Spinal lengthening and gathering aids breathing while keeping the pelvic floor and abdominal wall dynamic and resilient. The image on the left shows another example of how the respiratory diaphragm and pelvic floor work in rhythm with each other. As the respiratory diaphragm rises so does the pelvic floor. They both rise and lower together. This creates a continuous compression and decompression on the organs. You may not feel it on a regular basis, but this subtle multidimensional motion keeps everything in good working order all day long.
Notice how the top of the lungs reach their way up and beyond the collarbones. In most of the lungs continue to about an inch above them. This is valuable breathing real estate to keep in mind.
Look at how many layers of tissue surround the organs and viscera of the abdomen. it’s an absolutely beautiful design! In the front we have some abdominals and internal and external obliques. At the bottom is the pelvic floor. In the back we have the quadratus lumborum, thoracolumbar fascia and erectors. Sneaking up the middle from the femur bone is the infamous, ever popular and powerful psoas group. On the right, you can see how the iliacus muscle elegantly lines the inner side of the ilium bone.
In the next post we’ll discuss a little bit more about how much the diaphragm and pelvic floor really move.