By Amy Shantz, BHK, DipOMT, CSEP-CEP, Osteopathic Manual Therapist
I shared an introduction to the significant and some aspects of breathing in an article in the December magazine. Breathing is so significant because of impacting both our bodies’ chemical make-up, the quality of stability and movement on our structure, and our thinking and ability to regulate which affects our social life. Here I’ll share a few ways improve the function of the ribcage and diaphragm.
In most situations we want the upper half of our ribcage to lift on both the right and left sides, and the lower part of our ribcage to move outward on both the right and left sides. I’ve found that people can find a place in their body somewhere in their torso between their pelvis and chest and shoulders where when they focus on it the quality of their ribcage movement and diaphragm lengthening and contracting improves. I’ve found through feeling many ribcages during visualization that when we think of a centering spot in their torso that our ribcage and diaphragm naturally moves in a more functional and balanced way without deliberately doing anything else to change it.
Breathing is often described as a tool for being mindful – present to our body and environment in the moment, or through which to “ground ourselves” – I prefer to use the phrase “centre ourselves” when relating with breathing. Grounding is in relation to another mass/object or physical component like the ground, whereas to centre yourself means finding a place within yourself to help your body be more stable and function better. Most people think of a place between their feet and pelvis when they think of grounding themself with the earth and a place between their heart and head when trying to connect with the atmosphere around us which might have a place for certain goals, but if the goal is to breath more functionally then the centering visualization is usually most helpful.
Breathing Exercises:
1) Lengthening the breath out:
Breathing in is associated with stimulating the sympathetic nervous system, which is associated with fight and flight, and breathing out is associated with the parasympathetic nervous system which is associated with rest and digest – though a balance of activity among these is important, it is often helpful to breath out a little longer than breathing in when trying to relax.It’s common for some breathing exercises to encourage people to breathe in and out for a certain number of seconds or hold your breath for a certain amount of time. It’s helpful to consider that the amount that our ribcage can expand and the amount of air that we benefit from breathing in and out depends on our ribcage size and the amount of muscle mass and energy that we’re burning at that moment. – So, it’s unhelpful for the same pat number of seconds to be given to a small female and large male.With those two things in mind, a way to tailor this is to a person’s natural breath in for the posture that they/you are choosing to be is to first count the seconds that it takes you to breath in during 2-3 different breaths. Then, breath in for that natural number of average seconds, and then breath out for a calculated number of seconds that’s a little longer than the breath in: eg. Breath out for 150% (1.5x the seconds breathed in or 200% (double (2x)) the number of seconds taken to breath in.
2) Breath Light: Breathing too full, either quick and shallow or extra deep, has been associated with being dizzy or having a difficulty focusing, irritated and cold hands and feet, anxiety and stress with breathing mechanics and the area of the lungs and the diaphragm muscle below them.This exercise is done to help the body be more comfortable with relaxed, quiet and light breathing. Either place a finger under your nose or a hand on the mid-upper abdomen and try to breath a little less air for 2-3 minutes. Repeat 4-6 times in the day. Gradually lengthen the amount of time that you can breathe more lightly under you can do it comfortably for 10 minutes in a row.
3) The cyclic sigh: A great way to hijack over-rigid breathing and use the throat to stimulate two nerves related to helping us relax (cranial nerves 9 and 10) and cranial nerve 12 that helps control our tongue. Breathe ½ way in, pause, then the rest of the way in, then take a brief pause and sigh while breathing out.
Note that these exercises are only to be performed within your comfort zone, and if you have a medical condition then only in conjunction with what you know about your health and have been advised by a doctor or allied health practitioner who has either seen you in person or done testing related to your condition and the advice that they give you.