I’ve been talking to quite a few clients lately about breathing and how breathing correctly can have a positive impact on us, both physically and mentally so I thought I’d write a post about it. Now, it may seem like a silly thing to say as of course we all breathe or we wouldn’t be here, but there are several muscles used in breathing and so often I see people over using the muscles that should just assist in the breathe rather then being the primary muscles.
Firstly, sit in front of a mirror and watch yourself breathing. Take a few relaxed breathes. What do you see? Do your shoulders raise up when you breathe? They shouldn’t. What you should see is your belly and your ribs expanding. Your shoulders should only raise when you do a big forced inhale. If your shoulders raise up rather than the breathe going into your rib cage and belly then this means you are most likely not using your diaphragm.
When you take a breathe your diaphragm should contract and push down and your intercostal muscles, between your ribs, contract to expand your rib cage. This means you should see your belly and your ribs expand. This expansion means your lungs have space to fill, sucking in air. The air eventually reaches the air sacs where oxygen passes into your blood stream. At the same time carbon dioxide passes from your blood stream in to the air sacs to be exhaled.
The other muscles used in inspiration, the sternocleidomastoid and scalenes, are the ones that pull up and will make your shoulders raise up but should only be used during a big breathe in. If your shoulders raise during a relaxed breathe then you are over using these muscles which can lead to a lot of neck tension. It generally also means you only take shallow breathes which limits your oxygen uptake.
If, when you look in the mirror, you see your shoulders rise when you breathe try this quick exercise. Sit up tall but relaxed and place your hands on your ribs. Take a breathe and focus on your ribs expanding into your hands. This can take a few attempts to get the hang of it. Focus on the breathe going into your ribs and into your belly. You don’t actually breathe into your belly but the diaphragm contracts and pushes down which cause the belly to expand.
Practising diaphramatic breathing can have many benefits which include:-
Improves oxygen update needed for all systems of the body
Clearer head
Improved sleep
Better digestion and can help with IBS
Improves your immune response
Reduces stress and anxiety
Lowers your heart rate and blood pressure
Improves core stability
So get breathing!
I’ve tried to keep this as simple as possible but if you have any questions about this just drop me a message.
Lyndsey x