Introduction to Breathing

Introduction to breathing is one of the most important things I talk about with my patients who come to the office. Sometimes, breathing can also be related to different pains or issues in the body. I started discussing breathing with patients when I was exposed to Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS).  DNS deals a lot with developmental movement patterns that babies go through. DNS helps patients integrate their core and move properly and one of the big key components is being able to create the proper intra-abdominal pressure in your core by breathing.

For infants, you can see that they breathe over and over again and their rib cages move in and out. They do this diaphragmatic breathing on their own and naturally because they do not have bad patterns stored up that they have to work around.

Mouth Breathing Or Nose Breathing

With DNS, it focuses on proper breathing and one of the things I ask my patients right off the bat is if they breathe through their nose or mouth. Many people are mouth breathers and there are many reasons why you do not want to be a mouth breather. Think of it as your mouth is made for eating and your nose is made for breathing. Your nose helps with engaging your diaphragm a little bit more and also helps to act as a natural filter for air.

What I also noticed was because of the pandemic, just a slight pressure from the masks that we use makes us switch to breathing through our mouths. This made me have a dry mouth and felt more anxious.

Breathing through the nose when sleeping is also more difficult especially for those with sleep apnea issues. Your breathing is altered while you are sleeping, but we can always change what we are aware of. Being aware with your daytime breathing is important.

Stress and Breathing

When we are sitting at a desk, rounded shoulders, or stressed, we over breathe and do these short, shallow breaths. The front muscles in the neck start to work overtime as accessory breathing muscles. Instead of the rib cage expanding 360 degrees all the way out and around and allowing that diaphragm to drop down and flatten out, we are relying on the little muscles on the neck to draw our top ribs up and allow the lungs to inflate that way. It is not very effective and will not oxygenate you to your fullest and leave you with a lot of neck issues.

Short, Shallow Breaths

When you do short, shallow breaths, your diaphragm is not engaging fully. One thing that happens with your diaphragm when it is not fully flattening and coming back up, you aren’t getting the stimulation of your Vagus nerves. The Vagus nerves run through the diaphragm and it gets stimulated as the diaphragm contracts and relaxes.

When the Vagus nerves are stimulated, we switch from our sympathetic nervous system or fight or flight mode to parasympathetic nervous system or the rest and restore mode. The rest and restore mode is very helpful with healing things in your body and being able to rest and rejuvenate yourself.

Shifting All Your Organs Down Through Proper Breathing

When the diaphragm contracts and it flattens, it is going to push down your abdominal contents. It shifts all your organs down and back up. It’s like a pumping action that helps to get better mobility of the abdominal organs, better lymph circulation, and better blood flow. Better fluid dynamics keep these organs healthy.

Through the pumping action, it also helps keep the lymph fluid that is stored in your abdomen from getting stagnant. A stagnant lymph system is going to lead to inflammation, which is linked to different diseases. Think of your organs and your abdominal contents as fish and the lymph fluid as the water in your fish tank. When the water on your fish tank is dirty, the fish won’t thrive. So, like the lymph fluid, you have to keep it moving in your body to help with other lymph issues throughout your body.

Your Diaphragm Is The Lid To Your Core

If your diaphragm is the lid to your core, the pelvic floor is the base to the core. They talk to each other.  As one moves down, the other accepts pressure and vice versa. They move in concert with one another and if you aren’t able to use your diaphragm properly, you will not be able to build the right intra-abdominal pressure to do any type of activity.

Intra-abdominal pressure is as if you are tensing up and building pressure. An improper balance of intra-abdominal pressure could show up as a herniated disc, prolaps, diastasis recti, or hernia to the other places of the core. Think of it as a pressure cooker and the pressure has to go somewhere.

The diaphragm has a few things running through it and has openings namely the esophagus, the vena cava, and the aorta. If you are not breathing properly and there is an improper balance of intra-abdominal pressure, you can have problems related to these three openings like poor circulation, acid reflux, and the like.

Shoulder Issues And Breathing

Sometimes, your shoulder issues are caused by improper breathing. If your core isn’t feeling safe and stable and your brain is not connecting with it, your brain is going to feel threatened. When your brain feels threatened, it’s going to start putting parking brakes on different parts of your body. It might not seem like your shoulder is connected to your breath or your core, but it truly is. There are other sorts of fascial connections that connect your abdomen and your core with some muscles that go up to your shoulders or down to your hips.

Different Kinds Of Breathing

The brain loves novelties so I always give people a lot of different tools in their tool box because I want them to try a bunch of different styles. Depending on what’s going on with a person, one might be better than the other but you still want a variety. It’s learning how to create mobility and suppleness in your rib cage so you get a nice expansion because that will translate up into how your upper back moves or how your shoulders move. It will also have something to do with how well you are going to manage that pressure.

I usually prep people for their breathing with different fascial releases with the Coregeous ball or Pilates ball because prepping your system is something you want to do especially if you’ve been really stagnant and immobile. Your rib cage is not going to want to be super mobile for you. You have to prime it and talk to the brain to give new input so the rib cage can be given the ability to move easily.

After prepping you for the breathing, you can do the breathing while seated at the desk, lying down, or bent over. You do these different positions when breathing so you can reach that back access to your rib cage or your sides that tend to get stagnant.

Breathing Techniques

With my yoga background, when you are doing Vinyasa or Ashtanga, it is very breath centered and they call it Ujjayi breathing. You are inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the nose, which is often what I give people in the office.

You also have to lengthen your exhale because it also helps stimulate your Vagus nerve a little bit more. I also ask my patients to be still and calm at the full exhalation and hold it a little bit. Get comfortable in the absence of air and prep yourself for taking it one step further for Nauli breathing. 

If you have any questions, you can drop it in the comment section or you send me a message through Facebook or Instagram. I’d be happy to do another podcast about your questions. Also, if you want me to talk about something specific, let me know!

You can also check my TikTok account as I use the platform to educate viewers about movement, chiropractic education, yoga, pregnancy, and more! 

Thank you for listening and see you next week!