Question

Sit or stand for this experiment. Slump your shoulders and slightly round your upper back (thoracic region), hang your head forward as if looking at your phone on at your waist/ on your lap. Now, in that position, take a deep breath. Use your diaphragm, intercostals, and even neck muscles to keep breathing in deeply. Notice how long you can breathe in for, the amount of time as well as the volume. Now, roll your shoulders up and back, put a small sway in your lumbar region, and bring your head so that it balances atop your cervical spine looking straight forward. Now repeat the inhalation. Breathe deeply with the diaphragm, intercostals, and neck muscles. Note how long you are able to make this inhalation and the volume of this inhalation compared with the previous inhalation. What did you notice? How can you explain this observation? What is the take home message of this exercise?

Answer 1

Sit or stand for this experiment.

Slump your shoulders and slightly round your upper back (thoracic region), hang your head forward as if looking at your phone on at your waist/ on your lap. Now, in that position, take a deep breath. Use your diaphragm, intercostals, and even neck muscles to keep breathing in deeply. Notice how long you can breathe in for, the amount of time as well as the volume.

Answer: In this position a person would not be able to breathe freely and would find it difficult to innhale and exhale. Less air inflow is supplied into the lungs and a person would feel uncomfortable in this posture. This would be similar to how a person feels when they have someone heavy sitting on their chest. At the most, a person would be able to hold on to that position and breathe for as long as 15 minutes.

Now, roll your shoulders up and back, put a small sway in your lumbar region, and bring your head so that it balances atop your cervical spine looking straight forward. Now repeat the inhalation. Breathe deeply with the diaphragm, intercostals, and neck muscles. Note how long you are able to make this inhalation and the volume of this inhalation compared with the previous inhalation.

Answer: In this position a person would be able to breathe freely and would feel relaxed while breathing. This is the regular position which a person would use to breathe and more air inflow into the lungs would be supplied.

What did you notice? How can you explain this observation? What is the take home message of this exercise?

Answer: We can notice that a person would find it difficult to breathe in an irregular position since there is less airflow into the lungs. A person would be relaxed and be able to breathe in their regular posture

The take home message from this exercise is that a person can breathe freely in their regular posture when compared to being in an irregular posture.