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It turns out that shallow breaths can also become a pain in your neck. Here’s what I mean…
Fun Facts:
– Your Lung’s Capacity:
- Your lung’s capacity in a single breath is generally (.5) liters while your lungs’ total capacity is (4) – (6) liters.
– Your Primary Breathing Muscles:
- Your Diaphragm, and Your Intercostal Muscles AKA the muscles in-between each of your ribs
- These muscles are aided by the pressure of your lungs pushing against the inside of your ribs – AKA from the inside, outward
– Short Shallow Breaths:
- Short shallow breaths limit the expansion of your chest and the mobility of your ribs because your lungs never fill enough to push your ribs outward and move them.
- In response, your chest and rib muscles “lock in place” and in turn, further reduce the probability that you’ll comfortably take in full, deep breaths, which means Your Oxygen Intake is Limited
Yet, your Body has an ideal level of oxygen that it needs in order to perform with strength and efficiency. And, if your chest isn’t expanding enough, your lungs aren’t filling to their capacity, and you have a breathing problem.
So, if you’re only breathing in short shallow breaths, you’re not readily getting the level of oxygen that would be ideal for your body’s functioning.
So, if Your Ribs are Locked Because of Short Shallow Breaths:
- Your body will co-opt your neck muscles to help expand your chest in an attempt to more comfortably take in oxygen.
- The Problem – Your Neck Muscles Job #1 is to move your neck NOT to Help You Breathe
- The Complaint – Now that your neck muscles are forced to do extra work, they complain in the form of pain!
The Neck Muscles that Assist Breathing and Can Often Become Painful over worked and Painful are:
- Upper trapezius,
- Scalenes,
- Sternocleidomastoid, and
- Levator scapulae
In addition, your Pec Minor chest muscle also attempts to help expand your chest so that you can take in more oxygen and keep your ribs mobile.
And so, if they’re constantly forced to provide a breathing assist, over time they get tight, strained, and ultimately CRANKY – AKA they become a PAIN IN YOUR NECK!
The best thing you can do to help your body and fatigue level is to breathe deeply whenever you can. ☺
Other benefits to deep near-capacity breaths:
- You keep your lungs well utilized and stretched,
- The more you breathe in, the more you keep your ribs active – ideally your ribs should stay mobile and lift and drop with each breath
- Deep breaths keep your chest cavity mobile.
- AND deep breaths activate your parasympathetic or relaxation- oriented system active.
Breathe On! & Have Fun!
Christine, The Mind Body Whisperer
Short shallow breaths act as both
- a physical mechanism to help you pull in oxygen so that you have the resources to physically react and/or move, and
- a signal to the brain and body that things may not be “Totally Okay” and “Get Ready to Move!”
AKA a short shallow breath effectively says, “Dear Brain, Get Ready!! – Looks Like We’re Probably Going to Need to Fight or Run!
In other words, short shallow breaths (whether there’s a bucket of snakes or not) signal to your body to contract your muscles so that they’re primed to move AKA Always Actively Contracted and Never Relaxed.
It turns out that shallow breaths can also become a pain in your neck. Here’s what I mean…
Fun Facts:
– Your Lung’s Capacity:
- Your lung’s capacity in a single breath is generally (.5) liters while your lungs’ total capacity is (4) – (6) liters.
– Your Primary Breathing Muscles:
- Your Diaphragm, and Your Intercostal Muscles AKA the muscles in-between each of your ribs
- These muscles are aided by the pressure of your lungs pushing against the inside of your ribs – AKA from the inside, outward
– Short Shallow Breaths:
- Short shallow breaths limit the expansion of your chest and the mobility of your ribs because your lungs never fill enough to push your ribs outward and move them.
- In response, your chest and rib muscles “lock in place” and in turn, further reduce the probability that you’ll comfortably take in full, deep breaths, which means Your Oxygen Intake is Limited
Yet, your Body has an ideal level of oxygen that it needs in order to perform with strength and efficiency. And, if your chest isn’t expanding enough, your lungs aren’t filling to their capacity, and you have a breathing problem.
So, if you’re only breathing in short shallow breaths, you’re not readily getting the level of oxygen that would be ideal for your body’s functioning.
