Constantly holding my breath and tensing upper body - weak core?! Please help

[JaJaWoo]

Since having my last child I just don't feel right with my breathing. I don't have a problem with my lungs but feel that now I just hold my breath all the time. Even during sleep and it's affecting my sleep. I constantly have tight shoulders and neck. When I breathe in I'm fine but my exhalation is all over the place.

I have a diastasis recti and really weak muscles. I think it's related to this. Anyone else confirm that this can affect the way you breathe?

Bump!

My first thought was this is stress/anxiety

Esp the tight shoulders and neck along with shallow breathing - stress. Try some breathing exercises on YouTube eg box breathing or physiological sigh to help regulate inhalation and exhalation

Anxiety? I hold my breath a lot when my anxiety is bad