Breathing: it’s something we do every second of every day, often without giving it a second thought. But what if the way we breathe could significantly impact our wider health and well-being? It turns out, the mechanics of breathing, meaning the way we take in air and expel it, play a far greater role in how our bodies function than most people realise.
When our breathing mechanics are working well, everything from our posture to our sleep, digestion, and even our ability to manage stress benefits. But when things go wrong, the consequences can ripple through our body. Here’s an overview of the importance of our breathing mechanics, what can go wrong, and the surprising ways your breathing may be impacting different parts of your body.
Understanding Breathing Mechanics
At its core, breathing is a beautifully coordinated process involving the diaphragm, intercostal muscles, lungs, and chest cavity. When we inhale, our diaphragm (a dome-shaped muscle beneath the lungs) contracts and moves downward, creating a vacuum that pulls air into the lungs. At the same time, the intercostal muscles between the ribs expand the chest cavity to accommodate this influx of air. Exhaling is typically a passive process, with the diaphragm relaxing and pushing air out as the chest cavity returns to its resting state.
Ideally, breathing should primarily involve the diaphragm, a pattern known as diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing. Diaphragmatic breathing lets your body intake sufficient oxygen, reduces excess (unnecessary) strain on the body, and supports core stability. However, due to factors like stress, poor posture, or sedentary habits, many people develop shallow, chest-based breathing patterns. These less efficient patterns can lead to increased tension in the neck and shoulders - which can reduce the amount of oxygen that gets delivered around the body.
The Importance of Good Breathing Mechanics
Think of breathing as the foundation of your body’s performance. Proper breathing mechanics ensure that your body gets the oxygen it needs to fuel every cell. Oxygen is vital for energy production, cellular repair, and overall function. Beyond oxygen delivery, good breathing mechanics help stabilise your core, improve circulation, and activate your parasympathetic nervous system which is the part of your nervous system that is responsible for relaxation and recovery. This means that breathing well doesn’t just keep you alive - it actually helps you feel and move at your best.
When your breathing habits are less than ideal, the balance can get disrupted, and your body can quickly start to feel greater fatigue, stress and muscle tension as a result of less oxygen circulating from the shallow (or inefficient) breathwork. With time, the result can be poor posture, cardiovascular strain, and even digestive disruptions among other issues.
What Can Go Wrong With Breathing Mechanics?
When something is going wrong with your breathing mechanics, we call it “dysfunctional breathing”. It can develop from various causes including chronic stress, poor posture, and medical conditions such as asthma or sleep apnea. Common issues include:
- Chest breathing - relying on the muscles in your chest, neck, and shoulders instead of your diaphragm can lead to tension and inefficiency.
- Mouth breathing - when you breathe through your mouth, you bypass the natural filtration and conditioning processes that occur in the nasal passages, reducing the quality of air reaching your lungs.
- Shallow breathing - taking in short, incomplete breaths limits oxygen intake and can trigger a stress response in the body.
If your dysfunctional breathing patterns continue without being corrected, they can create a self-reinforcing cycle where your body simply gets used to this way of breathing, or creates restrictions that keep your body here - a cycle that can be increasingly difficult to break. As an example, if your shallow or chest breathing leads to increased stress levels and hence greater tension in the upper body, then you can end up limiting the movement of your diaphragm, which then promotes shallower breathing.
Over time, these issues may compound, affecting posture, sleep quality, and even the function of internal organs. The body adapts to these inefficient patterns, making it harder to transition back to natural, diaphragmatic breathing. Correcting these habits often requires intentional effort, retraining the body to breathe efficiently and addressing any secondary issues that have developed as a result of long-term dysfunction
The Impact of Breathing Mechanics on Health
Sleep Health
Have you ever woken up feeling tired despite getting what seemed like a full night of sleep? Your breathing mechanics might be part of the problem. Poor breathing habits can lead to sleep disorders such as snoring or obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). In OSA, the airway becomes blocked during sleep, causing breathing interruptions and reducing oxygen levels in the blood. These disruptions fragment your sleep and increase the risk of cardiovascular issues, fatigue, and poor concentration during the day.
Practising diaphragmatic breathing before bed can help you relax and prepare your body for restorative sleep. It works by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms your mind and eases you into deeper, uninterrupted sleep cycles. Breathing through your nose (‘nasal breathing) plays a key role in maintaining open airways and enhancing oxygenation during the night.
Balance and Posture
Breathing mechanics and posture are more connected than you might think. The diaphragm isn’t just a respiratory muscle; it’s also a key player in stabilising your core. When you breathe correctly, your diaphragm supports your spine and helps maintain proper alignment. This connection between breathing and posture is why athletes and dancers often focus on their breath to improve stability and movement.
