I was working on a friend of mine just the other day, helping to relieve some of the tension in her neck, generally checking the state of her neck and warming things up in preparation for the active isolated stretching neck routine. What I noticed as she lay there was not only did she have quite a tight neck, including SCMs – sternocleidomastoideus (the main muscle at the front of the neck) so taut that they sat rigid up on their own, but she was doing all her breathing up at the top of her chest.

Now it’s not often that we generally consider our breathing and where we’re doing it, and this may not seem an issue, but those in the know will recognise that especially in a relaxed state and ideally most of the time we should be deep abdominal breathing. Our diaphragm (the balloon like muscle under our ribs) is designed for breathing, causing the abdomen to rise and fall as we take air in and out. Not only was my friend not getting enough good oxygen by breathing this ‘shallow’ breathing way but she was vastly contributing, if not causing her own neck problems.

When we ‘shallow’ breathe we are using the secondary breathing muscles (those in our chest and neck) to assist with getting the air in and out of our lungs which if necessary when extra stress is placed on the body, like when exercising, or in the case of asthma attacks for example. But for regular every day use and as a practice we should all try to do all the time we want to be ‘deep’ breathing.

When deep breathing the diaphragm is doing its job descending into the abdominal cavity causing a vacuum effect that sucks the air into the lungs. This action of the diaphragm widens the rib cage and pushes the abdominal contents down and forward. On exhalation the diaphragm rises under the ribs causing pressure in the chest cavity to increase expelling air. This whole process is very easy on the body and exactly what it is designed to do. Upon exhaling the diaphragm is actually just relaxing back into its neutral state, its original position in and up. It is important to note here that it is approximately half of the population that breathe in reverse of this description, their bellies contract during inhalation and relax with the chest during exhalation like my friend was doing.

Shallow/reverse breathing is a much more difficult, complicated practice for the body. It is due to the exaggerated use of the chest, neck and shoulders. To begin with air is only going part of the way into the lungs so not getting down to all the lobes and getting really oxygenated. And further more the secondary breathing muscles have to be used along with the diaphragm to make the rise and fall of the chest happen, to get the air in. It is at this point that you can see how my friend could be causing her own neck problems and this pattern of breathing does commonly have accompanying chronic tension in the neck and shoulders, and irregular biological rhythms – menstrual flow, constipation, frequent or evening urination, insomnia, elevated blood pressure, even tachycardia/irregular heart rhythms.  

Most people only breath with as little as 25 percent of their respiratory capacity and just increasing the respiratory efficiency can give tremendous relief to the vital organs which have been starved for oxygen and pervaded with the waste gas carbon dioxide. Learning how to take deeper and fuller breaths efficiently and on a regular basis can have an uplifting effect on all the physiological systems. It is said in yoga ‘if the breath is agitated, so is the mind’. Both in yoga and traditional Chinese medicine the breath is connected with life force/energy known as prana or chi in the respective disciplines so by breathing deeply we are able to fill ourselves with energy (literally and spiritually) and allow further relaxation. It has been seen that when people regain the natural breathing pattern some of the most obvious symptoms of stress in their lives begin to fade away. Next time your stressed check your breathing out and see if your breathing is wave like and deep, I doubt it, then try adjusting your breath and see how your body and state of mind changes with it.

Learning to breathe better is not as silly or difficult as it may sound. All one needs to do is take the time, preferably lying down but sitting comfortably upright is fine, and become aware of your breath. By placing your hands, one on your stomach and one on your chest you can feel where you breathe and by paying attention you can feel the path your breath takes as it goes in through your nose, along the back of your throat, down into your lungs. Focus on your abdominal region and allow gentle expansion there as you inhale, and let the area sink as you exhale. You can encourage the movement as you exhale by pushing down a little if this is different from your normal breathing. This basic breath awareness is generally the initial exercise when beginning to learn meditation so it will teach you to concentrate your attention as well and it will over time tone your abdominal muscles! A relaxation reflex is also naturally stimulated when you direct your breathing like this lying down. The parasympathetic nervous system will decrease your respiratory rate, lower heart rate and elevated blood pressure will start to normalise. Once you are able to create these abdominals waves at will you can use this what ever the situation or activity you are doing as an effective method to relax. So the breath pattern should be wavelike – breathe in – expand chest first and then let your breath descend like a wave into your lower abdomen – breathe out – allow the abdomen to go in, pulling in and up on your muscles and let the wave return upward.

At Stretch, we emphasise the importance of breathing during our stretching protocols encouraging clients to exhale as we move into and hold the stretch for the maximum 2 seconds, and inhale as we go back to the neutral position. Not only is the active moving in and out of each stretch pumping oxygen around the body especially to the focused area but it is removing waste, and teaching people how to use their breath. As mentioned abdominal breathing causes the body to relax, in this case giving the body an easy coping mechanism for any discomfort that may be felt with stretches.

There is so much greater detail to be gone into about breathing, the anatomy of it, the dangers of not breathing as nature intended and the benefits of deep abdominal breathing. For my friend continuing with the same wavelike breathing I have described here has generally calmed her, has definitely released tension in her neck and shoulders and given her a great tool for relaxation whenever she may need it. Our stretching has also benefited as I am able to take her further in range of motion with far more supple and healthy muscles. Through out the day we should all check in with our breathing and practice making it deeper until it becomes an excellent habit. Not only will we feel better but our bodies will thank us.

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