Woven Into the Body

A voyage of discovery.

Woven in

The Diaphragm, Ribs, Sternum and the 3-Dimensional Breath

In Chapter Two, we looked closely at the diaphragm itself.

The two domes, the central tendon and the relationship they diaphragm has with the heart.

Showing that as a structure it is anything but flat, static or isolated.

Now we are going to move a little outwards.

Because the diaphragm does not simply hover beneath the lungs like a parachute suspended inside the body.

It is woven into the rib cage.

Its muscular fibres attach around the inner surfaces of the lower ribs and their costal cartilages. At the front, fibres attach to the xiphoid process at the bottom of the sternum, where both sides of your rib cage meet. Further back, they travel towards the spine through a much more complex network of attachments that we will explore properly later.

So if we want to understand how the diaphragm moves, we cannot look at the diaphragm alone.

We have to watch the ribs move with it.

And this is where the familiar image of:

“diaphragm down, diaphragm up”

starts to become a little too simple..

Your rib cage is not really a cage

The word cage makes the ribs sound rigid.

Fixed.

Protective, certainly, but essentially solid.

Your rib cage is nothing like that.

It has to be strong enough to protect the heart and lungs, yet responsive enough to move every time you breathe, speak, laugh, cough, twist, reach, run or sing.

The ribs articulate with the spine at the back and, for most of them, connect towards the sternum at the front through flexible costal cartilage.

That arrangement creates something wonderfully adaptable.

Stable, but not stiff.

Protective, but not immobile.

So I prefer to imagine the rib cage less like bars around a prison and more like a living structure that can open, rotate, widen, recoil and subtly reorganise itself with each breath.

Think of gills

This is where imagery can really bring our bodies to life.

Rather than imagining the lower ribs as a hard frame, picture them more like gills moving through water. Gently, rhythmically opening and narrowing.

As you inhale, imagine the lower ribs softly widening like gills taking in water.

The spaces between the ribs become a little more available.

The sides of the rib cage open.

The back responds.

The whole lower thorax subtly changes shape.

Then, as you exhale, imagine the gills quietly closing again.

Not collapsing.

Not gripping.

Just returning.

That image usually changes the quality of the breaths we take. What do you notice? Perhaps a different visual came to you? Sometimes I also like to use the visual of a balloon inflating and deflating, or the wings of a bird opening and closing.

Instead of focusing on making our bodies do something when we focus on breath. Thinking:

“Push your ribs out.”

you begin to think:

“Can I allow space to open, to expand?”

That self talk can lead to a very different movement pattern. One that is much more organic and easy.

The diaphragm is woven into those moving ribs

Now picture the diaphragm underneath those gill-like ribs.

Its muscular fibres arise from the inside of the lower rib cage and travel inward towards the central tendon.

So when the diaphragm contracts, it is changing shape within a structure that is already capable of movement.

The ribs when working optimally for you, do not sit still while the diaphragm changes shape beneath them.

They move.

The diaphragm responds to them.

The abdominal wall expands and contracts.

The lungs expand.

The sternum shifts.

Pressure changes fluidly through the thorax and abdomen.

Everything is happening together.

That is why breathing is so much more than a single muscle moving vertically.

It is a three-dimensional change in shape. And that is much cooler!

Breathing moves front to back, side to side and top to bottom

When you breathe in, the thorax (upper body, where the ribs are) increases in volume in several directions.

There is vertical change as the diaphragm contracts and descends.

There is side-to-side expansion through the lower ribs.

There is front-to-back expansion through the chest.

The sternum can move forwards and upwards.

The lower ribs can widen.

The posterior ribs can move.

The lungs fill the space being created.

The abdomen accommodates what is happening above it.

The breath spreads through the whole structure.

This is why I struggle with the instruction:

“Take a deep breath into your belly.”

It reduces something wonderfully three-dimensional into one visible movement at the front of the body.

Breathing is not a balloon inflating forwards.

It is much more like a 3 dimensional world opening, adapting and reshaping itself.

Bucket handles, pump handles... and a much messier reality

If you have studied rib mechanics, or have been to breath work classes, you may already know the traditional descriptions of pump-handle and bucket-handle movement. (I use the bucket handles for the apnoea breath sometimes).

The upper ribs are often described as moving in a way that increases the front-to-back dimension of the chest, rather like lifting the handle of an old-fashioned water pump.

The lower ribs are described as moving more laterally, like the handle of a bucket rising and widening.

These images are super useful.

But only up to a point.

The rib cage does not divide itself neatly into separate mechanical zones.

The ribs rotate.

They move and translate.

Cartilage bends.

The spine moves.

The sternum responds.

The shape of the thorax changes depending on posture, position, effort, age and activity.

So I think of those mechanical models as a useful map.

But not the whole picture.

The body is always more fluid than the diagram.

The sternum moves too

The sternum can easily be forgotten in conversations about breathing.

