Yukiko,
If you go up to the "General Oxycise! Discussion" and then the entry "Gettin the Oxycise tapes", the last post has directions for finding the Oxy breath technique. I hope you will find a way to join us! I just use Jill's book, and it's not expensive. That may be an option for you. It's great because you really get good information about your body and the hows and whys of Oxycise! Let us know what you decide, and if you want, join us on the daily thread for help and encouragement.

Susanna

Bodyflex is so hard! I can't even get the breathing right. I can't seem to get the pah or the breathing in right. I try and try but I can't seem to do it correctly thus I havent seen results doing breathing programs. How can I be so sure Oxycise isn't as difficult to do as Bodyflex? These breathing programs seems to work wounders for people but I fear i'll never get to try it because I can never do the breathing right. It's so hard!

Hi Samantha!
I understand your frustration, but I don't think it's really, really hard to learn Oxycise. If you want to read Julie's "breathing tips" under "Newsletters and announcements" at the top of the board, it really explains the Oxybreath in detail. It takes everyone a few days of practice to "get it all together". I didn't understand the lift part myself, until I read Julie's tips. Try doing the breaths while lying flat on your back. It's easier to feel the right things moving then. Really learn the breathing first, and then try the positions.

It works SOOOOOOOO well.....you've just GOT to try it!

Susanna

thanx for the encouragement I feel ready to order the book right now on amazon. Although are the book instructions detailed enough to follow correctly? I know that the bodyflex Be a Loser! book has kinda different descriptions compared to the bodyflex videos. Is Oxycise like that too? I hope it's wayyyyyyyyy easier then Bodyflex because when you try something out that is difficult to even do correctly you just end up discouraged. Also if oxygen really burns fat wouldn't breathing more and doing breathing exercises such as Tai Chi give the same results as Oxycise?

I can't speak from experience, because I've never watched an Oxycise! video. I have just used Jill's book and the commuter tape, but I found the book easy to understand.

Tai Chi, from what my son tells me, is not focusing on burning fat. It's focus is more like the energy and balance of the body. There's no force with the breathing. With Oxycise, you are drawing in oxygen like you would be if you had been running or jogging, and the effect is that it burns fat. The exhale is very important too. In simple words, the Oxybreath is just taking as deep a breath as you can, then tightening your abs, buns, and doing a kegal. While you do those three things, you take 3 more sniffs of air, and that's the toughest part because you already feel full of air. It's not impossible though, and it's really important. Also, you keep your chin up like it's tied to the ceiling and that really helps smooth the neck. You never hold your breath, but as soon as you're done sniffing, you exhale like you're blowing through a trumpet, and then give 3 more puffs to be sure all the air is out. Relax, and inhale, then tighten and take 3 sniffs, etc. You take 4 breaths for each "rep", and a complete workout is 30 reps, or 120 breaths. It takes about 15 or 20 minutes after you get used to doing everything. I'll admit that for the first few times, I wondered if I would get it all together, but it just took a little practice. It's really not hard!!! There have been others who found Body Flex to be much harder than O, but some people like to do both.

I hope I've answered your questions. Maybe someone else will have some good input. Anyway, go ahead....just try it! The benefits are wonderful!!!

Susanna

Wow thanx for that info! It does seem really easy. So no need for your diaphram to do that 'pah' and junk? Cuz thats really hard for me to do. By the way what's kegal? I'm gonna order the oxycise tonight when i have the time. Oh yes when you inhale you tighten your chest??? And when you exhale your belly sticks out right? I just want to get the breathing right before i recieve my order and start with it. Thanx a bunch!

Hi Samantha,

I really don't know what a "pah" is...but no, you don't need to do that! A kegal is tightening the muscle on the pelvic floor, as if you were shutting off the flow of urine during urination. (blush) Does that make sense? When you inhale, keep everything relaxed so you can take in as much air as possible. After you've taken as deep a breath as you can, you tighten those muscles that you feel when you cough. Just cough intentionally, and keep your hands just below your ribcage, and you'll be able to feel the right ones. Actually, when you inhale, your tummy sticks out a bit, and when you exhale it goes down.

Be sure and join us on the daily thread, D2L which stands for "determined to lose" for lots of support and encouragement.

Susanna

Hey this is Samantha. I'd like to thank you for your help and concern. Everybody seems so supportive! Okay so I think I got the breathing down right but somehow it just seems almost like regular deep breathing except the fact that you tighten your muscles. Is this how it really is suppose to be feeling? I'm sorry if i'm sounding really dumb but I'm so used to trying to perfect bodyflex and I never had the chance to perfect it cuz it was so hard to let my diaphram exhale by itself. I get really mixed up easily because half the time people say when you breathe in your belly goes in while the other half people say your belly goes out. Does it really matter? Should you just deeply breathe in the way in which it feels most natural to you? Or is it better to breathe in a certain way?

Hi Samantha, Even though I did bodyflex years ago before I tried oxycise, I had that same problem with the breath. At first my oxycise breath was very similar to the bodyflex breath. Quite noisy! My kids kept running in to see if I was ok. With practice, I found myself doing the breath the way Jill teaches. Just give it time and practice, it will come. Now my kids are happy because they think I'm smiling at them.

