"I found this Breathing Buddy very much helpful to understand the overall appoggio concept, especially in terms of ‘leaning’ into the rib cage. Not only does it visually show the movement accurately, but it also instinctively gives you the sense of effective inhalation. The tool that pumps air into the narrow tube creates the ‘resistance’ during the inhalation, fully expanding the elastic balloon inside the ribcage. I was able to successfully imply it to my own breathing as well, by imagining that balloon as my breath capacity — really enjoyed it. It is difficult to explain how diaphragm acts as a layer that lowers as a ‘reaction’ to the inhalation, but this tool gives a literal image of how that works clearly. Could be a great learning tool for visual and anatomical learners!"