're coming in withmigraines and neck pain and low
back pain and pelvic floordysfunctions because you, you
ha you've figured out how toget beautiful looking posture,
but you don't know how tobreathe and manage air pressure
and feel good internally. So wewant your posture to really
(21:10):
start inside of your body. Andif you have all the internal
biomechanics working well foryou, it will appear better too.
But it starts within instead ofstarting with a picture
Speaker 1 (21:25):
That is seriously profound. And I wish like
everyone on Instagram who'sposing weirdly could get that
message
that's what it comes down to. Imean that's, and, and the
physiological benefits of, ofgetting your breath in order.
Right?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Yeah. And then , uh, what's challenging is, you
know, what's easier is whenyou're addressing posture and
even um, with breath is tovisually try to figure it out,
oh, it's supposed to look likethis. Um, and then, then we are
going down the rabbit hole ofjust trying to make it look
(22:03):
like the right thing instead oftrying to figure out how it
feels. So , um, and, and me asa physical therapist , um, I
don't always trust everybody
know what a good breath feelslike. To be honest, there's a
lot of people who haven't beenbreathing well since they were
a kid . Um , so what I rely onare actual objective tests to ,
(22:25):
uh, figure out if someonereally has good posture of
their rim cage that supportsgood breath mechanics. Uh, and
that is gonna be revealed to ,uh, by looking at shoulder
range of motion and some ribtests. And so , uh, that's
another thing that we kind ofhave a sneak peek at looking at
(22:45):
in, in our series. So if you'rekind of curious Hmm . Maybe ,
uh, I fall into one of thesecategories , um, I can I I show
you a little bit of some signsthat you could also be not
breathing well , uh, that are alittle more objective.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
That is very cool.
Cuz we don't often hear aboutthat. We often hear you have to
breathe well to like, put thattape over your mouth and sleep
at night and that's gonna fixeverything if you to be a nose
breather. But it can go pastthe upper respiratory as you
were saying, and actually beinghow your ribs are for the
majority of the day. Right.
Your posture. Yeah . How allthat is. That's incredible. And
(23:26):
also like what about like ifyour knee or hip or leg is off,
is that also something that canaffect how your lungs work and
or your upper respiratory?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Uh, well, I'd actually say it backwards. So ,
um, our diaphragm is inherentlyasymmetrical. So you have , uh,
everybody, unless you have avery rare genetic , um,
disposition, it's called insomething like in situ verti
that I might be pronouncingthat wrong. Uh, but it is super
rare. In fact , uh, it , it wasdiscovered that a 93 year old
(23:59):
woman had passed away likeseveral years ago and it's so
rare that it was on thenational news that she had
this, this disorder. And it'snot really a disorder, it's a
genetic , um, mutation , uh,per se. And it's just where all
your internal organs arereversed. So instead of your
liver being on the right side,it's on the left side . Wow.
(24:19):
I've never seen a person withit. Um, and I've never even
heard of somebody who's seen aperson with it. Yeah . It's so
rare. Wow. So, so , uh, therest of us, which is everybody
pretty much , uh, your rightdiaphragm is more dominant and
more domed up and the left sideis more shallow and weaker and
(24:40):
we even have more nerveinnervation to the right side
than the left. You have morefibers of the right side of the
diaphragm in intersecting intothe spine versus the left. So
we get actually a asymmetricaltendency even through our
breath patterns. And if thatgets past a certain threshold
of imbalance, it can reallypull and twist your body into
(25:03):
certain pretty predictablepatterns. And so that's part of
why, why I got really intotesting breath is because it
also helps me figure out thesemovement patterns that are
causing hip pain, knee pain,all sorts of different types of
, uh, compressions andimpingements that occur
(25:24):
throughout the body because thediaphragm actually has a huge
role , uh, or an huge influenceon the spine. And if it's
influencing it in an imbalanceway and pulling it into more
compression or extension on oneside, it's gonna start to
rotate the body and create apattern that can be not , uh,
(25:47):
not beneficial long term forsomeone if they get stuck in
that cycle.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
So, and some of the tests that are in the series
that we're gonna be unveiling,they actually, people can do
these at home by themselves.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Um , well , uh, they're a little tricky to do
at home in the sense you cankind of maybe screen yourself a
little bit. Um, you , I think Ikind of demonstrate , uh, some
easy ones so they're lessvaluable. Uh , sometimes people
will cheat. So , um, okay .
