Diaphragmatic Breathing

What is diaphragmatic breathing: Breathing that calms your nervous system, by getting the diaphragm to move through its full range. It's good for anxiety and stress.

Watch or listen to this blog here: https://youtu.be/2PcYrNalA9Y?si=mi_DqwDQR9GEQpTr

Your diaphragm is a muscle at the bottom of your rib cage, separating your lung space from your intestine space. 

Your body usually figures out how to breathe, on its own, without us having to think about it. If you are exercising, your body will naturally breathe differently than when you are sleeping.  

But, these days we have a lot going on and sometimes we get into patterns or habits, due to our busy schedules or stress that pops up, feeling overwhelmed etc, and then our breathing gets stuck in that pattern, our diaphragm muscle can get sort of locked and doesn’t move as much…  its like being in survival mode, faster and shallow breathing, even when we want to be in a calmer state because we are resting.  

Noticing this is the first step.  With awareness, then we have a choice to do something different. 

If you’d like to try it:  Start by finding a comfortable place to sit or lie down.

See if you can notice your current breathing pattern by placing one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen.  

Take a couple breaths here, just observe what your body is doing naturally.  Which is moving more, your chest/rib cage or your abdomen? 

When you are ready, start to inhale slowly through your nose, see if you can let your chest remain still while allowing your belly to expand and get bigger, allow your diaphragm muscle to come down into that space where your intestines live, and then as you exhale through your mouth, let your abdomen get smaller.  

So your inhale allows your belly to expand and get bigger, and your exhale allows it to go back to the starting point.

This may feel awkward, unfamiliar, uncomfortable.  Just give it a couple tries and notice what you feel.  See if you can focus on air moving into and out of your body.  

When a therapist pointed out that I was breathing shallow, only in my chest and walked me through this, it felt like I was exhaling on the inhale.  It felt like I had to work hard to push air into the belly space.  It can take a little practice for this to feel more natural.  But, it will help your body know that it’s safe and ok to relax, or restore.  

After you have practiced it in a calm state , you can start to practice it throughout your day wherever you feel you need it.