For Binder Users

[ysabetwordsmith]

This article mentions some coping methods for people who wear binders. People have used Tumblr and other social media to remind wearers to check their breathing once an hour. If you wear binders but don't use those venues, you can substitute any other reminder service or app that you like, to remind you to check your breathing or do a breath meditation at your preferred frequency. (Yes, binders have risks like asphyxiation, overheating, and rib injuries. O_O) Practice safe binding and take care of the body you have.

Setting Up Instagram Reminders Via Buffer

Set Reminders on Facebook

10 Best Reminder Apps for iPhone, Android, and Windows

You may need to hunt around to find a level of body awareness and breath work that feels comfortable for you, which is often a challenge with body dysphoria, so I included some abstract instructions that don't point to your body. Other folks need the guidance to check in that they are safe, because it is hard for them to connect with their body.

30-second Calm Breathe Bubble

1-minute Triangle Breathing

1-minute Basic Breath Meditation

3-minute Breathing Space

EDIT 2/7/19: eseme recommends The Breathing App.

When you take your binder off, it helps to focus on your breathing for a longer time if you can.

10-minute Triangle Breathing

10 Minute Awareness of Breath Mindfulness Meditation

It also helps to do some gentle stretches to open your chest after compression. Choose from Yoga, Tai Chi, and various other styles. Do what works for you.

6-minute Side Body Stretches for Deeper Breath

7-minute Upper Back and Chest Stretches

8-minute Tai Chi Breathing Exercises

18-minute Coordinate Movement + Breathing Tai Chi

30-minute Breathe & Flow Yoga

For that matter, if you wear a bra, corset, necktie, button collar, choker, or anything else that can restrict your breathing then these precautions may prove useful. Binders are just one of the most notorious garments for causing problems, not the only risk.

Comments

[technoshaman]

Ooooooh. Those stretches might be good for ME, b/c breathing in general...

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

The meditations and stretches should work for most breathing problems or chest/back constrictions.

*chuckle* The ones I use are a mishmash of bellydance moves and physical therapy (which overlap a lot more than you might think). I have some I do in the mornings but a lot are things I just do without even thinking about it when I start to stiffen up in my chair.

There are office exercises too:

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/a4/ec/af/a4ecaf8e0a18fd2154e8d28f721aa09d.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DfUHsR1W4AAyLH6.jpg

[cmcmck]

I've known people who needed to use them and it often made me glad to be going in the opposite direction, as it were! :o)

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

It's not an option for me at all. I have way too much boob to conceal readily, I can't stand tight clothes, I overheat easily, and my back is already tetchy enough that I can't wear a bra routinely. But I'm glad binders exist for other people.

[sweet_sparrow]

Oooooh, what a lovely resource.

The stretches would be good for people who get panic attacks doing breathing exercises, wouldn't they?

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Oooooh, what a lovely resource.<<

Thank you!

>> The stretches would be good for people who get panic attacks doing breathing exercises, wouldn't they? <<

Yes. In that case, any exercise that tends to open and close the chest will work naturally to encourage breathing. If you're doing forward bends, you tend to breathe out when you bend forward and in when you straighten up. Most arm raises encourage you to breathe in on the up and out on the down. Do what works for you.

Re: Thoughts

[sweet_sparrow]

Yes. In that case, any exercise that tends to open and close the chest will work naturally to encourage breathing. If you're doing forward bends, you tend to breathe out when you bend forward and in when you straighten up. Most arm raises encourage you to breathe in on the up and out on the down. Do what works for you.

Oh, that's so good to know because it's something people usually don't really account for when talking about breathing exercises. Thank you. :D

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

The only people who seem to pay any attention to emotional risks in breath exercises are yogis. Breath is intimate; any time you mess with it, there's a chance somebody might freak. So a lot of writing about pranayama explains how to deal with that and work around it.

In terms of opening and closing the chest, all you have to do is look at the anatomy -- most descriptions of the ribs and lungs will explain how they work. The breastbone is flexible, the diaphragm goes up and down, together they work like a bellows. Well, there are a lot of ways to work that bellows, and any physical version will largely relieve you of needing to think about it.

[pantha]

Thank you! <3

*touch wood* I've been ok thus far. However, always good to re-read and revisit the safety advice.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm glad you're doing okay.

Sometimes, new tools give you ideas you hadn't even thought of -- using computerized reminders was new to me, and the abstract breathing vids haven't been around long. Other times, people have to adapt their practices due to something else changing, like if they move to a different climate or they catch a cold.

An app to add to the list

[eseme]

My therapist recommended a really nice phone app, called The Breathing App. The logo for it is a 3D sphere that is grey or silver.

It has several settings - you can watch the sphere or a bubble change shape, and breathe in as it gets bigger, breathe out as it gets smaller. Or use numbers, that count up to breathe in and down to breathe out. Or you can change the scree to one of about 5 different soothing images and breathe in as a tone gets higher, and then breathe out as it gets lower. Or do both. I like that it has visual and auditory components.

You can set it to do regular breathing (say 4 seconds in, 4 seconds out) or Resonance Breathing (breathe in to a count of 4, breathe out to a count of 6, making the exhale longer than the inhale).

You also set a time for how long you want to breathe, so you can do shorter or longer sessions.

It is very nice, I really enjoy it. And it is free, and works well.

edited to note I can spell breathe

Re: An app to add to the list

[ysabetwordsmith]

Thank you! I have added it above.