But it is part of the same moving system. And really important in terms of ageing and pelvic floors.

The diaphragm has a small attachment at the xiphoid process, right at the lower end of the sternum.

Higher up, the ribs connect towards the sternum through their costal cartilages.

So when the rib cage expands, the sternum participates.

During inhalation, the sternum may glide subtly forwards and upwards as the chest changes shape.

But I am not looking for somebody to dramatically lift their chest every time they breathe.

If the sternum is being pulled upwards whilst the lower ribs remain quiet and the shoulders tense and sometimes move up too, I become curious.

Where is movement available?

Where is the body searching for space?

What is doing too much?

What is doing very little?

Again, the question is not:

“Is this wrong?”

It is:

“What is happening here?”

The back of you breathes too

This may be one of the most useful ideas in this whole chapter.

Your breath does not only happen at the front of your body. I think sometimes we do view ourselves as 2D.

But your lungs extend into the posterior wall of your upper body.

Your ribs articulate with your spine.

Your diaphragm has strong posterior connections and relationships.

The back of the rib cage is indeed part of respiration.

And yet many people have spent years thinking of breathing as: chest up, belly out, belly in.

So they naturally look for movement where they have been told to find it.

At the front.

Instead, try putting your hands around the sides of your ribs.

Or slide them further towards your back.

Or lie down and feel the contact between your posterior (back) ribs and the floor.

Now breathe the way you usually do.

Can you feel the back of the rib cage gently pressing into the surface beneath you? Or does it lift away or shift forwards? I sthere a way to focus on feeling an expansion towards the floor or behind you?

Can you sense those posterior ribs widening like quiet gills?

Don’t force it, to start with it is about exploring the fact that movement ought to live here. Closing your eyes gently and visualising your 3D body can really help!

That is why I often use the phrase 360-degree breathing.

Not because every part of the torso should expand equally.

It won't.

But because breathing has the potential to move through the whole circumference of the rib cage.

Gills on the sides, space at the back

If the jellyfish image belonged to Chapter Two, then the gills belong here.

Imagine the sides of your lower rib cage opening like soft underwater gills.

Then let that image travel further around.

Can the gills extend towards your back?

Can you imagine the posterior ribs gently widening and settling?

Can you sense the spaces between them becoming more available?

This kind of imagery can be powerful because it invites movement into the space rather than demanding it or trying to hard to make something happen.

You do not have to shove your ribs sideways.

You do not have to pull air into your back.

You simply offer your nervous system another picture.

And then take some time to notice what changes.

The diaphragm and abdominal wall meet at the edges

There is another lovely piece of anatomy here.

Around the lower rib cage, fibres of the diaphragm meet and interdigitate with fibres of the abdominal wall, particularly transversus abdominis (your corset muscle, that wraps around your abdominal wall it is one of your deep core muscles).

Interdigitate is one of my favourite anatomical words.

It means they weave together like fingers.

Which feels very appropriate for a chapter called Woven Into the Body.

The diaphragm does not finish neatly.

The abdominal wall does not begin neatly.

At the lower ribs, their tissues meet and overlap.

Again, the body refuses to behave like a labelled diagram.

And this matters because later, when we start exploring pressure management and the pelvic floor, these relationships become even more important.

For now, we are simply noticing a theme:

there are no neat edges here.

So what actually happens on an inhale?

The diaphragm contracts and changes shape.

Its domes descend and become less curved.

The thorax gains vertical space.

At the same time, the lower ribs widen.

The chest expands.

The sternum responds.

The posterior ribs move.

The lungs fill into the changing space.

The abdominal contents adapt below.

The abdominal wall accommodates the shifting pressure.

You could imagine the whole structure gently unfolding.

The diaphragm broadens.

The ribs open like gills.

The lungs expand.

The abdomen gently stretches and widens (all the way around)

No part of the breath is a solo movement each movement is a part of the team working together.

And on the exhale?

During a quiet exhale, the diaphragm relaxes and returns towards its more domed resting shape.

The lungs recoil.

The ribs softly narrow.

The sternum settles.

The thoracic dimensions reduce.

The abdominal contents adapt again.

The whole system recoils without needing to be forced.

If inhalation is opening the gills, exhalation is allowing them to drift gently closed.

Not squeezed.

Not collapsed.

Just returning.

I often talk about the breath and its connection to your nervous system (we touch on that in a later chapter) and this ebb and flow connects to that the inhale talking to the sympathetic and the exhale to the parasympathetic parts.

Please do not turn this into another breathing test

This is where people can accidentally make breathing harder.

You learn that the ribs should move.

So you start pushing them.

You hear about posterior breathing.

So you try to force air into your back.

You hear about 360-degree expansion.

So you attempt to inflate yourself evenly in every direction.

And suddenly you are concentrating so hard on breathing that everything becomes stiff.

That is not the goal.

