A Brief on Breathing

Breathing is a fascinating subject. It is both a subconscious and conscious act. Often people do not think about their breath, but it still occurs. Consciously you can alter your breathing pattern, and many people use breathing techniques to help regulate their emotions, anxiety, stress, etc. This is a psychophysiological aspect of breathing. It’s important to remember that these effects are a 2 way street. Changing our breathing patterns can change our stress levels, and our stress levels can change our breathing patterns. Getting “stuck” in a dysfunctional breathing pattern can influence our nervous system and reinforce and prolong those emotions of stress and anxiety. The psychophysiological effect is only one dimension of breathing. There is also the biochemical dimension and the biomechanical dimension.
Biochemical dimension relates to the oxygen and CO2 levels in your body. Common dysfunction for this area is “over breathing” or hyperventilation. Dysfunction here can lead to hypertonic/tight muscles and muscle fatigue. One example of over breathing is short rapid breaths. Short rapid breaths are also a common response to stress/anxiety, so you can see how these two aspects of breathing are connected. Stress is not the only trigger for short rapid breathing, but it is something to consider. This imbalance of oxygen and CO2 creates some stress on the overall breathing control system as well. This can also affect your motor control.
Lastly is the biomechanical dimension of breathing. The dimension covers movement and posture. The way we hold our bodies can dictate our breathing patterns. Sitting down in a shoulders forward, head forward, slouched position is not going to put us in an ideal position to get a full deep inhalation. This position may encourage a shorter chest breathing pattern, which could encourage recruitment or increased effort of muscles in the neck and upper back area. These patterns can become habitual and affect the other two dimensions of breathing, leading to hypertonic/tight muscles, imbalance of oxygen and CO2 in the body, and eventually pain.
There are many things to consider when evaluating breathing patterns. It is important to have a functional breathing pattern to avoid the things mentioned above, but it's also important to keep in mind that breathing is fluid. It should be responsive, adaptive and appropriate. You don't want your breathing pattern while sleeping to be the same as when you are running a 100m. Ok, that’s an extreme example, but when things like mouth breathing or upper chest become excessive and habitual they should be addressed.

A great entry point to a breathing correction is diaphragmatic/belly breathing. Lying on your side or on your back with your hand on your stomach.

• Nasal inhalation and exhalation 
• Inhalation for about 3-4 seconds 
• Exhalation for about 4-6 seconds. 
• Focus on not only your stomach, but your abdomen expanding 360o
• If sidelying practice this on both sides ​