Breathe Your Way to Better Posture (Part 1)

By Paul Doney - Chiropractor | Craniosacral Therapy & Myofascial Release

Many of us worry about our posture but don’t know what to do about it. Being told to stand up straight or pull our shoulders back doesn’t seem to help.

What most people don’t realize is that one of the most common complaints brought to chiropractors, osteopaths and massage therapists is due to poor posture and can be fixed by simply breathing differently!

If you’ve ever wanted someone to rub your shoulder and neck muscles because they ache all the time then this article is for you.

A very common sight in Western countries is to see people with their head poked forward, their shoulders rounded and their spine slumped into an exaggerated curve. People with this posture (and to a greater or lesser extent it is most of us) have to activate the muscles of the neck and shoulder region to counterbalance the weight of the head and shoulders as they slump forward. These muscles are “on” whenever we are upright and to a lesser extent even when we are laying down! This is not how your body works most efficiently. The muscles become exhausted. They compress their own blood supply and lymphatic drainage leading to inefficient metabolism and the accumulation of waste products that further irritate the nerves in the muscles and connective tissue.

The solution does not lay in rubbing your neck and shoulders or pulling your shoulders back. You have to learn how to breathe properly again.

First: a simple test. Have a friend observe you as you try all the following exercises otherwise you will fool yourself.

1. Stand up, eyes level, with your friend standing at your side.
2. Take a very deep breath into the chest, lifting the chest with your breath.
3. Keep holding your breath, relax your shoulders and your neck.
4. Imagine fixing the top of your sternum (breast bone) where it is and slowly breathing half way out through the nose by drawing your abdomen in and up under the rib cage. Visualize getting taller as you do this.
5. Slowly breathe back in through the nose by relaxing and expanding the abdomen.

Your friend should be looking for the following problems:

1. As you take the initial big breath in you may end up looking up at where the wall and ceiling meet. This is because when your head sits too far forward you have to extend your head backward by contracting the suboccipital muscles at the base of the skull so as to to bring your eyes level. As you breathe deeply the head and neck lift but the suboccipital muscles may stay contracted. This leaves you looking upward without meaning to. If this is happening you should tilt your head down to bring your eyes level after the initial deep breath.
2. As you relax your shoulders make sure you do not drop your sternum (breast bone) and do not pull the shoulders back. Just let the shoulders fall into a natural position under gravity.
3. As you breathe out by drawing the abdomen in you may feel you can’t figure out how to breathe that way and/or you may drop the sternum without realizing it.
If you observe any of these things you are probably a chest breather with a postural problem. This pattern of breathing is associated with heightened anxiety and can be associated with jaw problems and a tendancy to mouth breathe in some people. Although it may seem impossible at the moment you need to learn to breathe with your abdomen again, the way you did when you were a little child. Watch most toddlers and you will see their little belly moving in and out as they breathe in a relaxed and natural way.

The first step on the way to recovery is realizing there is a problem. The second step is to learn how to breathe with your abdomen again.

Start by laying down and putting a heavy novel or other book on your abdomen. Without worrying about breathing, poke your abdomen out to lift the book upward. This is often more difficult for women because they have trained themselves NOT to poke their belly out. Don’t worry this exercise is not going to make you look fat! It will actually get rid of the small belly that is created by a slumped posture.

Once you can poke your abdomen out with confidence try breathing in at the same time so that the breath lifts the relaxed abdomen WITHOUT lifting the chest. This may be difficult or you may not realise you are lifting the chest, so a friend observing is good at this stage too. Raising your arms above your head can make it easier to breathe into the abdomen as well.

Once you are confident with the abdomen go to the next stage (while still lying down). Start by breathing in to the abdomen and then continue to breathe in to the chest as a second stage. Once the lungs are completely full in this way relax the abdomen to allow the breath out while keeping the chest inflated. Next, relax the chest to let the rest of the breath out.

So, the cycle is: belly in, chest in, belly out, chest out. This is a standard yogic breath cycle. You need to practice this each day for 5 minutes. Make the breaths very slow so that you don’t hyperventilate and make sure you are breathing in and out through the nose. You will find the exercise very relaxing once you have become co-ordinated.

Once you have mastered this you will be ready to try breathing correctly when you are sitting or standing up. It is much harder when you are responding to the demands of gravity. Look for that part of the exercise in PART 2.

Leading chiropractor, craniosacral and myofascial release practitioner Paul Doney is a regular contributor to the much celebrated ‘Natural Health Booster’ fortnightly ezine with 1,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump-start and optimise your health, wellbeing and fertility, get your FREE tips now at www.boostyourhealthnow.com or www.boostyourfertilitynow.com.

Paul has private consultations available, to make an appointment please phone Julia or Carolina on 1300 85 84 90.

Keywords: Chiropractic > Posture