ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST
MATTERS OF HEALTH
THE BOND BETWEEN BREATHING AND MOVEMENT
We all know how important breathing is as it is a pre-requisite for life as we know it. What many people are unaware of is that the way we breathe can alter our posture, mood and even the way we move.
From a physiological standpoint, we breathe to get oxygen into our bodies and expel carbon dioxide. Every cell in our body needs oxygen to function and the only way for this to happen is through breathing.
So, what happens when we breathe? There are two mechanisms that our bodies use to get our breath in and out of our lungs.
Firstly, there is our diaphragm, a large dome-shaped muscle that separates the thoracic and abdominal parts of our torso. When it contracts and flattens, it creates a negative pressure in the lungs which draws breath in. As it pushes down, it causes the tummy to distend, which is why this is often referred to as belly breathing, or diaphragmatic breathing. Then, when the diaphragm relaxes back into its original dome shape, it increases the pressure in our lungs, which pushes the breath out.
Secondly, we can move the rib cage, which comprises 12 ribs, to breathe. When the external intercostal muscles between the ribs contract, the front-to-back diameter of the upper six ribs decreases, as does the side-to-side dimension of the lower six ribs. Thus, to breathe out, the internal intercostal muscles – along with the abdominal muscles – contract to decrease the space inside the rib cage, effectively ‘funnelling’ the ribs down to push the breath out.
We also have ‘accessory’ muscles (the sternocleidomastoid and scalenes) which attach the ribcage to the neck. These muscles lift the ribcage, bringing our shoulders up to our ears. ‘Accessory’ breathing is often seen in people with poor posture, in smokers and in those with lung disease. It is not an efficient way to breathe but can be used to augment the actions of other muscles when we highly exert ourselves, such as running for the bus for example. Habitual users of these muscles can suffer neck problems and arm pain.
Breathing is automatic and is controlled by our autonomic nervous system. Although we can hold our breath for varying short periods, once we pass out through deliberately not breathing, our autonomic nervous system kicks in due to carbon dioxide build up and oxygen deprivation and we start breathing again. We can also direct our breathing to certain parts of our lungs and retrain ourselves to breathe more correctly – i.e. using our diaphragm.
People who do both Yoga and Pilates may become confused by the different ways that breath is used. Both philosophies encourage us to utilise the whole of our lungs for breathing using the optimal muscles of breathing. The way the breath is used will depend on what the Yoga or Pilates teacher wants you to achieve by the particular movement / posture. Breath
is a tool and not a rule and can be changed to alter the focus of an exercise to make it easier or more challenging.
For example, an exercise such as ‘prone press’ in Pilates, where the focus is to be on achieving more upper back extension, the cue is to breathe in as we lift and breathe out as we lower. With a ‘roll up’ from a forward fold, the cue is to breathe out as we lift our heads and chests to facilitate more rounding of the back to enhance your ability to roll up. When we breathe in deeply we extend our upper back and, conversely, flex our upper back when we breath out.
Breath is also a facilitator of stabilisation of the spine. The deep tummy muscles (the transverseabdominal muscle) and pelvic floor muscles work with our diaphragm to maintain the intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) which supports and protects the lower back. When doing an activity where we need greater stability in the lower back – for example when our arms or legs are moving away from our body, we achieve optimum stability on the breath out when we can engage the abdominal muscles more.
As a final thought to leave you with, it is impossible to breathe optimally if we have poor posture. Try slouching and taking a really deep breath; now straighten up and try again. You will find you are able to breathe in a greater volume of air, allowing more oxygen into your body and expelling more carbon dioxide.
Imagine how less efficient our breathing would be if we habitually were to have a poor posture, if the rib cage and upper back became stiff and rigid, if our diaphragm could not descend as far and if we were restricted to only using the upper part of our lungs.
RETRAINING DIAPHRAGMATIC OR ABDOMINAL BREATHING
- Lie on your back with your knees bent up and feet flat on the floor / bed.
- Place your hands on your tummy between your belly button and lower ribs.
- As you breathe in, try to consciously push your hands away and let them fall as you breathe out. Another way of thinking of it is to try and breathe into your hands and then let them fall away.
- You can also place one hand on your upper chest and the other on your tummy and try and ensure that there is no movement under the top hand but only under the lower hand.
As with any exercise or skill that we learn to do, it is never easy at the beginning when we first start and requires often great concentration. But it does become easier and therefore more habitual with practice.
I would suggest trying initially for about 10 minutes before going to sleep at night. Any longer before it becomes easier to do can lead to frustration. DON’T give up, try again the next night and the next…!
As it becomes easier and you can take deeper breaths using just your diaphragm, this encourages relaxation and can lead to improved sleep!
AGEING ACTIVELY
Baseline Activities for All
I believe that there are certain baseline activities that we must never lose the ability to do:
- Getting up from a chair without using your hands to help. This keeps your legs strong.
- Getting down on the ground and back up again. This is great for overall strength and provides peace of mind should you fall.
- Lying flat on your tummy on the ground. This prevents the front of your body getting progressively tighter and avoids getting a ‘dowager’s hump’.
- When lying on the ground, using your arms to push up into a back extension. This is beneficial to the discs in your back, counters all the sitting and bending we do and keeps your arms strong.
- Reaching your toes and feet. This facilitates self-care of your feet and toes.
- Being able to stand on one leg, even for a couple of seconds. This improves general stability.
All of these exercises should be performed regularly – ideally daily – to prevent de-conditioning. If illness or injury prevents you from doing any of these, aspire to get yourself back to where you were as soon as possible.
There is no reason why a 90 year old should not be able to do all of the above.
