Corrective breathing strategies
Dysfunctional breathing patterns are fairly common in todays fast paced world. The busier we are means we sometimes forget to breath slowly and deep into our diaphragm, we end up breathing fast and shallow into our chest and sometimes only using our mouth to breath instead of our nose.
This is how stress in our lives can exacerbate poor breathing and how poor breathing can contribute to stress, it is a vicious cycle. When in a cycle of poor breathing you end up using accessory muscles to help you breath, this can cause tight neck and shoulder muscles, and even change the oxygen and carbon dioxide balance in the body.
So how do you know if you have a poor breathing pattern?
We can assess by just placing our hands on the shoulders of a client while she breathes, you can determine whether she is using accessory muscles for relaxed breathing. The shoulders should not move up or down. Observation also indicates whether the client is “chest breathing” which indicates that they’re not using their diaphragm. Correct breathing should be using the diaphragm, or breathing into the belly.
You should also be breathing through your nose not your mouth as this warms the air preparing it to go into the lungs and most importantly the nose hair filters pollution. When breathing through the mouth you are more likely to get sick from airborne bacteria and viruses.
The following exercises are used to inhibit the use of the accessory muscles in relaxed breathing and are to support the use of the intercostals (muscles between the ribs) and the diaphragm.
Stage One:
- Sit in a relaxed position
- Place your hands in your lap and interlace the fingers
- Hold this position for as long as possible without discomfort while you breathe into your belly first, then fill your chest. You should feel your ribs expand outwards too.
- Breathe out through your mouth, long and slow until your lungs feel empty.
- Counting in your head can help with the timing and rhythm of your breath.
- Repeat for 10 minutes once or twice daily, great for before bed to unwind.
Stage Two:
- Sit in a chair with arms, relaxed in an upright position
- Place arms on the chair arms
- Press the forearm firmly down onto the chair arm, focusing at the elbow
- Hold this position for as long as possible without discomfort while you breathe normally as above.
- This helps you aquire a slower breathing pattern while focusing on something else (the elbow) while keeping the upper shoulders (trapezius) relaxed and not involved with the breathing.
Stage Three: Stretching to open the chest wall.
- Stand facing a corner with your arms spread out horizontal (90 degrees) on the wall
- Firmly press your arms into the wall for a count of 5
- Relax your arms while you gently let your body ease into the corner of the wall to stretch the soft tissue of the chest, hold for 10 to 20 seconds
- Move fingers up the wall and repeat 3 times.
There are more advanced breathing retraining exercises to move on to, but this is a great place to start.
If you can be consistent with these exercises then you will find it easier to breathe and combined with massage therapy you will find your stress levels diminish and you can breathe easy!
For your appointment today phone the balance team on
378 0059 or book online by clicking on the Ezybook logo above.
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