Thanks to our heavy heads, weighing on average 5kgs, the size of a 2 month old child being a few centimetres out of the optimal position right above the spinal column and at an angle of around 60 degrees when texting we also get pain in our lower backs, far from the location of the problem. Imagine walking around with a two month old baby hanging around your neck while you worked or texted. Does that sound comfortable? Shallow breathing is the opposite of belly breathing or abdominal breathing.
We can do this for short periods of time when stressed but we are not designed to be on alert all the time. When we take shallow breaths, we over-breathe oxygen and breathe out too much carbon dioxide stressing our body and telling our nervous system to stay on red alert.
In contrast, breathing in a calm pattern that activates the rest digest and recovery part of our nervous system requires us to lengthen our exhale and slow down the number of breaths we take a minute. But this is where posture can cause us further problems. People with poor posture rounded shoulders, tight pectoral muscles, forward heads tend to have trouble establishing a good breathing pattern. Diaphragmatic breathing is difficult for these people and even their shallow breaths are inefficient because of the restrictions around the chest.
The implications are severe. To reset your posture you need to find ways to release these bad breathing muscles that get short and tight from overuse. Stress-related illnesses, sleep problems, respiratory problems, immune system weakening , and high blood pressure are all symptoms of long term shallow breathing.
Posture affects our health and how well we perform in all areas of life. For example, people with rounded shoulders, hunched backs, and necks that force their gaze towards the floor, generally do less well at interviews , are perceived as less attractive, and have a gloomier outlook on life. Your phone is a big part of the problem. Kids spend years hunched over books and computers at a desk.
Constantly being bombarded by messages and social media activates our stress response dumping cortisol and adrenaline in our blood, mobilising our body into action. No wonder it is hard to switch the brain off and sleep at the end of the day after being on social media or working at a computer. Younger populations are the most affected as millennials live their lives through their devices but older enthusiastic phone adopters also feel the effects.
Yes, the hunched position we adopt for scanning our Instagram feed creates tension in the postural muscles. But indirect causes such as stress, anxiety, loneliness and depression contribute too.
Depressed, stressed people do not generally walk with confidence or sit with straight backs and open shoulders. Overuse of phones can also lead to sleep disturbances, which has the chain reaction effect of lowering our immune system, impacting our posture, and increasing levels of stress and depression. Our posture affects our mood and emotions, which affects our health, which changes our breathing pattern, which changes our posture again. And so the cycle continues.
The good news is by changing your posture you can help break the cycle, shifting your emotions, making it easier to access your optimal breathing muscle, the diaphragm. Be honest with yourself. Do you slouch? Check how you stand in a mirror and be critical — the importance to your health is at stake. Better still, ask a friend particularly one with the ability to be direct to evaluate your posture.
Better again, get a physiotherapist or other health professional to review your posture and give you an analysis of the muscles that are tight and weak. And in some cases, the damage is irreversible. This is the one time a physiotherapist is going to ask you to slump and slouch only if it is pain free.
Now in this position try and breathe in. Your body will want to get air in still so it can replenish its oxygen stores. To do that it has to recruit its back up breathing muscles around its neck and chest to help inhale, expanding the rib cage to get air travelling down into the lungs. These neck muscles are not very efficient and are not designed to be used for the 17, breaths we take on average per day. They get tired, fatigued and we create muscle trigger points that can generate headaches, jaw and neck pain.
The powerful finding in this research is if you change your posture and breathing pattern you can change your emotion. What if the world all knew how to breathe in a joy breathing pattern? What impact would that have on our conversations and relationships with others? To understand how posture affects breathing we need to understand the difference between Postural and Phasic muscles.
Phasic muscles , consisting mostly of fast-twitch fibres are the primary movement muscles of the body. Phasic muscles generally come in pairs biceps — triceps, quadriceps — hamstring that work against each other to control movement and stability.
But the rewards of proper postural muscle control are huge. Anyone that sits at a desk or uses a phone for long periods should pay close attention. Bend your elbow to 90 degrees and place the forearm on the wall; adjust the body until you feel a chest stretch.
Step the right leg behind and bend the left knee forward into a lunge stance. Slightly tuck the pelvis under, and press the right heel toward the floor. How to Perform: Bend your right knee and reach behind and grab the right foot with your right hand or left hand if you have difficulty grabbing the same side. Keep the knees in alignment, if possible.
This stretch can also be performed while lying on the floor. How to Perform: Face a wall and place your hands on the wall at shoulder height. Walk the feet and push the hips back so that your torso is parallel to the floor. Keep the toes pointed forward and the feet under the pelvis. You should feel a stretch in the back of the legs, chest and latissimus muscles. Master the science of nutrition and the art of behavior change coaching. Stay connected with us to get the latest health and fitness news, innovative workouts, healthy recipes and wellness tips.
Don't miss out! Save now. Be in a class of your own. Ends soon! Act now. Create your story as an ACE Specialist. Limited time! Talk with an Advisor. Filter By Category. View All Categories. About the Diaphragm The diaphragm, the muscle of inspiration, is dome-shaped and is comprised of muscle and fibrous tissue.
Take a slow breath in, allowing the abdomen to press up into your bottom hand while the top hand stays relatively still. Breath out smoothly and feel the abdominals drawing the ribs down while imagining you are trying to make a candlelight flicker but not go out.
Try first lying down and gradually progress to supported sitting, unsupported sitting, and standing. Add in more challenging functional movement patterns as your breath improves.
At Kinematics, we use various manual releasing techniques and exercises to improve not only posture but the efficiency of breathing mechanics to reduce stress on the body and improve overall function. We educate and empower our clients to self-manage and get moving again the way we were designed to move. Additionally, we offer Clinical and Reformer Classes where we integrate breathing techniques to help increase lung capacity and facilitate correct movement.
By Amy Wiley. Why clinical rehabilitation is crucial for your recovery. Read More. Contact: 03 info kinematics. Is poor posture affecting your breathing? Amy Wiley. August 13th We inhale. The most common postural adaptations are: — Rounding of the shoulders resulting in the chest and rib cage collapsing.
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