Autumn Qi Chats | Week 7
Stiffness + Shoulders
This week’s Qi Time chat leads us to talk
about how the phrenic nerve is associated with breathing & shoulder mobility.
What Came First?
Could some of the neck tension, shoulder stiffness, and limited overhead movement we associate with aging be influenced by how we've learned to breathe? We often blame tight shoulders on aging, poor posture, or weak muscles. But what if our breathing habits are also contributing to how comfortably we move?
In truth, it's a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. How we move influences how we breathe, and how we breathe influences how we move. Our diaphragm, rib cage, cervical spine, and neck muscles work together to coordinate respiration and movement.
Consider how interconnected these structures are:
Phrenic nerve: Activates the diaphragm, our primary breathing muscle.
Accessory nerve (CN XI): Supplies the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) and trapezius, muscles involved in neck movement and shoulder positioning.
SCM: Helps lift the upper chest during inhalation when breathing demand increases.
Rib cage + thoracic spine: Must move and expand to accommodate breathing while supporting shoulder mobility.
If our rib cage isn't moving well, we may rely more heavily on our neck and upper-chest muscles to breathe. Likewise, limited neck, shoulder, and thoracic mobility can influence how comfortably our rib cage moves.
Rather than assuming stiffness is simply part of aging, we can investigate the breathing and movement patterns we've practiced for years and discover which ones we can still improve.
The following are the breathing & movement habits to address:
🚫 Limited rib-cage mobility: Little movement through the ribs and thoracic spine during inhalation and exhalation.
🚫 Vertical breathing: Habitually lifting the upper chest and shoulders rather than allowing the rib cage to expand in multiple directions.
🚫 Habitual mouth breathing: Particularly at rest, when comfortable nasal breathing would ordinarily be appropriate.
🚫 Restricted shoulder + neck mobility: Stiffness or limited movement that may influence how the rib cage, neck, and shoulders coordinate.
AGE TRAINING LESSON: Your breathing and movement habits influence one another. Sometimes improving shoulder mobility begins by exploring how you breathe.
Change the breath, change the movement.
Before stretching or strengthening a painful shoulder, get curious about how your body organizes movement. The goal is to assess your current mobility, introduce a different breathing or sensory input, and see whether anything changes.
ASSESS YOUR MOVEMENT - EXPLORE YOUR BREATHING CYLINDER - REASSESS YOUR MOVEMENT
First, explore a few comfortable movements, staying within a pain-free or tolerable range.
✔ Shoulders: Raise your arms overhead. Notice range, stiffness, or discomfort.
✔ Cervical spine: Turn your head left and right. Does one direction feel more restricted?
✔ Rib cage: Rotate your upper body gently in both directions. Notice where movement feels limited.
Next, let’s go over three breathing/sensory exercises and see what works for you!
✔ Sensory for neck and chest for better breathing and increased ROM
✔ Ladder Breathing for wider inhalations & relief
✔ Resisted neck holds as you exhale to release neck tension
Lastly, go back over your original shoulder, neck, and rib-cage movements and see what changed? Did you find a golden nugget?
✔ Did your overhead reach change?
✔ Does your neck turn more comfortably?
✔ Does your torso rotate differently? Or did nothing change?
An immediate improvement doesn't prove breathing caused your shoulder problem. It tells you that changing how you breathe may influence how you move, giving you another training option to explore.
The goal isn't one perfect breathing pattern. It's developing a respiratory system that can adapt to the movements and demands of everyday life.
Neuro-Qi Tip o’the day!
Breathe to move. Move to breathe.
Go over the three drills and see which was YOUR golden nugget
Massage the neck and check daily
Shoulder plucking for better breathing and shoulder mobility
*Video posts every Friday by 11:30am MDT
