Breathing and posture go hand in hand. Have you noticed how you feel more relaxed and centred when you take a few deep breaths? It’s an instant mood booster.
Similarly, research shows that you feel more joyful and confident just by changing your body position. Posture and breathe are close cousins…when you fix your posture you breathe better.
Try this:
- Slouch and try to take a deep breath, notice how it feels.
- Use the posture tips in this video. Now take a deep breath. Cool, eh?
However, if you are like most of us your lifestyle causes you to “slump” more than you should. The muscles across the front of your chest and shoulders get tight and muscles across your back get overstretched, weak and strained. Your diaphragm doesn’t work properly, spinal joints lock, nerves pinch and you feel sore, tired and tense.
Therefore, if you want to breathe deeper start by correcting your posture.
When you stand tall and your spine is aligned, your breathing muscles have the freedom to work perfectly. Your diaphragm opens and lung capacity is maximized. You have more energy to do the things that are important to you.
Have you noticed how much better you can breathe after an adjustment? That’s’ why.
Thankfully, it doesn’t need to be complicated. When you sit or stand in better posture you’ll use the least amount of energy and get the maximum amount of oxygen. No complicated breathing techniques needed!
Supercharge your results:
Breathe through your nose, and let the front third of your tongue rest gently on the roof of your mouth. (If you drop your tongue and try to breathe you will notice how hard it is.) Breathing in this manner helps you access the lower lobes of your lungs where oxygen is most readily absorbed. If you do yoga try this throughout a class and notice how good you feel.
We put a huge emphasis on proper posture in our office because we know that you cannot heal and feel your best without it. Please ask us about some personalized posture exercises when you are in and check out our posture page and videos for tips you can use at home and at work.
ACTION STEP: Focus on your posture for 7 days. Set an alarm for every hour and gently reposition yourself using the techniques here. Soon you’ll notice that you’re not only standing taller and breathing better, but you look and feel younger too.
