Tag Archives: synchronized breathing

Trauma literature is replete with ways to use the breath to either come into presence or to retreat from it; breath is our silent partner in nervous system regulation. By breathing deeply and slowly, we slow our nervous system, dipping into a healthy parasympathetic state of rest and digest. When we’re too up-regulated, we breathe shallow rabbit-y breaths up around our collarbones. Traps tighten, shoulder blades reach for the stars, and our necks kink forward. This has neurological consequences, as the very nerve that feeds a range of motion to our diaphragm gets squeezed into oblivion between tight neck muscles.