The "Hairball" exercise is a good one to pair with the Six Steps to Perfect Posture warmup. I often need to do it in the summer, when the humidity is making me feel crappy. If you're finding it difficult to inflate your chest enough in the Six Steps, or if you're tired, try this exercise. Both the Six Steps and the Hairball help you to hyperoxygenate a bit, which will wake you up. The Hairball will trick your body into taking a deeper breath into your chest.
The "Hairball"
- Take a full, easy breath into your chest. Just open your mouth and feel like the air is rushing into you without you having to work at it.
- Exhale normally.
- Now, use your stomach muscles/diaphragm to exhale even more--push all of the extra air out of you, as quickly as possible, until you feel like you absolutely need to take a breath or you will pass out. (please don't pass out--I have a "no casualties" rule in my studio... ;-P) If you make a sound sort of like a cat coughing up a hairball, you will see where it got its name.
- Open your mouth and take a huge breath right into your chest point, sending your sternum to the ceiling.
Now try the Six Steps warmup. You should find that the first breath (through the nose, into the sternum), is much more successful.
Do The Hairball twice for warmup (three times if you feel really terrible).