{"id":895,"date":"2021-08-17T12:24:25","date_gmt":"2021-08-17T04:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaandmel.com\/?p=895"},"modified":"2024-07-30T16:57:29","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T08:57:29","slug":"to-ribcage-or-belly-breathe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaandmel.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/17\/to-ribcage-or-belly-breathe\/","title":{"rendered":"To Ribcage or Belly Breathe?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Should you 'belly breathe' or 360-ribcage breathe? <\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Have you been to a yoga classes and advised to breathe into your belly for fuller deeper breaths? While it\u2019s not necessarily a ‘bad’ cue, it\u2019s just not exactly the BEST one.<\/p>\n

This may not be a great cue, for instance, when you are pregnant or had a baby and may be dealing with weak pelvic floor issues or abdominal separation, diastasis recti. (Diastasis recti is overstretched connective tissue of your linea alba.) This linea alba connects your left and right rectus abdominus muscles. More about that here (link to DR post). So by belly breathing, it may only increase pressure onto ‘weak’ areas.<\/p>\n

I was the teacher that cued ‘breathe into your belly’ for ages. Until I aspired to become pregnant myself and lead me to question what I\u2019ve heard passed down from countless teachers. So, I embarked on a quest to learn more about the mechanics of breathing and relation to the \u2018core\u2019.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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360-degree or 3-Dimensional breath<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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We\u2019ve said belly breathing to get people out of upward chest breath (shoulders moving up and down). But, what we really want is a 360-degree, or 3-Dimensional breath. In other words, the ribcage expanding and a little bit of belly too. Just not too much belly!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deep breathing involves a lot of rib movement.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The cue to \u2018belly breathe\u2019 can cause a person to bypass ribcage movement by directing the air only to the belly. In effect, not filling up the lungs and increasing intra-abdominal pressure into an already weakened abdominal and pelvic area.<\/p>\n

Pregnancy, non-optimal movements or postural tendencies can contribute to issues with diastasis recti, a weak pelvic floor\/ lower back pain. So repeatedly belly breathing places excess pressure and load onto already weakened tissue, leaving you more vulnerable.\u00a0 Which is not what we want!<\/p>\n

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In addition, it can be a shorter, shallow breath which does not fill up the lungs. As a result, defeating the purpose of accessing fuller deeper breaths to tap into the parasympathetic (rest and digest) autonomic nervous system. Therefore it can leave you feeling more anxious, nervous, or stressed out!\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A post shared by Melanie Matulka | Yoga and Movement Professional (@yogaandmobilitywithmel)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n