SF Bayflower: Tips for improving Diaphragm Breathing 🎉

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Tips for improving Diaphragm Breathing 🎉


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Is your breathing contributing to neck and shoulder pain?

There can be many contributors to neck pain.

The more you understand your habits, the more you can adjust yourself during the day and in the end, decrease neck tension.

This applies to breathing habits. If you have chronic neck issues you could be:

Raising your shoulders while you inhale

Using your shoulder blades to inhale or exhale

Using your throat muscles to lift the upper ribs

Sinking your chest when you inhale

What do you notice? Which one applies to you?

Here is a very useful video showing a large inhale and exhale. It shows how the ribs and diaphragm are the main movers of breathing. The shoulder blades rest on the ribs, but are NOT muscularly busy with a breath, UNLESS you are breathing hard.

Isn't that a GREAT video! I shared it with class participants in the series TAKE A BREATH: Neck, Jaw and Shoulder Relief.

During a resting breath, if the diaphragm is working correctly, the chest will deepen front to back, the lower ribs will widen as the diaphragm descends, the abdomen will expand and the back will move backward.

In other words, if you had a balloon filling your torso from the collarbones to your hip crest all these parts will move evenly and at the same time generally.

If this happens there is no involvement of the neck muscles, and the shoulder blades. Rather then a lifting or lowering movement you will feel a general expansion in all directions during inhale and a deflation during the exhale.

Stay tuned to my next email to help you find diaphragm movement in your back!