Your Breath Is the Key to Unlocking Pain
If you’ve been dealing with back pain, tension, or that locked-up feeling that just won’t quit, you might think the problem is your muscles, your posture, or maybe even your mattress.
But there’s another deeper layer many do not talk enough about, your breath and your fascia.
Fascia is the web-like tissue that wraps around your muscles in which connects everything in your body. There is facial layers that connect tightness from your feet to your head.
When it gets tight from stress, injury, or years of overuse, it doesn’t just affect movement, it affects the way you breathe, the way your think and even your emotions.
When your breath gets shallow, your nervous system stays in fight or flight, keeping your body braced for impact even when there’s no danger.
This is why stretching alone often doesn’t fix the pain.
You have to use the breath and release the fascia together.
We’re a little over a week out from my wife’s back ER visit and she’s moving well and balanced again.
From mood swings to being able to bend over to pick something up, the change is real.
If you’re in acute pain, try some of these steps to help bring yourself back to a good place quicker.
Phase 1: Calm the System
If you’re in acute pain maybe from a herniation, long travel, or a flare-up start here.
Sit on the floor,( if you can) with your knees bent in front of you and feet flat.
Fold forward so your belly rests on or near your thighs.
Slowly breathe in through your nose until your belly expands into your thighs.
Exhale just as slowly, letting your body soften with each breath.
Do this for about a minute.
This isn’t about “just sitting for a second.”
It’s about telling your nervous system you’re safe to let go now. As you belly breathe, it triggers various mechanisms that promote healing and relaxation. So this part can be done for just about anything, from anxiety, pain, excitement, to frustration.
Phase 2: Open the Fascia
This is an exercise to experience what fascial stretching feels like.
Once your breath feels steadier and more grounded, stand up and extend your arms out to the side in a “T.”
Open your palms fully, then gently move your fingers toward your back until you feel a light stretch. throughout the palms and forearms.
As you hold this position:
Keep breathing into your belly.
Notice how the stretch changes as your ribs and sides expand.
You’re not just stretching muscles here, you’re coaxing the fascia to release its grip.
Phase 3: Target the Pain Area
Putting it together is the hack for acute pain to begin to move through faster. Bed rest is one way, but not the fastest way.
Disclaimer: This is not to pain and you must be mindful.
If your back, hips, or neck are the problem, now’s the time to give them attention.
Move into a small, pain-free range of motion to the affected area: For back issues like herniations.
A gentle side bend for your lower back.
A chin-to-chest tilt for your neck.
A micro hip shift for tight hips.
Any one of these will work to top it off. It is all connected by the fascia. Pick one and see what happens.
Each time, pair the movement with that deep belly breathing.
Your goal isn’t to force change; it’s to begin using the breath to see how you can get the affected area to pen and close ever so slightly. This micro movement creates space for your body to heal itself.
Your body's been talking to you for a while.
Every spike of pain, every locked breath, every night you can’t get comfortable those aren’t random.
They're signals.
When you combine breath and fascia release, you’re not just loosening your body; you’re turning down the volume on stress, rewiring your nervous system, and finally giving your body the green light to heal.
Please, don't wait until your body forces you to stop.
Start listening now, and share this with someone who needs to hear it.