There's that
(26:23):
look at a few of them and getan idea. Uh , and then if
you're really , uh, if youwanna look more into it , uh,
then you can uh, try to find apostural restoration , uh,
certified , uh, therapist nearyou . They're really well
trained on that.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Okay. And so they are, they do exist,
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Right ? They do exist, yep . You're the only
one
Speaker 1 (26:44):
I've ever met, but
Speaker 2 (26:45):
They're , they're not in all parts of the country
to be honest. Ok . Alright .
Um, but uh , they, they doexist and they have , they ,
they're the website of theinstitute. You can find them on
there . They've gotta find aprovider there.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Great. The Postural Restoration Institute.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
You got it. Okay .
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Got it. All right , great. Yeah. And um, I would
just say if there is a listenerthat has something and they can
find someone, just message usdms on Instagram or wherever at
oxygen at oxygen plus, andwe'll try to connect that , um,
to you. Cuz I can, again, I canpersonally attest when I
started realizing my alignmentwas off, not like in the
(27:26):
chiropractic sense, but in howI, my body mechanics, how I
breathed , how I moved was I, Ihad to, with use Dr. Sarah , I
relearned how to, how to movein my patterns and how to
change and , and then my breathfollowed and now I'm perfect.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
I'm just kidding. Ok . I still work on it. That's,
Speaker 1 (27:44):
That's the other key, right? Like, it's not one
and done. Like it's alwaysbeing aware of, of your body.
Can you speak to that? How doyou take care of yourself in ,
on the matter of , of breathingwell and, and wellness?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Well, I think e e every physical therapist and
and movement professional canattest to always working on
themselves. Yeah . You reallynever, you're really never ,
um, perfect. And part of thereason is , um, we all have
asymmetrical biases , uh, andit's just inherent in how we're
built. We're builtneurologically that way. And
(28:17):
actually it's , uh, really ablessing in disguise. Um, it's,
it kind of gives us a littlemomentum to get started with
some movement. Uh, so it's notreally that bad. It's just bad
when it becomes really overdominant in one way or the
other. And that can reallyeasily happen, especially in
our society , um, how we'reliving today. So we sit a lot
(28:39):
more , um, yeah . We're ,
Speaker 1 (28:41):
We're not supposed to sit Right. Like even
sitting's not like a humandesign.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Right . Uh , we're , we weren't, we weren't
evolution. We're not, wehaven't evolved, let's put it
this way. We haven't evolved tochairs Yeah . Yet , uh, not
enough time has passed. Um, wehaven't evolved to western
toilets, which is why we havedeveloped, not we, but there's
been the development of squattypotties. Yeah . Thank goodness.
Um , we really not to squatsquatty
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Potties , um, so much like how they do maybe in
parts of, of like I , when Iwas in Beijing mm-hmm.
literally squat into the hole?
Like you
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Lean
Speaker 1 (29:24):
We're about this .
Speaker 2 (29:26):
We didn't know we were gonna go down the pelvic
floor route, but , uh, we're ,we're still designed as human
beings to squat as we defecatemm-hmm.
so, and actually , uh, I have awhole book called Nature's Best
reason why it's good for youfor your , uh, internal organs
(29:49):
, uh, in countries that they dosquatting all the time for
mm-hmm . Um, going to thebathroom , uh, they have , uh,
very low or no incidents ofappendicitis and other kind of
, uh, uh, digestive systemissues, which is interesting
mm-hmm.
(30:09):
reason is they , uh, there's amuscle that releases when you
go to the bathroom that way andit allows full , um,
elimination. So we don't, wedon't have any like old, you
know, junk stuff. Your , but wedon't need , like , when
Speaker 1 (30:24):
You get older, you don't need like colon . Do they
not need colon screenings orwhatever that stuff is when you
get older?
