Breathe a Sigh of Relief: How Fixing Your Posture Helps Respiration

The fact that having bad posture isn’t great for your body isn’t anything new. Bad posture has become one of America’s largest health issues. Sitting for long periods of time at your desk at work or your home office has adverse effects on your health, both in the short term and long term.

Why Reduced Lung Function Becomes a Problem

By hunching or slouching too much, your lung capacity is impacted directly. This impact creates issues for other organs and tissue in the body, reducing the amount of oxygen delivered to these tissues. This can lead to shortness of breath, fatigue, cloudy thinking, and even heart disease down the road.

By rounding your shoulders and tilting your head forward, you’re causing the muscles around your neck and chest cavity to tighten, and the rib cage is pushed downward. This compresses the abdomen and limits your rib cage’s ability to expand, leading you to take shallower, more rapid breaths.

These more rapid breaths don’t allow you to fully inhale, preventing your lungs from fully inflating with oxygen-rich air. Exhalation becomes impaired as well, leading to a buildup carbon dioxide and other toxins in your system.

How Poor Posture Changes Your Breathing Patterns

There are two main ways to breathe, the first is by using your diaphragm properly to perform “belly breathing”, or through the improper use of the diaphragm by breathing from your chest, using the muscles around your neck, collarbone, and upper chest area. This is known as an inverted breathing pattern.

Belly breathing is the proper way to breathe. As you inhale, the diaphragm should move inferiorly and the breath travels downward, allowing your lungs to inflate fully. However, breathing from your chest requires the diaphragm to travel upward and the entire rib cage to be lifted upward upon inhalation. This can cause shallow or labored breathing because you’re relying on your weaker, secondary respiratory muscles in your neck and chest to help perform most of the work rather than the diaphragm.

What You Can Do Today to Change Your Posture Habits

If you’re struggling with ongoing mild to moderate neck and/or shoulder and/or upper back and chest pain, plus have sore and stiff neck muscles, research has shown that it is a very common sign that those same people have issues using their lungs and respiratory system.

Obviously, don’t quit your job because you slouch at your desk. Not to mention, it can be quite difficult to always monitor your breathing and posture. Wolf Moon Wellness not only understands this, but has designed its Posture, Core, And Breathwork Course to provide you with every source of knowledge, training videos and corrective exercises, to avoid pain and discomfort while improving your posture and respiratory system.

Curious to see what this course has to offer?

Learn about the essentials of posture, core and breath work.

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About Wolf Moon Wellness

John Laznovsky is co-owner of Wolf Wellness, a successful wellness center located in Holbrook NY that offers various holistic health care modalities. John himself has multiple degrees and certifications. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science and Kinesiology from Cortland University and is a New York State Licensed Massage Therapist. John is certified by the American College of Sports and Medicine, the CHEK Institute and Precision Nutrition.

Mary is a Licensed Acupuncturist and CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach who has been busy in private and clinical practice since graduating from New York College in April 2010. Mary values Eastern Medicine because she believes it is a truly holistic healing practice which incorporates a synchronicity between the body and the mind. She works with her patients building a postive and healthy environment for an optimal healing process. Mary's methods work to treat the body as a whole, seeking out the root of a disease in addition to alleviating the symptoms. She has studied with many experts in the fields of Acupuncture, Tui Na and Qi Gong. Mary has been voted Best of Long Island 2010 (with colleagues) and Best Acupuncturist in Queens 2013 (solo) at 3 Elements Healing Arts Center. In 2015 Mary spent a month at the Sivananda Ashram in the Bahamas training in their famous Teacher Training Program earning her the title of Yoga Siromani (teacher of yoga). She has since been sharing and implementing the knowledge learned there with her clients with great results.

John Laznovsky has over ten years of experience in the field of corrective exercise and rehabilitation as a Personal Trainer, Nutritionist, Holistic Lifestyle Coach and Manual Therapist. He holds advanced certifications in Kettlebells, Functional Movement Screening, Posture Analysis, Sciatica Treatment, Neck and Scapula Pain, Back Pain and CPR and AED.

John specializes in treating disorders of the nervous and musculoskeletal system. By use of systematic postural screenings, gait analysis and range of motion assessments, John is able to locate postural dysfunction and faulty movement patterns that commonly lead to pathology. He assists his clients by utilizing advanced manual therapy techniques to directly treat the issues observed and creates an individualized rehabilitative program for the client to follow. Each rehabilitative program consists of corrective stretches, mobilizations and exercises tailored to help correct the client’s unique set of imbalances.

John's clients range from amateur and professional athletes to people rehabilitating an injury or those who are dealing with acute or chronic pain. John focuses on addressing any imbalances in the body such as chronic muscular tension, weak muscular chains and sling systems and postural asymmetries and works with his clients to correct them using the aforementioned techniques. He also helps clients with various health issues, digestive problems and other ailments by utilizing various holistic and homeopathic modalities. John feels small lifestyle changes can go a long way. Along with in-depth nutritional counseling and holistic lifestyle coaching, John's well-rounded therapeutic and training background add a dynamic edge to the health and fitness scene!

Now that you've seen my credentials, let me give you an idea of my background into my health and fitness journey. I wasn't always the happy, healthy, fit person you see in the picture above. Not so long ago, I was a very unhealthy, frustrated person. I tried to keep it under wraps as much as I could since I was working in and out of gyms as a Personal Trainer. Being unhealthy in the health and fitness scene doesn't really look too good. I was embarrased. I used to get frustrated when I'd see healthy bodied people eating junk and mistreating their body. I, of course, used to be one of these people, until the health issues became so prevalent, I couldn't ignore them anymore. I vowed that if I could become healthy again, I wouldn't mistreat my body anymore and I would also relay this information to help others with their health and well being.

