Lately a specific chicken and egg question has been on my mind.

Do I have tension in my body because I am not breathing deeply?

OR

Am I not breathing deeply because I have tension in my body?

The answer is, probably both.

When I first started meditating, I experienced enough physical pain and discomfort in my body that trying to practice a meditation that focused solely on breathing actually created MORE stress because it would increase the tension I felt when I tried to breathe deeply.

It wasn’t that breathing deeply was the problem. It was that my body didn’t feel safe to take that deep of a breath. And that lack of safety is what created the tension.

Consider this idea, especially in relation to any tension that you might often carry in your neck, shoulders or upper back.

The muscles in these areas are all our “fight or flight muscles“. When we are in survival, our body is getting ready to fight or flea. Picture what posture you would be in when you are getting ready to fight or run. Shoulders hunched up. Arms raised. Muscle engaged.

Not only is that a state of being that creates physical tension, it also means there is no space for the breath to freely flow through without resistance.

And on the other side of that, when we are not breathing deeply, it is signaling to our body that we are not safe and to be ready for some sort of danger, thus causing the muscles to engage or be ready to engage at all times.

We are breathing to survive.

No matter the answer to the chicken and the egg question, the solution is the same.