When your breathing mechanics are compromised, it’s easy to adopt compensatory postures like hunching your shoulders or tilting your head forward to better facilitate airflow. Over time, these postural imbalances can lead to muscle tension, joint pain, and even an increased risk of falls due to reduced balance. Relearning proper breathing patterns can help restore alignment, improve core stability, and enhance overall mobility.
Digestion
Proper diaphragmatic breathing creates a gentle massaging effect on the abdominal organs which can support healthy digestion. The rhythmic movement created by your diaphragm can help stimulate your vagus nerve - the nerve that plays a crucial role in digestive processes like your stomach acid production as well as the movement of food down through the intestines.
On the other hand, shallow breathing reduces diaphragm movement, depriving your abdominal organs of this natural stimulation. As being chronically stressed is often accompanied by poor breathing patterns, those under constant stress may find their digestion is slowed even further as their sympathetic nervous system is activated, which prioritises ‘fight or flight’ responses over ‘rest and digest’ functions. This can lead to issues like bloating, constipation, or discomfort. Focusing on deep, controlled breathing can help reset your digestive rhythms and support overall gut health.
Neck Tightness
If you frequently experience neck tension, your breathing mechanics could be a contributing factor. Shallow, chest-based breathing places extra workload on accessory muscles in your neck and shoulders, such as the scalenes and sternocleidomastoid. These muscles are designed to assist with breathing in emergencies, not to handle the constant demands of everyday respiration.
Overusing these muscles can lead to chronic tightness, discomfort, and even referred pain to other areas like the upper back or jaw. By retraining your breathing to engage the diaphragm, you can reduce reliance on these overworked muscles, easing tension and improving your overall comfort.
Headaches
Poor breathing mechanics can be a hidden trigger for headaches. When your breathing is shallow then the oxygen delivery to the brain is reduced, which can potentially lead to tension-type headaches. Additionally, the physical strain from overusing neck and shoulder muscles during chest breathing can radiate to the head, exacerbating discomfort.
Encouraging nasal and diaphragmatic breathing can improve oxygenation and alleviate muscle tension, reducing the frequency and severity of headaches. Relaxation techniques like deep breathing exercises can further support headache management by calming the nervous system and easing physical stress.
Can Physiotherapy Help With Better Breathing?
Yes - this is one area we work with our clients on when we identify that their breathing mechanics contribute to their pain, injury or symptoms. Our physiotherapists are experienced in identifying breathing difficulties and helping you improve your respiratory function, lung capacity and overall breathing mechanics. To help you, we may use:
- Breathing exercises: many of the clients we work with benefit from learning a series of breathing techniques designed to retrain their breathing technique, improve or support their lung capacity, increase respiratory muscle strength, and promote efficient oxygen exchange. These exercises may include diaphragmatic breathing, pursed lip breathing, and controlled deep breathing.
- Postural education and correction: we often find that musculoskeletal imbalances or postural issues impact a person’s breathing mechanics. Hence, improving posture and ergonomics may help optimise your lung expansion and breathing efficiency.
- Exercises: for some people, having tailored exercise programs that help with cardiovascular fitness, strengthening respiratory muscles and enhancing physical conditioning can support a better breathing capacity and help address imbalances when it comes to your breathing mechanics. These programs may include aerobic exercises, resistance training, and specific breathing exercises.
- Self-management education: a big part of what we do is also empowering you with the right information about why you’re experiencing the symptoms you are, and teaching you breathing techniques and strategies to help promote your health and wellbeing. Depending on your symptoms or concerns, this may include support on how to stay mindful of your breathwork and breathing habits, energy conservation, pacing activities, and relaxation to reduce breathlessness or the likelihood of shallow (or suboptimal) breathing.
As with all of our physio care and solutions here at PhysioCentral, your physiotherapist will always complete a thorough assessment first and foremost to understand the underlying causes of your symptoms, any medical or other management you’re currently receiving, your goals and daily life and activities, and more. From here, we chat with you and create a management plan to best support optimal breathing, optimise your health, and help you reach your goals.
Get Started At Home With This Simple Diaphragm Breathing Exercise
- Sit comfortably in a chair or lie down on your back with your knees bent. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach, just below your ribs.
- Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose. Focus on letting the air fill your lower lungs so your stomach rises under your hand. Try to keep the hand on your chest still.
- Gently exhale through pursed lips (as if you’re blowing out a candle). Let your stomach fall as you push the air out. Again, keep the hand on your chest still.
- Do this for 5-10 breaths. Focus on keeping your breathing slow and controlled.
Tip: Aim for a rhythm of about 4 seconds inhaling, a brief pause, and 6 seconds exhaling.
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