Chest Breathing Exercises Techniques

After completion of daily routine work, may be you have some questions like that, “I am feeling stressed or rushed or restless?

Most of us do at some time or another, but when it becomes a regular event it can start having a detrimental effect on our health. Breathing Exercise is a great antidote to these kinds of feelings, but the problem is that our lives are so busy nowadays it can be difficult to find the time to fit any in.

This types of breathing which is called Costal or Chest Breathing is characterized by an outward, upward movement of the chest wall. In chest breathing the expansion is centered at the midpoint and consequently it aerates the middle part of the lung most.

Since the lower part of the lung is most abundantly perfused with blood, we have that ventilation perfusion mismatch described earlier. Thus during resting periods chest breathing is less efficient.

Chest breathing exercises also requires more work to be done in lifting the rib cage, thus the body has to work harder to accomplish the same blood gas mixing than with diaphragmatic breathing, and the greater the work, the greater the amount of oxygen needed, which results in more frequent breaths.

Chest breathing technique is useful during vigorous exercise but it is quite inappropriate for ordinary, everyday activity. Since it is part and parcel of the fight or flight response it occurs when the individual is aroused by external or internal challenges or danger. As a result, chest breathing is likely to be associated with other symptoms of arousal like tension and anxiety.

Since there is a reciprocal relationship between breathing and the mind, chest breathing, if continued during rest periods, will lead to tension and anxiety, thus creating a vicious circle.

With chest breathing the breath is likely to be shallow, jerky and unsteady, resulting in unsteadiness of the mind and emotions. Until chest breathing is replaced by deep, even and steady diaphragmatic breathing, all efforts to relax the body, nerves and mind will be ineffective.