So, if Your Ribs are Locked Because of Short Shallow Breaths:
- Your body will co-opt your neck muscles to help expand your chest in an attempt to more comfortably take in oxygen.
- The Problem – Your Neck Muscles Job #1 is to move your neck NOT to Help You Breathe
- The Complaint – Now that your neck muscles are forced to do extra work, they complain in the form of pain!
The Neck Muscles that Assist Breathing and Can Often Become Painful over worked and Painful are:
- Upper trapezius,
- Scalenes,
- Sternocleidomastoid, and
- Levator scapulae
In addition, your Pec Minor chest muscle also attempts to help expand your chest so that you can take in more oxygen and keep your ribs mobile.
And so, if they’re constantly forced to provide a breathing assist, over time they get tight, strained, and ultimately CRANKY – AKA they become a PAIN IN YOUR NECK!
The best thing you can do to help your body and fatigue level is to breathe deeply whenever you can. ☺
Other benefits to deep near-capacity breaths:
- You keep your lungs well utilized and stretched,
- The more you breathe in, the more you keep your ribs active – ideally your ribs should stay mobile and lift and drop with each breath
- Deep breaths keep your chest cavity mobile.
- AND deep breaths activate your parasympathetic or relaxation- oriented system active.
Breathe On! & Have Fun!
Christine, The Mind Body Whisperer
Short shallow breaths act as both
- a physical mechanism to help you pull in oxygen so that you have the resources to physically react and/or move, and
- a signal to the brain and body that things may not be “Totally Okay” and “Get Ready to Move!”
AKA a short shallow breath effectively says, “Dear Brain, Get Ready!! – Looks Like We’re Probably Going to Need to Fight or Run!
In other words, short shallow breaths (whether there’s a bucket of snakes or not) signal to your body to contract your muscles so that they’re primed to move AKA Always Actively Contracted and Never Relaxed.
It turns out that shallow breaths can also become a pain in your neck. Here’s what I mean…
Fun Facts:
– Your Lung’s Capacity:
- Your lung’s capacity in a single breath is generally (.5) liters while your lungs’ total capacity is (4) – (6) liters.
– Your Primary Breathing Muscles:
- Your Diaphragm, and Your Intercostal Muscles AKA the muscles in-between each of your ribs
- These muscles are aided by the pressure of your lungs pushing against the inside of your ribs – AKA from the inside, outward
– Short Shallow Breaths:
- Short shallow breaths limit the expansion of your chest and the mobility of your ribs because your lungs never fill enough to push your ribs outward and move them.
- In response, your chest and rib muscles “lock in place” and in turn, further reduce the probability that you’ll comfortably take in full, deep breaths, which means Your Oxygen Intake is Limited
Yet, your Body has an ideal level of oxygen that it needs in order to perform with strength and efficiency. And, if your chest isn’t expanding enough, your lungs aren’t filling to their capacity, and you have a breathing problem.
So, if you’re only breathing in short shallow breaths, you’re not readily getting the level of oxygen that would be ideal for your body’s functioning.
So, if Your Ribs are Locked Because of Short Shallow Breaths:
- Your body will co-opt your neck muscles to help expand your chest in an attempt to more comfortably take in oxygen.
- The Problem – Your Neck Muscles Job #1 is to move your neck NOT to Help You Breathe
- The Complaint – Now that your neck muscles are forced to do extra work, they complain in the form of pain!
The Neck Muscles that Assist Breathing and Can Often Become Painful over worked and Painful are:
- Upper trapezius,
- Scalenes,
- Sternocleidomastoid, and
- Levator scapulae
In addition, your Pec Minor chest muscle also attempts to help expand your chest so that you can take in more oxygen and keep your ribs mobile.
And so, if they’re constantly forced to provide a breathing assist, over time they get tight, strained, and ultimately CRANKY – AKA they become a PAIN IN YOUR NECK!
The best thing you can do to help your body and fatigue level is to breathe deeply whenever you can. ☺
Other benefits to deep near-capacity breaths:
- You keep your lungs well utilized and stretched,
- The more you breathe in, the more you keep your ribs active – ideally your ribs should stay mobile and lift and drop with each breath
- Deep breaths keep your chest cavity mobile.
- AND deep breaths activate your parasympathetic or relaxation- oriented system active.
Breathe On! & Have Fun!
Christine, The Mind Body Whisperer
