Breathe much? You are doing it wrong!

It seems really simple. Breathing:  It is an essential part of life.  If you aren't breathing, you probably aren't reading this right now.

If you are reading this, can you tell me whether anyone has shown you how to breathe?  Let's find out.  Go ahead, take a deep breath in...What happened?

Likely you stuck your chest out, tilted your chin up a little, tried to expand (probably more elevated) your ribs and maybe even pulled your belly button towards your spine.

Here lies the problem. We only have 3 breathing muscles in our body.  None of them are named trapezius, levator scapulae, erector spinae, pectoralis, biceps, etc.

So what are these magic breathing muscles?  The diaphragm and the intercostals (internal and external).

The diaphragm attaches to the bottom of the ribs and when we breath in, it flattens pulling air into the lungs.  The diaphragm should not change the shape of the spine (this is what the erector spinae and associated muscles do!)  The intercostals (mostly external intercostals) expand the ribs outwards (not upwards like you just did when you took a deep breath in, those are your overactive trapezius muscle). 

So when you breathe, your diaphragm should move down and your ribs move out.  Try this...do you find it difficult?  We have been ignoring our breathing technique for a long time now.  You will have to consciously practice if you want to improve.

So if you suffer from tightness in upper back and neck, it might be because you are using those muscles to breath, instead of using them for what they were made to do.