Remember, the primary reason we should practice our deep breathing exercises every day (at least once per day) is to train our respiratory system to take slower, deeper breaths.  Let's not forget that your respiratory system is innervated by nerves you can't control (Autonomic Nervous System) as well as nerves you can control (Somatic Nervous System).  That is a pretty cool fact!  You can not directly control your heart, intestines, or kidneys.  They just go on doing their respective jobs without your having to think about it (and a good thing too!).

Your breathing also happens automagically.  However, since your respiratory system also contains somatic nerves, you can control your breathing to a degree.  You can decide to slow down your breathing, speed up your breathing, or stop altogether for short periods.  So why is this important?

As with riding a bicycle, playing a piano, or playing chess, correct breathing is a skill that must be practiced.  The more you practice, the better you get at it.  Mastery of any skill involves burning of the nervous pathways via countless repetitions of the correct actions.  Every time you perform an action, the mind-body link gets stronger, and that action becomes more "automatic".

Most adults become shallow breathers due to years of accumulated stress.  Stress causes your body to go into defense mode.  The result is tense muscles, closed in chest, tight ribs and abdomen, and shallow breathing.  It is as if your body is prepared for a strong punch.  And this would be great if you were hit with that punch.  The problem is your body is always expecting that punch, and remains in a state of protection for months or years -- without you even being aware of it!

Slow, deep breathing is the antidote!  It counteracts the tightness and tension.  And the way to get good at deep breathing is to practice regularly.  Over time, your autonomic nervous system learns to relax.  It begins to understand that there is no need to prepare for war when diplomacy has worked :-).

We do live in stressful times.  A good measure of how much stress is affecting you is how well you breathe.  If your breathing is shallow, then your body is probably revving too high.  So we must mitigate that stress daily.  And your deep breathing practice is the answer.  This is why we spend so much time practicing deep breathing in DPT class.  You are training your mind and body to take slow, deep breaths and to relax upon command.  Remember, this is a skill, and all skills get better with practice!

Are you carrying around excess bodyfat?  Do you have unexplained back pain?  How about low energy, trouble sleeping, or poor digestion?  If you have any of these conditions, chances are the negative effects of stress are at the root of the problem.  If there is one thing that we can point to that causes more sickness and death, that would be excessive stress.  If you keep up with the latest research, you will find that stress (including that in the workplace and home) is a major contributing factor for diseases such as ulcers, back pain, neck pain, cancer, high blood pressure, arthritis, digestive disorders, obesity, heart disease, cognitive diseases, and more.

The muscles in your neck and back go into spasm as a result of both emotional tension (those major deadlines at work; fear of losing your job; etc) and physical abuse (sitting too long at your desk, eyes fixed on your computer; improper exercise; etc).  You may not notice the negative impacts right away, but the stress is killing you just the same.  It causes you to breakdown from the inside out.  Imagine all of the things that would happen to your body (on the inside) if you were being chased by a hungry lion.  This is the "fight or flight" response (activation of the sympathetic nervous response), and we have it for a reason.  Now imagine those changes happening in your body, to a lesser degree, day in and day out.  Let's keep in mind that the sympathetic response is designed to be in effect only every once in a while.  But what happens to a human body if it stays in the sympathetic mode for months or years?  Frightening, isn't it?