I added this breathing technique to my flexibility routine and it helped me get a deeper stretch

I usually find stretching soothing, but sometimes I hit a stubborn, tight muscle that feels really uncomfortable.

My usual tactic is to grit my teeth and push through the discomfort, but physical therapist Dr Rockie Felder says this isn’t always the best approach.

“Your muscles can be tight, but you can also have something called neural tension, meaning your nervous system is tense as well,” explains Felder.

When your nervous system is on high alert, it signals to your body that your muscles shouldn’t relax, so you can’t sink into a stretch.

To ease this neural tension, Felder suggests a simple deep breathing practice.

“Doing diaphragmatic breathing helps calm our nervous system,” she says. “It actually helps not just your muscle fibers lengthen, but your neural tension to decrease.”

Felder’s favorite breathing technique is box breathing, which involves inhaling for four seconds, holding for four seconds, exhaling for four seconds and holding again for four seconds.

I decided to try this with my usual stretching routine—here’s what happened.

I had to relearn how to breathe

When I first tried box breathing during my stretches, I found myself out of breath after each hold.

I eventually realized I was breathing too shallowly into my chest, which meant my body didn’t have enough oxygen to feel comfortable.

Shifting my focus to breathing into my belly fixed this, though it took me a few sessions before I got the hang of coordinating diaphragmatic breathing with each stretch.

I got a deeper stretch

I hold most of my stretches for 60 seconds and I usually feel my muscles relax somewhere around the halfway mark—after that, I can move a little deeper into the pose.

With the deep breathing, the relaxation reflex kicked in earlier—around 15 to 20 seconds.

Sometimes this happened twice within the minute, which meant I got an even deeper and more satisfying stretch.

It made my routine more relaxing

I usually enjoy stretching, but find working on tougher muscles—like my hamstrings—a bit of a chore. So I would often finish a flexibility session more frustrated than relaxed if my muscles still felt tight.

When I added this breathing technique, I came away from every session feeling a lot more peaceful.