Vertical Vs Horizontal Breathing: Did You Know You're Breathing Incorrectly?

Are You Breathing Correctly?

Are you breathing right now? Well, of course you are! But what if I tell you that you're breathing wrong?

 I know what you're thinking: "What does that even mean? "Breathing wrong?" 

How is it even possible. You've been breathing since the time you were born, so how can someone breathe wrong. It's one of the innate things hardwired in our brain by birth, so how can someone breathe wrong?

All of them are valid thoughts, but still I would say that you are breathing wrong, and you have been breathing wrong most of your life.

So, what exactly do I mean by that? Lets explore this issue in this post.

What Do I Mean by "You're Breathing Wrong"?

To answer this, I want you to notice your breathing for a moment.

Put one hand over your chest and the other over your abdomen. And what I want you to do is watch your hands. Now, take a breath in. Hold for a second. And now exhale. Again: Breath in. Hold. Breath out. One last time: Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

Did you notice your hands? Which hand moved higher?

I'm quite sure that the answer is the one that is over your chest. Clearly, your chest is moving more than your abdomen, and your shoulder's going up and down.

If so, then let me break it to you, that's not how it is supposed to be. Why I'm so sure that this is how you breathe? It's because 90% of the people i.e 9 out of 10 people breathe this way, and this also includes me. It's okay, you're not alone, and we're here to fix it.

Remember this observation for now.

Vertical Breathing Vs Horizontal Breathing

I know what you're thinking: "Now what the heck is vertical and horizontal breathing? I know only one type of breathing; the one that I've been doing all my life, which apparently is the wrong way!"

Just a moment ago we did a little breathing exercise, where you made your observation that your chest is moving more and your shoulders are going up and down when you breathe. This type of breathing is known as vertical breathing, AKA the wrong way of breathing.

Tell me if this sounds familiar: you have neck and shoulder tightness and pain that never goes away, you're anxious, you have difficulty sitting still, you feel overwhelmed all the time, and have difficulty getting good night sleep. All of these problems are attributed to over-using your neck and shoulder muscles and you being stressed.

Your neck and shoulder muscles are not built to do the breathing-- which is what you do when you breathe vertically. Also, by breathing this way you don't let your lungs expand fully to make room for air, thus your breathing is not as effective as it should be.

Vertical breathing is constantly putting your under stress. Vertical breathing leads to shallow breathes, and our body relates to shallow breathes as a sign of stress. This induces stress-related symptoms as our brain then goes on to produce stress-hormone to deal with the "perceived-stress". So, you might not have any actual stress but because of your breathing pattern your brain thinks that you are in stress, and this results in failure of relaxation due to constant presence of stress-hormone in your system.

You can read more about the relation between breathing and stress in this science-backed post I've written before: Deep Breathing Exercise for Stress and Anxiety

The only time it's normal to breathe thoracically (vertically) is when you are pregnant.

According to Dr. Belisa Vranich, who expertise in teaching people how to breathe correctly, we breathe normally up to the age of 5. But after that, as we grow older, we become conscious of our bulging abdomen, and so we try to hold it in. This restricts the natural abdominal breathing, and we develop the unhealthy, wrong way of vertical breathing.

A few other things that messes up your breathing and makes you a vertical breather are:

1. Long hours of sitting- driving long distance or working on your computer.
2. Texting for long hours.
3. Carrying heavy back-pack or purse.
4. Smoking, or lung conditions.
5. Tight clothings.
6. Stress and anxiety.


What About the Horizontal breathing? This is the correct form of breathing. It's the abdominal breathing, more commonly known as the diaphragmatic breathing. In abdominal breathing you abdomen expands and relaxes. The movement of the chest and shoulder are minimal. This is the natural form of breathing and you can observe this pattern of natural breathing in newborns, and even animals.

The main muscle of breathing is the diaphragm, which sits under our lungs. It's basically what divides our chest and our abdomen.

What you're actually doing when you perform abdominal breathing is using your diaphragm to breathe (which is what you're supposed to do). Breathing this way help the lungs to fill up with air properly and you can enjoy the benefits of correct breathing; starting from the feeling of peace to a better good night sleep.

When you breathe vertically, you don't use diaphragm properly.

The other muscles that are present on the chest and neck contribute to breathing only when you're not able to breathe properly because of some disease. So, overusing your neck and chest muscles is not only unnatural but also very tiring for these muscles since they are not designed to undertake natural  breathing in the first place. And thus you land with a stiff neck and shoulder.

Have you ever felt like you just need to take a deep breath? Well, it's your body constantly reminding you that "uh uh dear, you're doing it all wrong."

Diaphragmatic breathing will give you the most benefit in terms of stress relief and meditation. And this is what you should be doing. I've already discussed how you can practice diaphragmatic breathing in the above-linked post. I recommend you check it out and start practicing diaphragmatic breathing: Deep Breathing Exercise for Stress and Anxiety

By not breathing correctly you are inducing many health issues, including stress, which by the way is one damn slow killer. Literally. And so, it's important that you focus on your breathing, and take it seriously.

Conclusion

Breathing is a way of naturally healing yourself. It's the greatest gift we've been given. If you do it right you can benefit yourself greatly and keep a lot of health-related issues away. And if you don't do it right, you induce many health issues.

Abdominal breathing is what you need when you're stressed, anxious or just want to attain peace through meditation.

With a little bit of practice and repetition, you can go back to your normal breathing pattern, and be your own natural anti-anxiety mechanism.

Deep breath in. Hold. Breath out.


Related Posts:
8 Common Signs of Stress on Your Body
7 Easiest Science-Backed Ways to De-Stress

 Breathe in. Slowly. Gently. Deeply.  

- Unknown

Let me know if you try out abdominal breathing. Leave a comment about your experience, or connect with me here:

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© Quirky Writes 2019