Are You Breathing Wrong?

Here's What You Need to Know (Part 1)

Breathing is pretty important. Not only does it bookend our life, but it’s the only autonomic organ system we have some control over.¹ Let me explain. Think of autonomic as meaning automatic, like digestion and reproduction. In contrast, voluntary functions are the systems we have control over, like talking and texting. But breathing is different—it functions automatically, yet we can also consciously change it when we choose.²

Breath as a Bridge

Breath acts as a bridge between your conscious and unconscious processes. Because of this, breathing is one of the few ways we can directly influence other autonomic functions, like heart rate.¹ For example, slowing your breath can send signals to your nervous system to relax, while rapid breathing can activate your fight-or-flight response. That means how you breathe isn’t just about survival—it can be a tool for better or worse health depending on how you use it.

So, Is There a Right Way to Breathe?

Technically, no—but the answer is more nuanced than that. Rather than one "right" way, there are more and less effective ways to breathe in order to optimize function and get the most out of each breath for your health. 

What Does Optimal Breathing Look and Feel Like?

Optimal breathing has characteristics: it’s free and oscillating^.3 That means it’s unrestricted, rhythmic, and adaptable. The ribcage is meant to expand in all directions, like a balloon filling up from the inside out. When breath moves fluidly, it supports both relaxation and movement efficiency. You shouldn’t tense up when you breathe or need to pull air in forcibly. If your neck muscles are doing all the work—think Hulk Hogan flexing—you’re overusing secondary breathing muscles. This can lead to shallow breathing that has a  tendency to ramp up anxiety and send you into “fight or flight” mode.

The Role of the Diaphragm

You may have heard of diaphragmatic breathing, sometimes referred to as belly breathing. The diaphragm is your primary breathing muscle—it looks like a giant mushroom cap separating your lungs from your organs. When you inhale, the diaphragm contracts and moves downward, creating space for the lungs to fill. When you exhale, it relaxes and domes back up, helping push air out.⁴ This rhythmic pulse gently massages the organs. Imagine a jellyfish gliding through the ocean—your breath should look and feel just as fluid and effortless.

Despite its name, diaphragmatic breathing isn’t the same as belly breathing. There are no lungs in your belly—your lungs are in your ribcage. Breathing only into your belly can actually disrupt proper core function, impacting intra-abdominal pressure and pelvic floor support. Even though you don’t want to just breathe into your belly, you also don't want to “suck it in”. Holding your stomach in all day can limit your breathing capacity and create unnecessary tension.

One important thing to note is that the diaphragm isn’t perfectly symmetrical. Its right side is larger, thanks to the liver underneath, which helps it keep its domed shape and push more air out on exhale. On the other hand, the left side is smaller and doesn’t maintain its dome as well, leading to less air being expelled—which subtly shifts internal pressure and the center of gravity toward the right.⁵ The vagus nerve, which plays a key role in regulating breathing, digestion, and the nervous system, is also asymmetrical.⁶

Over time, this natural asymmetry, combined with other factors not covered here, can contribute to postural imbalances that favor the right side.⁷

Breathing, Posture, and Movement: How They’re Connected

Our posture and how we train our core muscles are influenced by the alignment of our ribcage in relation to our head and pelvis. The diaphragm's natural asymmetry—where the right side is larger and more effective at maintaining its dome—can lead to postural imbalances, favoring one side of the body.⁷

Breathing is the foundation of core stability, and it even plays a role in how we walk. That may seem like a stretch, but consider this: the fascia of the psoas—the muscle that stabilizes the spine and moves the leg forward when walking—connects to the diaphragm at its crura, or "mushroom stem."

A simple shift in how you breathe can influence everything from your posture and movement to your mood and even pain levels. It’s also important to note that the diaphragm isn’t just a breathing muscle—when overactive, it can become a postural stabilizer for the spine. Along with muscles of the back, this can pull the body into more extension, increasing stress on the nervous system and keeping us in a more “fight or flight” state.⁵

By breathing more efficiently, we can help bring the body back into balance, promoting rest and relaxation.

Don't Make This Mistake

A big training mistake I commonly see is core strengthening without addressing alignment first. This leads to ineffective training that reinforces our inherent asymmetries and the compensatory movement patterns that come with them, increasing the risk of injury. By addressing asymmetries you set the stage for a more effective exhale. When the diaphragm is balanced and able to fully dome, it improves pressure regulation in the core, enhances stability, and even makes movements feel easier.

An alignment-first approach prioritizes rebalancing asymmetry before retraining. Not only does this create structural benefits, but it also rewires your nervous system. There’s a saying you may have heard, “nerves that fire together, wire together”. In other words, repeated movement patterns strengthen neural pathways. 

So, Why Does This Matter?

The better question is: how can I use breath to my advantage? Learning to breathe well gives you more access to, and ultimately more control over, your body’s functions. By starting with breath—a function that happens all day, every day— you build strength in the most efficient way. 

There’s just one catch: knowing how to breathe well isn’t enough—you need to do it and practice.

Understanding breath is one thing, but making it work for you is another. And what if the key to better breathing isn’t how you take air in—but how you let it go? Don’t miss Part 2: The Key is in the Exhale.

_{¹ Harvard Medical School. Take a deep breath: The healing power of controlled breathing. Harvard Health Publishing, 2020.}

_{² Weil, Andrew. Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing. Sounds True, 2018.}

_{³ Donna Farhi, The Breathing Book. Good Health and Vitality through Essential Breath Work, 1st ed. (Henry Holt and Company, 1996), 45.}

_{⁴ Donna Parise-Byrne and Sarah Petrich, Re-Balancing: Breath, workshop ed. (Self-Published, 2022), 21}

_{⁵ Donna Parise-Byrne and Sarah Petrich, Re-Balancing: Breath, 27}

_{⁶ Stanley Rosenberg, Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve, North Atlantic Books, 2017), 19.}

_{⁷ Postural Restoration Institute. (n.d.). The science. Retrieved April 7, 2025, from https://www.posturalrestoration.com/the-science}