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Well, I , I can't attest colon that , oh , I , I
can't attest to that. I'mguessing l and I don't know if
they've done that research ornot. So I haven't looked at
that. What's
Speaker 1 (30:40):
A squatty body ?
That's something we can now buyin the western world. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Yeah. So it's, it's just a stool that you put in
front of your toilet mm-hmm.
you're more in a squatting likeposition.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
So it's a stool
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Pun intended. Yeah .
Speaker 2 (30:56):
It literally is a
I not ever thought of thatbefore ? I
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Dunno . I have a dirty mind.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
, the squatty potty itself,it's just shaped so that it
fits around your toilet so thatit kind of tucks in and it's
not in the way.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Yeah . Now available on oxygen plus.com , I think
we're gonna kill it with
Speaker 2 (31:19):
That .
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Make our own ,
Speaker 2 (31:21):
We're gonna make our own . How do we get our topic ?
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Um, I dunno , I kinda actually manifested it. I
really wanted , I did in myhead really wanna get you
talking about the toilet squad. I dunno how it happened, but
it's
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Good .
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Hilarious. Cause it's No, no, because it's also
true. Like, it's thinking aboutjust how we function and how
it's awkward and our world hasbecome awkward and unfriendly
to how our bodies need to be.
Like thinking about even posingfor photos all the time or
working at a desk all day. Um,it, like, it's , uh, just about
and , and lack of movementmm-hmm .
(31:56):
? Like, I, I try tointentionally every, every so
often when I remember I'mcoming back from the bathroom
at work, I try to do a , acouple cartwheels once a day
love it. I just, yeah. I justwanna like stay active and ,
and mobile and not be thatstiff person. I did my, my tip
(32:16):
for from this today is toreally remember to breathe
while I'm sitting during a longperiod at work. Like if I have
that is that my breath canactually gimme momentum and
freedom and not lock me up. Ilove that. So thanks for saying
that.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Mm-hmm.
you're , um, at a desk andyou're doing a standing desk ,
um, that's, that's nice intheory, but we're still not
meant to stand still for longperiods of time either. Mm .
And we're not even meant tolike, converge our eyes for
that long. So all of thosethings kind of in general kind
(32:49):
of make us a little more narrowand tense where we really need
to get movement and get broaderand um, and uh, and breathe. Of
course. So , uh, so just kindof generally how we live our
lives, even as a physicaltherapist, I move all day. Yeah
. I still have to take care ofbalancing myself out cuz I
(33:11):
still sit in front of TV for acouple hours every night,
You know, and I still have mypaperwork to do, so, you know,
you gotta keep yourselfbalanced somehow.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Awesome. Well I think it's like, honestly being
in community, like knowing you,knowing other wellness minded
people and healthcareprofessionals that like are
really like, trying to do itand trying to give it and help
make people healthier and make,you know, the world a better
place to live in. That to me islike what kind of keeps me in
balance. It's just beingconnected like that. So , um, I
(33:47):
I will say , um, so we talked alot about the nasal breathing
series. I'm so excited aboutit. It's gonna lot , it's gonna
drop soon and um, we'll sendthat out on , on social and all
that good stuff. Um, if I wannaknow though, if you could tell
our listeners one thing thatyou want them to know about
physical therapy that maybe notevery , uh, other physical
(34:10):
therapist knows. What is thatone thing
Speaker 2 (34:13):
it's gonna be a repeatingpoint, but Okay . It's okay.
Uh, it, it really begins withbreath. Um, everybody needs to
learn how to ace breath. Um,and uh, that means being able
to breathe through your noseideally and being able to
(34:35):
expand your lungs in threedimensions so that when you
inhale, you don't just expandyour abdomen, but you expand ,
uh, your ribcage just forwardand back and side to side . And
you should be able to get airin your upper chest. That's not
illegal. You just don't wannause your neck to do it. Um, so
we really wanna have goodexcursion of that rim cage
(34:55):
while having good corestability . So good breath
mechanics through the nose.
