Breathing Restoration

The Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) is a holistic approach that respects the need to establish appropriate breathing patterns. Proper breathing is the foundation for your overall health. One 2 One Physical Therapy is a certified Postural Restoration Center with doctors of physical therapy who are experts in breathing retraining. 

We recognize that the human body functions in neuromuscular patterns which are asymmetrical in nature, primarily due to the different sizes of your left and right respiratory diaphragm leaflets, lateralization of your brain hemispheres and your environment. This asymmetry creates a natural twist in your body that is present with your every breath and step. Stress of any kind can result in your body tightening up and coiling into an asymmetrical dysfunctional breathing pattern.

Dysfunctional breathing patterns impact your whole being:

  • Movement and energy — when you lung regions are underinflated or overinflated, your respiratory function is inefficient, causing you to feel sluggish
  • Sleep — locked-up breathing patterns have a direct impact on your ability to breathe at night and may cause sleep apnea and restless sleep
  • Biochemistry — improper breathing alters blood gas levels and reduces the ability of your body to delivery oxygen to tissues
  • Immune system — when your lungs do not pump and vent properly, your lymphatic system becomes stagnant and impairs your ability to flush out toxins
  • Nervous system — poor breathing habits inhibit your body from shifting between a parasympathetic (rest and digest) state and a sympathetic (fight or flight) state at the appropriate times


We use manual and non-manual techniques to retrain your body to learn proper breathing patterns. Our diaphragmatic approach promotes nostril breathing and incorporates fun exercises like humming, vowel toning, kazooing and blowing up balloons. Many of us don’t realize we even have a breathing dysfunction at the core of our health issues. We teach you to breathe right so you can live right!

One 2 One Physical Therapy is Hiring!

One 2 One Physical Therapy (One2OnePhysicalTherapy.com) is a unique, privately owned, Postural Restoration Certified Center located in Alexandria, VA just 15 minutes from downtown Washington DC. We offer

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Breathing during COVID-19

We created this video and accompanying blog article to teach you what we consider to be one the most important exercises you can do right now to improve lung health and potentially help prevent and manage the breathing and respiratory issues related to COVID-19.

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