Why Belly Breathing Isn't the Answer

What your neck pain, pelvic floor issues, and stubborn belly pooch all have in common

Tight neck and shoulders? Belly that won’t go flat no matter how much you work your core? Pelvic floor heaviness, leaking, low back pain, or just feeling constantly on edge? These aren’t separate issues. They often share a single root: you’re not breathing into your back.

We’re all told: “Take a deep breath into your belly.” But if you’ve ever watched someone do that all day long, expanding their stomach with every inhale, it doesn’t look quite right. There’s a reason it feels off. It’s not how we’re built to breathe. And for many people, especially those who are postpartum or have pelvic floor dysfunction, it can actually make things worse.

Yes, we want movement in the core with each inhale. But not just in the front. Healthy breathing is about balance. Imagine a hula hoop or a canister around your ribcage and waist. As you inhale, you want that hoop to expand in all directions: front, sides, and back. That’s 360-degree breathing. That’s what supports your spine, activates your deep core, and helps regulate your nervous system.

Most people don’t breathe this way.

Stress, trauma, poor posture, and daily patterns all pull us into a shallow chest-breathing state. Our shoulders rise. Our breath gets short. And the diaphragm stops doing its full job. You might still use it a little, but not efficiently. That’s where the “belly breath” advice came from, to help reconnect people with the diaphragm. But once you’ve reconnected, staying stuck in belly-only breathing becomes counterproductive.

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The breath follows the path of least resistance. And the soft tissues of the belly offer an easy escape route. Meanwhile, the back and sides, where your diaphragm is meant to expand, get tight, stiff, and neglected. That restriction throws off your whole pressure system. It affects posture. It blocks your core. It overloads your neck and shoulders. And it places downward pressure onto your pelvic floor and abdominal wall, exactly what we don’t want if you’re recovering from pregnancy, trying to heal a prolapse, or managing diastasis.

There are actual muscles between your ribs that are meant to expand and contract with each breath. When we breathe fully into the side and back ribs, we activate them. We create movement. We restore rib mobility, thoracic mobility, and give the body the structural support it’s craving.

Breathing into your back isn’t just about anatomy. It’s about energy and ease. When you don’t, your upper traps and neck do the work. That leads to chronic tightness, tension headaches, and a forward head posture that makes your whole upper body feel heavy. But when you expand your breath back into your ribs, everything softens. Your shoulders drop. Your nervous system calms. Your core starts to activate again. It literally changes how your body looks and feels in seconds.

I teach this to every single client. And I do it myself every night when I crawl into bed. It helps me sleep better, digest better, move better. I use it before workouts, before teaching, before walks, even just to reset in the middle of the day. It’s simple and powerful, and it changes everything.

Here’s how to try it:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKpNOUVhqXN

Or watch the full guided version on RMTV:

https://reganmovement1.vhx.tv/videos/1-reset-technique-relearning-how-to-breathe

Lie face-down with a small pillow or rolled towel under your front ribs and belly. This blocks the breath from going straight into your stomach and encourages it to expand into your back and sides. Inhale gently through your nose. As you breathe in, feel the ribs widen into your lower back and side body. On the exhale, let the ribs melt back down and in slowly. Try to make your exhales longer than your inhales. Once it feels natural, sip in a little extra air at the top of your inhale to find even more space. Repeat for 1 to 2 minutes.

That’s it. Nothing fancy. Just a small shift with a massive payoff.

Want help feeling this in your body? My video classes on RMTV walk you through exactly how to integrate this into your movement practice. It’s the foundation of every core-based program I teach because without breath, nothing else can fire properly.

Add this to your day. Morning, midday, pre-workout, or right before bed. You’ll feel the difference immediately. And so will your body.

With love,

Regan