Breathing is more than a “Life Skill”
It’s something we take for granted. We go through life, moment to moment, not really conscious of the life sustaining action of breathing. Because of this, we think we are naturals at the task. Absolute, undisputed champions of the world when it comes to this breathing thing.
Reality has a slightly different interpretation. As humans, we are very hard to kill because of our insane ability to adapt within our environment. However, when adaptations run out, life gets very uncomfortable and difficult. With respect to breathing, we can be terrible with this task, severely compensating with every breath. And because of this truth, when we become aware of this flaw our body is generally in a very uncomfortable and difficult scenario.
In regards to our featured patient, Ms. Meghan needed to reestablish her ability to breath correctly while keeping stability in her core. This means she had to breath all the way in and all the way out while staying completely firm through her belly. And honestly, more than her belly. She had to stay evenly stable front to back, side to side, and top to bottom throughout the entire breathing cycle. So yeah, kinda hard. Check out this video to see how it is/isn’t done.
Keeping a solid and stable core from the rib cage to the pelvis is critical to relieving pain and stabilizing the tissues of the low back. Taking a breather from time to time in order to reset perfect stability can be the difference between winning or losing the battle to save your spine.
Good luck and #keepmoving
Dr.J