The Connection Between Breath & Spinal Health

Did you know that proper breathing techniques are absolutely pivotal for people who have scoliosis? 

Yep! But before I start explaining the how and the why, I want to ask you what I ask all my patients: Do you find yourself yawning and sighing a lot throughout the day? 

For those with scoliosis, that’s completely normal. Let’s talk about why! 

Your Curve is Inhibiting the Breath

For the most part, we sigh or yawn when we haven’t been able to take a full, proper breath. In instances like annoyance, anger, fear, etc., our body’s natural response is to breathe shallower and quicker, which leads us to sigh and yawn. 

However, when we have scoliosis, that state of shallow breathing is pretty much a constant. So your body will often sigh or yawn in an attempt to get some of those full breaths back. 

If you want to figure out whether you’re breathing fully or shallowly, there’s a simple exercise I walk my patients through. 

First, put a hand on your chest and your belly. Then, sit there for a minute, observing whether your chest hand is moving more or the hand on your belly is moving more. 

Interestingly, a lot of time, we’ll naturally change our breathing when we’re doing observation exercises like this. Try not to change anything, and just breathe naturally. 

So… what did you find? 

Your belly hand should have been the one moving more since our diaphragm is where our breathing happens. However, if your chest hand was moving more, that’s likely because you’re taking shallower breaths.

Next, I want you to spend about a minute counting how long your inhales and exhales are. 

Finally, I want you to get into a really slouched position and try to inhale for six counts and then exhale for six counts. Do that about 3-5 times. Then, sit up nice and tall and find some balance under your sitting bones. Lift your ribcage away from the top of your hips, and then repeat the six-count inhale/exhale. 

Notice the difference between the two. Was it easier to breathe when you were sitting up taller? 

These exercises are all about observation. Really, what it’s showing us is that the way our spine is positioned is going to have a huge impact on whether or not we’re able to fully and easily breathe. 

The Core Canister of Spinal Health

There are four muscles that make up the core canister of your muscles — all of which affect your spinal health and your ability to find your corrections. When these muscles aren’t balanced and optimal, one of the other structures needs to pick up the slack. 

In the front of the canister, you have the diaphragm and your transverse abdominus muscles. 

If you press your fingertips into your abdomen and find a deep inhale, you’ll feel the transverse abdominus muscles turn on at the end of your exhale. 

Then in the back of your canister, you have your multifidus muscles.  These will turn on more with your inhale, but you can also feel them as you walk around and your body anticipates your next step. 

At the bottom of your core canister, you have your pelvic floor. This works opposite of the diaphragm. As your diaphragm lifts, the pelvic floor drops, and vice versa. This gives you better stability as you breathe and move. 

I know the core canister is pretty biological, but I firmly believe it’s important to understand how your muscles work in order to learn how to properly breathe. 

Why is Elongation So Important?

This is going to get a little bit more out there, but I want you to visualize something really quick. 

Think about the sail of a boat. If there’s a wrinkle or a twist in that sail, the sailboat is not going to go very far or in the right direction. 

It’s the same thing with your breath. As we begin our breath work and scolio-work, we want to make sure we’re in the most lengthened, stretched-out state. 

Another visual I like to use is the canvas of a painter. When that canvas is stretched out, you make a beautiful piece of art. However, if there’s a wrinkle in the canvas and you paint over it, the paint doesn’t actually go where it’s supposed to go. 

Expansive Breathing

Expansive breathing is great for your lungs and breathwork. There’s a specific type of breathing I like to do with my clients called Sharath Breathing. 

For this kind of breathing, we’re not actually going to let all of our breath go on the exhale. Think of your lungs like a balloon that’s starting to lose air. It gets wrinkled and deflated as it does so, right? 

But, if you untie the balloon and push the air all the way to the top of the balloon, you’ll have a smooth, wrinkle-free surface again. It takes the concavities out, and this same principle applies to our expansive breathing. 

Schroth Breathing Exercise

Sit with your feet planted on the floor. Then, take your hands and cup the side of your rib cage. Find balance under your sitting bones, then tip your hips forward a bit, so you’re sitting right on top of your sitz bones. 

Then, get your ribcage stacked right on top of your pelvis, and lengthen your rib cage away from your hips. 

Now, inhale 50% of your capacity, and then exhale the rest of the capacity without slumping down or sinking back in on yourself. 

Then, inhale 60% of your capacity, and exhale. Next, do 70%, and so on, until you’re inhaling and exhaling at your full capacity. 

Once you hit 100% capacity, don’t exhale all the way. Exhale for 5 seconds only, then pause and maintain that breath for a few seconds. 

Now, inhale again (yep, you should still have plenty of air in your lungs!) Exhale for 5 seconds, then pause and maintain. 

Repeat the last part of our exercise 5 times. Then, finally, relax!

For clients who are in my office, I have them do this exercise laying on their back with their wedge underneath them. 

Over time, this breathing exercise will help you de-rotate your vertebrae and will act as a stabilizer for your spine. 

Let Me Know: How is Breathing Helping Your Scoliosis?

I know that it’s wild to think something as simple as breathing could help our curves and our pain — but it’s true. I see the transformation in my clients all the time. My hope is that these exercises help you and that you can use them daily to find relief.

I’d love to know if you try this out! Drop a comment below and tell me how it felt and what you noticed. Want to share your experience on Instagram? Tag me at @thescoliotherapist