How Breathing Changes Your Posture
Breathing is not just about getting oxygen into the body and carbon dioxide out of the body. The diaphragm is the primary breathing muscle. It sits underneath the rib cage and works together with the abdominal muscles, pelvic floor and deep spinal muscles to create pressure and stability through the trunk. When this system changes, your body changes.
What happens when the diaphragm is not moving well?
Ideally, the diaphragm should move down and expand during inhalation, allowing the ribs to widen and the body to create efficient pressure through the trunk.
However, when breathing becomes altered, often due to stress, prolonged sitting, fatigue, pain or increased demands, some people develop a more rigid rib cage and reduced diaphragm expansion.
How does this change posture?
When the diaphragm has less ability to expand it can become stiff and tight. This can influence the position of the sternum and change the shape of the chest, upper back and abdomen leading to a more “hunched” posture.
At the same time, when the diaphragm is not contributing efficiently to breathing, the accessory muscles around the neck and shoulders may become more involved. These muscles can become short and tight overtime - pulling the head forward. The eyes, always working to find the horizon will cause the head to lift, shortening the muscles at the base of the scull. This can sometimes lead to neck pain/migraines.
What happens when the head moves forward?
The head weighs approximately 4-5kg in a neutral position, but as it moves forward, the demand placed on the muscles and joints of the neck increases.
As the head moves further away from the body’s centre of gravity, the muscles at the back of the neck work harder to keep your head lifted. The deep neck muscles become less efficient.
It is similar to holding a weight close to your body compared with holding it out in front of you, the further away the load is, the greater the effort required.
Improving the system
The goal is not to force a “perfect posture”.
Instead, we want to restore movement and coordination between:
Neck stabilisers
The diaphragm
Rib cage
Deep abdominal muscles
Pelvic floor