Lateral Coastal Breathing Exercise by Pelvic Physiotherapist Lindsey Mortimer
This is a great exercise for getting the lower lobes of your lungs expanding and the diaphragm expanding in all directions. We have a tendency to breathe very shallowly and utilize only the upper portion of our lungs and rib cage. This can be helpful for mid back stiffness, rib flare after/during pregnancy, neck tension and stress.
- Wrap a band around your rib cage – for women around the bra strap line, for men just below the pec muscles
- Cross the band in front of your body and pull the band tightly around your ribs and rotate shoulders out to engage the back muscles and rotator cuffs
- Inhale and expand out into the band – pushing into the resistance of it
- Exhale and allow the band to tighten around your ribs, squeezing them closer together
- Repeat!
*This should not be a painful movement.
*Never do an exercise that causes you pain*