For pictures, go the the home page, all the way down on the right side click "media information." Then click "feature articles", then the first article, I think it's called "First For Women" or something like that.

As for the belly, don't pull it in on the initial breath. The belly goes out because you are relaxed and that lets more air in (very important!) Then you do the 3 sniffs, you really can't get much more air in because your lungs are already quite full, but you still try, and that's when you pull in the stomach muscles. As you push the air out in the exhale, the stomach muscles pull in and up even more.

Many of us didn't do the breath exactly "right" at first, and still had good results.

Keep us posted! Jennifer

Hi Samantha! It's good "seeing" you!

You're getting good advice from Susanna and Jennifer. Come join us in the D2L thread each day.

Thanks for all the support! I just ordered my oxycise thing today and I can't wait to get it soon in the mail! For now I'll just keep practicing the basic breath. It feels so different from Bodyflex

hi! I've been using Bodyflex for a month now and have lost 3 dress sizes. I also take Bragg apple cider vinegar which helps alot. Bodyflex is okay but the breathing is weird. I'm curios about oxycise and may check into that.

Hi Becky. I'm glad you came to check out the Oxycise board.

I use to take Bragg's apple cider vinegar mixed in spicy V-8. Something about the vinegar mixed with the spice was supposed to rev up your metabolism and help you burn calories. Hmmm...I haven't thought about that in awhile. I might have to try it again. (however, the store I use to buy my vinegar from has closed. I'll have to see if I can find it somewhere else.)

I have tried Bodyflex, Lifelift and Oxycise. I like Oxycise the best. The breathing with Oxycise was a little hard to learn correctly.
I do not like holding my breath in the Bodyflex and Lifelift. I always ended up with a headache.
What I like about Oxycise is that I sweat and am wiped out after a workout and I think that is good. It really feels like I have done something.
I also feel that it is hearder to go from one move to another when you feel like you have to gasp for a breath and are light header.

I tried bodyflex and it didn't work and the breathing made me feel funny. Bofyflex didn't work for me because the breathing was too hard for me to get it correctly but Oxycise is great! The breathing is so much more normal and easier to understand. I havent lost weight yet but I certainly feel healthier!

I use alot of different breathing programs, Oxycise happens to be one of my favorite because I find it one of the most easy to use in alot of differet situations such as sitting here typing

Woops hit send before I was done! What I was going to say next was, I do use Body Flex before I get out bed, just the basic breath.I find it really wakes me up in the morning.

I do some yoga postions with the oxycise breath. With the Dance I perform and teach I have to be very flexible and have found when doing Oxycise with Yoga in the past my flexibility will come way easier.

And there is a particular Tony Robbins breathing exercise I use during the day, if I need a mental boost I do alternative nostril breathing, and if I need a quick burst of energy I do a few oxycise breaths and then a yogic breath similar to rebirthing breathing right after that and that will wake me up like nothing else in the afternoons at work.

But Oxycise is one of my favorites. I just havnt gotten back in the habit of using the video and doing the postions with it yet, which I just reordered today and am going to make a habit of as soon as they get here.

Oh and the other thing I was going to say, you will have to excuse me I am off work today and my 4 yr old is home with me and were talking and I kept forgetting what I was going say here

But in my experince being around alot of rebirthers, meditators and ppl who use many sorts of deep breathing exercises and therapies, including one for surviors of abuse and trauma, Just learning to make deep breathing a important habit is the first step to a great journey. I have been around ppl who when starting a rebirthing journey have lost 20 pounds like that, I have seen people loose weight with the breath of fire (yoga breath very similar to body flex) What I think any breathing program does is bring you closer to your body, more in tune with it, so your raising your metabolism with oxygen, your calming down your central nervous system which helps with not gaining weight from stress, and it also helps with not eatting for purely stress or emotional reasons, which is how alot of people gained in the first place. When your flooding your body with oxygen, you change your brain chemistry, you relax, feel awake and aware, feel clear the choices you make from there as far as exercise, stretching and what you put into your body do come a little more natural I think and it all combines to making the weight loss change happen because you actually are changing the insides of your body with taking in more oxygen.
Now if your on medication or just heavily geneticaly prone to weight gain I think yes you will have a longer struggle but that dosnt mean its impossible or it wont happen, you may just have to do your chosen breathing program two times a day instead of one, or watch what you eat more so then someone without medication or geneticaly prone to weight gain.
But I do believe deep breathing is essential for quality of life and quality of life has alot to do with what our outside bodies look like in the first place. Somewhat anyways.

It cant hurt to try, and all the programs, weither its yoga breathing, oxycise, body flex, light lift or some of the others are fairly inexpensive and once you get in the habit of doing them, just enjoy the results and like I said before, try not to over think it

Hi I am wanting to start getting back in shape I'm a mother of 7 yes I said 7.I work alot and don't have much time left can these exercise be done in the evening and still get the results you want?Thanks Ann

Hi Ann...welcome to the message board!

Oxycise! is effective no matter what time of the day you choose to do it. In fact, you can break up your workout throughout the day and get the same results.

There are other moms of large families on here, so you'll be in good company should you decide to join us.

Oxycise! is a great program if you do it consistently. Hope to see you around!