This Korean YouTuber Corrected Her Facial Asymmetry and Poor Posture With Breathing Techniques

Struggling with poor posture and back pain, or want your face to be more symmetrical?

These issues may be due to a curved spine, which affects your body’s overall alignment. However, it seems that breathing might be one unexpected way to fix this issue!

In a recent video, Korean Youtuber JJeong U shares how simply breathing mindfully and stretching helped her align her spine and improve her posture.

In this article, we’ve compiled her most useful tips, so read on to find out how these exercises work!

Identifying The Issues

JJeong U shares that she’s had poor posture since she was in school, which was brought about by constantly leaning to one side to write or leaning on one foot.

Previously, her condition was so serious that surgery was almost necessary.

She shares that it is usually possible to visually identify any serious issues.

You can check if your facial features are slightly crooked or asymmetrical, if your pelvis is tilted instead of parallel to the ground, or if one leg is longer than the other.

After experiencing these issues, she consulted a physical therapist and, with professional advice, corrected her spine to a healthy position.

In her journey to recovery, she used the following at-home exercises that are simple yet effective!

Core Exercises

Core exercises are important for improving balance and strengthening the spine. Hence, JJeong U recommends classic core exercises such as planks, leg raises, and crunches.

She also suggests breathing from your diaphragm, which trains your abdominal muscles.

To practice diaphragmatic breathing, expand your stomach when you inhale.

As you exhale, clench your stomach, applying pressure to contract the muscles.

In addition, even when you breathe normally, she suggests maintaining a slight tension in your core, which engages the muscles there and prevents fat from accumulating too rapidly.

Stretching Your Muscles

Without proper cool down and stretching, your muscles are likely to stiffen after exercising, leading to body aches and back pain.

To relax the muscles at her pelvis after they’ve been tightened during exercise, JJeong U uses a foam roller, placing it below the buttocks.

Then, she bends one knee, placing her foot on the knee of her other leg before rolling from side to side.

She also stretches both the back and front of her thighs by rolling back and forth with the foam roller beneath her thighs.

In addition, she stretches her neck by tilting her head back and pulling her shoulder blades backwards.

She also stretches her pectoral muscles by placing your hand on a wall next to her, with her elbow bent, and pushing her body away from the wall.

Breathing Exercises

JJeong U recommends Schroth exercises after completing the earlier movements. Schroth exercises are a combination of stretching, strengthening, and breathing techniques, meant as a treatment for scoliosis patients.

She suggests wearing tight clothes that will allow you to see the shape of your body during this exercise, as you need to be aware of how your spine is shaped.

If your spine is curved, you’ll likely notice that one side of your ribs is slightly protruding. For this exercise, inhale deeply and allow the air to fill the concave side of your ribs, opposite from the protruding side.

Then, exhale through your teeth to make a ‘sss’ sound, which engages your body more than a regular exhale. While you exhale, imagine that you are shrinking the protruding side inwards.

For an added challenge, you can try doing these exercises while sitting on a gym ball!

Sitting on a gym ball requires you to engage your core in order to balance on the ball, which builds strength and stimulates muscles around the spine.

Alternatively, you can try these exercises while lying down and being mindful of which parts of your torso are lifting off the ground. As you breathe, try to inflate these parts with air and press them down to the ground.

It’s always good to consult a medical professional for serious issues so that their expert advice can guide you on the road to recovery.

However, these easy exercises have indeed helped JJeong U align her posture and straighten her spine, and since they’re literally as simple as breathing, these tips are definitely worth a try!

Featured image credits: @JJeongU/Youtube.