My symptoms included: chronic IBS and digestive distress. I would commonly find blood in my bowel movements, not to mention I was going about 4-6 x a day! My stomach was always bloated and I would constantly get cramps and pain in my abdomen. Muscular cramps and muscle spasms were a common thing for me. I just assumed it was because I worked out really hard and it was normal. I was also unable to get those beach ready abs : (

I suffered constant sinus pressure and congestion and I would frequently become dizzy and lose my sense of balance. I remember being nervous walking down hallways with other people because I was afraid I was going to bump into them. I found myself getting sick multiple times a year and missing work because of it. I visited several doctors and specialists, they ran some blood tests and other screenings but they didn't really have an answer except antibiotics and nasal sprays for my sinuses.

Chronic fatigue and irritability plagued me. Sometimes at the end of a day I would just lie on my bed shaking because I was so run down. My immune system seemed to be getting weaker, my symptoms became worse and I had no explanation for any of it. I asked the Doctors several times if the nasal spray had any side effects because I suspected it was the reason for my weakend immune system, they replied "No, keep taking it, it will help." One day I saw a commercial on T.V. for the commercial brand of the nasal spray I was taking and they listed a suppressed immune system as a side effect of the drug. I knew it! I finally figured out that the chronic rounds of antibiotics, nasal sprays, poor diet and lifestyle had all severely weakend my immune system.

As if a blessing from god, I met Mary, whom is now my wife : ) Mary, being a licensed acupuncturist, introduced me to some concepts and protocols from Eastern Medicine and acupuncture treatment. At this time, I was also getting heavily into learning nutrition and lifestyle and functionality as taught by Paul Chek, John Berrardi and other health and fitness gurus. Dont get me wrong, I already had a solid background in nutrition and fitness with my degree and experience as a trainer but the info I learned outside of school took me to the next level. Mary knew how to test me for food senstivities and allergies since she is certified in Applied Kinesiology as well. It turns out that I had a lot of food allergies and sensitivities! I also realized, from my own research, that I had leaky gut syndrome and candida over-growth. I worked with a Naturopathic doctor who helped me further tweak my diet and lifestyle and put me on a few different supplements from Standard Process to help me heal.

Switching to an Organic diet and lifestyle, cutting out processed foods (even the organic ones) as much as possible, eating the right type of foods for my body type, following the proper guidelines to heal leaky gut and reduce candida over-growth, really helped me take my health to the next level. I started a meditative/ spiritual practice and allowed more love and peace into my life. The changes to my health and well being didn't happen over night, it happened in stages but I was patient and determined. Since the beginning of my health journey, my knowledge in regard to nutrition and the human body have increased extensively. Mary watched me grow stronger, healthier and more peaceful as time went on.

I can now proudly say that I am the healthiest and happiest I have ever been! I have also kept my promise to relay this information to others, being the proud co-owner of Wolf Moon Wellness with my beautiful wife. I wish everyone the best in their journey and we would be proud to be a part of yours.

Be well,
John Laznovsky

My journey to health began in early 2012. I was still pretty fresh out of school and working at a busy health and wellness center helping people get great results with acupuncture while I was ironically at my most unhealthy. I was stressed out and overworked, trying so hard to prove myself and I was suffering the consequences physically and mentally. I was at least 20 pounds over weight, had terrible acne, bad pms and irregular periods. I found myself often bouncing back and forth between anxiety and depression and looking forward to drinking my cares away with friends on the weekends as an escape (and drinking more than I should have been too!). Add in a sweet tooth and all the take out I was eating and it was just an endless cycle of feeling crummy, but I didn't really know any different way to feel at that time. One day I distinctly remember looking at myself in the mirror and saying "This is it Mary, you're either going out shopping for all new clothes in a larger size or you're getting your butt in gear." This was the first major step in changing my ways.

I was living in Long Beach at the time so I traded the bar scene for the pool and the boardwalk. I ordered less take out, made some healthier choices and within about 6 months had really started to see some change. Far from perfect, I was still working with the bad skin and some extra fluff, but I felt better not only physically but in my mental emotional being. I was even ready to give dating a go!

With a little help from God, destiny and a good online profile; ENTER JOHN.

John had already begun his healing journey as well and was way further along with his diet and nutrition than I was. I remember being FASCINATED by the way he was eating! My food choices had always been guided by a combination of taste and calories, always more concerned with if it would make my thighs bigger rather than thinking of actual health benefits. John ate in ratios; proteins, carbs and fats and he ate breakfast EVERYDAY! Who was this crazy cat?! John loves to tell the story when I called him complaining of a headache when we first started dating and he asked me what I had eaten that day and how much water had I drank. My reply was " a few cookies and 3 cups of coffee". That was my first lesson on the relationship between what you put in your body and how you feel. He introduced me to organic and what the benefits were for your body and the environment and slowly but surely we helped each other put together all the elements of our healing process. We actively put good things into our bodies and eliminated the non organic foods, processed foods and chemicals. My skin started to completely clear and my weight became a non-issue. I lost the last few pounds and since changing to a whole food organic diet I've never had a problem with it again (As I write this, I am 6 months pregnant and weigh less than I did before I started my journey). It helps that I married my nutritionist!

John and I created Wolf Moon to share all that we've learned along the way so more people can experience the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle. Neither one of us will EVER tell you it was easy, but we will always say it was worth it.