I was a shallow breather for most of my life, so I was pleased to read Alan Fogel's excellent description of the problem: Waiting to Exhale. The habit of holding the breath often goes unnoticed- even by doctors. The autonomic nervous system sometimes learns to use the breathing muscles in an unsynchronized way, and it's hard to unlearn. Every breath is a struggle, which makes life exhausting - but you don't know why. Fogel explains why conscious efforting doesn't fix it and can even make it worse.
I've had Rosen Method treatments for four years and it made a huge improvement. But my diaphragm still tightens in certain social situations.
For example, when hear people spewing hatred for Republicans, I feel my ribcage clench. Perhaps my muscles are armoring for the hatred I expect to turn on me if I don't jump on their Republican-hating bandwagon. I would like to say "keep your bitterness away from me." But usually I withhold my reaction and my muscles are probably embodying that. We each have our own experiences with hate and this is the variety that I personally encounter so often.
More on my efforts to avoid partisan hatred and loosen my muscles in my book Beyond Cynical: Transcend Your Mammalian Negativity.
