Are you Breathing correctly!?
Chest expansion and rib cage mobility HEALTH
When we think about taking a deep breath in, we normally sit up really tall, shrug our shoulders to our ears, maybe brace our hands against our hips or on an external support (chair, counter etc) and breathe in.
What if I told you that was only 33% of your breathing power?
What if I said you could get a deeper breath, improve posture, reduce stress and blood pressure?
Would you want to take a deeper breath now?
When we breathe from our upper chest and ribs, we are activating the upper lobes of the lungs and drawing air in, against gravity, and with a lot of neck and shoulder muscles. These muscles and direction of breath is inefficient than if we looked lower in our chest/ribs. On a physical level, it causes stress on our neck, throat, jaw, and head! Ouch! On a deeper level it raises blood pressure, poor postural habits, clogged subtle energy, and increased negative thoughts.
Take a moment to stop reading and look at your posture. If you’re folded forward trying to read this post, head jutted forward, and/or slumped over a couch, I encourage you to sit towards the edge of your chair. Feel how sliding forward props your posture up & open by exposing your front body – or your “belly”.
Now in this posture, try to take that deep breath again. Not as familiar or easy? This is because our sitting/work/desk posture has trained us to breath with accessory muscles! We rarely use our power-house muscle unless we’re specifically taught how! And here’s how!
Sitting on the edge of your chair, not so much that you feel like you’ll fall over. Place your hands on your lap, and roll your shoulders down the back of your body. When you breathe in this time, think of sticking your belly outward simulating a food-baby. Maybe you can feel your lower ribs expanding forward, sideways, and backwards at the same time. As you exhale imaging that food-baby relaxing back inwards. Try that 3 times.
By doing this you are activating your diaphragm, the parachute shaped power-house breathing muscle. It connects the bottom lobes of your lunges, to your lower spine and bottom ribs. The contraction (shortening) of the muscle flattens downward simulating that food-baby posture, and the relaxation (lengthening) it floats back upward into the parachute shape. This helps to draw air downward WITH gravity, expands the lower ribs for more mobility, and helps to aid in reducing blood pressure, digestion, and relaxation.
To make this breath even deeper, clasp your hands behind your head, opening the elbows wide like butterfly wings, and breathe into your belly, following the momentum upward toward your armpits. Trying not to tighten the shoulders towards the neck and ears for most relaxation. Try this with three deep breaths.
By deepening the breath with the arms overhead, you’re beginning to challenge old neuromotor and thought patterns, shifting away from shallow-tight breathing, as well as mobilizing the muscles around the rib cage that hold pain and tension.
If you wear tight clothing, sports bras, binders, corsets, or business clothes, these breathing exercises are for you! Every and ANY body can and will benefit from this. It takes patience and practice, but when you got it down, you begin to feel the immediate benefits. Be it reduced stress, annoyance, constricted breathing, asthma, or anything else!
I’d love to hear how you responded to these exercises! Drop a comment below or reach out via call/text if you have questions, concerns, resonating thoughts, or want clarification, I really do love hearing about your experiences. Until then, be well, and together we can help community to heal.
If you would like to see how I integrate this into my physical therapy practice, or want to work together, drop me a line! Or click the “FREE Ebook” link above. Looking forward to working more with you, friend.
(P) 617-982-2952
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