Breathe and Save Yourself the Headache

Test time.

With someone watching you, lie on your back and take a huge breath in through your nose and slowly release it out of your mouth.

Now ask the person watching if they saw your chest and shoulders rise up towards your ears. I bet you a dollar they say yes. 

This video of is of yours truly that demonstrates bad vs good breathing mechanics. What you are looking for is movement in your mid-drift only, you don't want to be shrugging your shoulders up and down.

Being a chest/shoulder breather is probably what is giving you all those headaches and all that neck pain from the muscles in the shoulder, chest and back complex constantly being active for every single breathe you take (about 20,000 a day).

You’ll also take very shallow breathes that barely reach your lungs resulting in poor oxygen delivery throughout the body.

Will massage help this? No way. Not unless you’re going to stop breathing!

Massage will only decrease the tension in those muscles but as soon as you breathe again then they'll tighten right back up.

By learning to use your diaphragm to breathe, only then can you decrease the activity of those muscles which will then give them a chance to actually chill out for a while helping to alleviate the nagging neck pain and headaches.

Improved oxygen circulation through the body can also help avoid the mid afternoon, dying for a nap sensation come 2pm when sitting at your desk at work. 

Do 10 big breathes twice a day, everyday, for the next month and notice the difference.