Most of the time, though, our breathing is on automatic and we don't think about it. It is likely that we humans have some breathing problems because of this part-time conscious control over our breathing. So we can easily learn to adjust or modify our breathing just as singers, actors and instrument players do. The problems come when we learn the wrong things, which at the moment don't have bad effects, but eventually they become bad habits which create the symptoms of anxiety. The balloons are not emptied and filled because of their own actions, but by the actions of the entire torso which encloses the lungs.
Breathing takes place through the air passages leading from the nose and mouth into the lungs.
Although the bronchial tubes and lungs are lined with smooth muscles which regulate the flow of air, these are not the muscles with which we breathe. The chest and ribs which are attached to the spine in the back and the breast bone in the front comprise a somewhat flexible cage in which the heart and lungs are enclosed. The chest cage is narrower at the top, and the neck occupies the opening at the top. Of particular interest to us is the wide bottom of the chest cage. The bottom ribs are no longer connected to the rigid breast bone, but are connected by pliable cartilage.