Good. Um, diaphragmatic , um,mechanics that integrate with
your abdomen and your pelvicfloor is really essential. The
most, essentially the mostimportant thing you can do to
help decompress your spine andkeep yourself from getting
impingements , uh, throughoutyour body. Um, pain syndromes
(35:18):
and things like that.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Thank you Dr . Sarah . We're all gonna be free and
happy and move about and havethe best day every day . Thanks
to you. I, I do mean that. Ithink it's, it's, it's just,
it, all these things areimportant that we talk about,
about wellness, but the breath, I don't think that there's a
more important subject. Um,
Speaker 2 (35:38):
You do it every moment of the day.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
How do you breathe oxygen plus
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Speaker 1 (35:46):
I'm surprising you with that question . We used to
ask all of our , our gueststhat question.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
Um , well, I , I actually helped , uh, helped
you guys change theinstructions a little bit on
how you breathe. O plus. Um ,
Speaker 1 (36:01):
I can no longer take credit. No , I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
We worked together on that. That's so true.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
It's so true. That is awesome. That is awesome.
And,
Speaker 2 (36:10):
And we changed it , uh, to incorporate making sure
we exhale completely. Becauseif you don't get the air out,
you can't get new and fresh airback in. Um, and you also want
to raise your CO2 levels alittle
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Bit . James Nester , thank you very much. Yep .
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Yep . And it's, it's really so that you have enough
CO2 in your bloodstream so thatyou can take the oxygen when
you inhale from the hemoglobinand deliver it to your tissues.
Otherwise you aren't reallygonna utilize your product the
best. So you wanna be able toexhale completely. I have
people pause to give them alittle bit more time to let
(36:51):
their diaphragm dome up andrelax. Well, because it will be
more efficient and, and it willcontract better , uh, from a
more relaxed state. And then wehave changed the instructions
so that you inhale to yournose, which , uh, you're just
gonna have to watch the , uh,video series to find out why
that's so important. Cuzthere's so many reasons you
(37:12):
won't even be able to get intoit here.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Nose breathing is the best. I wanna see like a
ton of Instagram videos nosebreathing out there. That's
what I , that's gonna , I'mjust gonna like put that out
there right now. If you're alistener and you have an
Instagram, like anyonefollowing you, just do a , do
an oxygen plus nose breathing.
Make it funny, make ithilarious. I don't care. I just
really wanna , um, I wanna getthe word out that it's all
(37:35):
about the nose breath. And weknow now our, our abdomen,
lung, lung support breathing isimportant. Let it let it flow
forward, backwards outside allof it. Sarah , this is like,
you're, you're setting us free.
I love it. I really do. I'mgonna get drop your website and
um, your Instagram. So it'sdoctor , it's not doctor,
(37:55):
sorry, you are a doctor, butit's Sarah Petrick. So s a r a
a p e t r I C h.com.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
You got it.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
And then it's at Dr . Sarah Petrick . So we will
have this in the, the notes onthe bottom of the, the show
episode. So you can find herthere. Do you want them to
email you personal questions?
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Speaker 1 (38:25):
One . You can DM or anything you want. Guys, you
heard it here. I'm justkidding. Um , yep .
Speaker 2 (38:30):
There , just know it takes me a few days. I'm a slow
emailer
Speaker 1 (38:34):
It's all right .
Right . Oh, did you have anactual email you wanted to give
or just dm?
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Oh, it, it's on my
Speaker 1 (38:39):
Website. Oh, great.
Okay. Awesome. You're veryavailable. Um, and affable and
just all around . Amazing. SoI, Dr . Sarah , thank you so
much for being on. We're notblowing hot air. You're
welcome. Anytime . But really,we're gonna just, just savor
these amazing videos that we'lltalk about more breathing and ,
(39:00):
um, and we just are glad you'rehere. Thanks.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
Thanks for listening. If you love our
podcast as much as we do, do usa solid and subscribe to share,
rate and review. We're notblowing hot air, so more people
get the chance to catch thepowerful wellness hacks we're
bringing to our world.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Today's episode is powered by Oxygen Plus. We're
not Blowing Hot Air is producedby Robert Burns and me, Lauren
Carlstrom. Our editor andengineer is Katie Cox. Our
assistant producer is JordanSchultz . Keep breathing easy.
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CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Dateline NBC
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