I would much rather you think:

“Can I give my ribs permission to move?”

than:

“Can I make my ribs move correctly?”

That is why I like imagery.

It gives the body an idea.

Then we listen to what happens.

Explore It in Your Own Body

These are not exercises to make you breathe perfectly.

They are simply ways to experience some of the anatomy we have been talking about.

1. The Gill Breath

Place your hands around the sides of your lower ribs.

Let your shoulders soften.

Take a regular breath.

Now imagine the ribs beneath your palms as soft gills underwater.

As you inhale, picture the gills gently opening.

Feel the ribs widening into your hands.

Imagine the movement travelling around towards your back.

As you breathe out, allow the gills to softly narrow again.

Try four or five breaths.

Do not push.

Do not make the inhale bigger.

Simply notice.

Does one side move more freely?

Can you feel movement under your thumbs?

Can you sense the ribs responding without deliberately making them move?

Then let the image go and breathe in a regular way again..

What changed?

2. Find Your Back Gills

Lie on your back with your knees bent.

Notice where the back of your ribs meet the floor. If they don’t you can place a folded towel under them.

Take a quiet inhale.

Can you feel those ribs gently pressing into the surface underneath you?

Now imagine a pair of soft gills opening across the back of your rib cage.

As you inhale, allow the space between the ribs behind you to widen.

As you exhale, let them softly settle again.

Do not try to lift yourself away from the floor. Breathe into and towards it.

Let the contact give you feedback.

Take five easy breaths.

Then return to your regular breathing.

Did the back of your body become easier to notice?

3. Change the Position, Change the Breath

Try breathing in three different positions:

Standing

Sitting and leaning forwards with your forearms resting on your thighs

Lying on your side

Take three or four relaxed breaths in each position.

Imagine the ribs behaving like gills.

Where do they seem to open most easily?

Do the side ribs become more noticeable when you lie down?

Does the back respond differently when you lean forwards?

Does one side feel quieter?

Nothing needs fixing.

You are simply noticing how the shape of the body changes the possibilities available to the breath.

4. Let the Arms Join the Conversation

Stand comfortably and take a regular for you breath.

Now slowly raise your arms overhead and breathe again.

Lower them.

Reach both arms forwards and take another breath.

Then place your hands behind your head and breathe once more.

Notice how the movement of your shoulders and arms changes the shape of your rib cage.

Do the gills feel more open in one position?

Does the sternum move differently?

Can you feel more movement at the sides or back?

The ribs are not working alone either.

They are part of a wider web of muscles, joints, fascia and movement.

5. Trace the Lower Rib Border

Use your fingertips to find the lower edge of your rib cage.

Start near the bottom of the sternum and gently follow the rib border out towards the sides.

Continue around as far towards your back as you comfortably can.

You are tracing part of the territory where the diaphragm attaches internally.

Now place your hands there and breathe.

Feel the ribs subtly move under your fingers.

Imagine the gills opening and closing beneath your touch.

You are not directly feeling the diaphragm.

You are feeling the moving structure it is woven into.

Cool isn’t it?

The rib cage changes the question

Instead of asking:

“Is my diaphragm working properly?”

We can begin asking much more interesting questions.

Where does the rib cage move easily?

Where does it feel quieter?

What happens when posture changes?

What happens when the arms move?

What happens when you lie down?

What happens when you stop trying?

What happens when the breath becomes faster?

What happens when you laugh, cough, walk or lift?

Because the diaphragm does not move inside a rigid container.

The container itself moves.

And the movement of one changes what is possible for the other.

Woven Into the Body

This is why I called this chapter Woven Into the Body.

The diaphragm is not sitting under the lungs like a removable shelf.

Its fibres meet the sternum.

They line the lower rib cage.

They weave into the abdominal wall.

They continue backwards towards the spine.

With every breath, this whole area quietly reorganises itself.

The diaphragm changes shape.

The ribs open and recoil.

The sternum responds.

The lungs expand.

The abdominal wall and contents adapt.

The back moves.

The sides move.

The front moves.

Breathing is not happening inside the rib cage.

The rib cage is part of the breath.

And once you begin to picture those ribs opening like soft gills rather than sitting rigidly around the chest, the whole experience becomes much more alive.

Much more fluid.

Much more three-dimensional.

And much harder to reduce to:

“Take a breath into your belly.”

Next Week: The Three Gateways

In Chapter Four, we are going through the diaphragm.

Literally.

Because three enormous structures need to travel between the chest and abdomen: the inferior vena cava, the oesophagus, and the aorta.

And wonderfully, they do not all pass through the diaphragm in the same way. That would be way to easy!

One travels through the central tendon.

One passes through muscular fibres.

And one travels behind the diaphragm.

Three different routes.

Three very different relationships.

And three more reasons why this extraordinary muscle is much more complicated than it first appears.

Welcome further down the rabbit hole 🐇