What Is Diaphragmatic Breathing?


Diaphragmatic breathing is a type of a breathing exercise that helps strengthen your diaphragm, an important muscle that helps you breathe. This breathing exercise is also sometimes called belly breathing or abdominal breathing. It has a number of benefits that affect your entire body. It’s the basis for almost all meditation or relaxation techniques, which can lower your stress levels, reduce your blood pressure, and regulate other important bodily processes.

Diaphragmatic breathing has a ton of benefits. It’s at the center of the practice of meditation, which is known to help manage the symptoms of conditions as wide-ranging as irritable bowel syndrome, depression and anxiety, and sleeplessness.

Here are more benefits this type of breathing can have:

  •     It helps you relax, lowering the harmful effects of the stress hormone cortisol on your body.
  •     It lowers your heart rate.
  •     It helps lower your blood pressure.
  •     It helps you cope with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
  •     It improves your core muscle stability.
  •     It improves your body’s ability to tolerate intense exercise.
  •     It lowers your chances of injuring or wearing out your muscles.
  •     It slows your rate of breathing so that it expends less energy.

One of the biggest benefits of diaphragmatic breathing is reducing stress. Being stressed keeps your immune system from working at full capacity. This can make you more susceptible to numerous conditions. And over time, long-term (chronic) stress, even from seemingly minor inconveniences like traffic, issues with loved ones, or other daily concerns can cause you to develop anxiety or depression. Some deep breathing exercises can help you reduce these effects of stress.

Here’s the basic procedure for diaphragmatic breathing:

  •     Sit in a comfortable position or lie flat on the floor, your bed, or another comfortable, flat surface.
  •     Relax your shoulders.
  •     Put a hand on your chest and a hand on your stomach.
  •     Breathe in through your nose for about two seconds. You should experience the air moving through your nostrils into your abdomen, making your stomach expand. During this type of breathing, make sure your stomach is moving outward while your chest remains relatively still.
  •     Purse your lips (as if you’re about to drink through a straw), press gently on your stomach, and exhale slowly for about two seconds.
  •     Repeat these steps several times for best results.

The diaphragm is a dome-shaped respiratory muscle found near the bottom of your ribcage, right below your chest. When you inhale and exhale air, the diaphragm and other respiratory muscles around your lungs contract. The diaphragm does most of the work during the inhalation part. During inhalation, your diaphragm contracts so that your lungs can expand into the extra space and let in as much air as is necessary. Muscles in between your ribs, known as intercostal muscles, raise your rib cage in order to help your diaphragm let enough air into your lungs. Muscles near your collarbone and neck also help these muscles when something makes it harder for you to breathe properly; they all contribute to how quickly and how much your ribs can move and make space for your lungs.

Tips to get started and to keep going

Creating a routine can be a good way to get in the habit of diaphragmatic breathing exercises. Try the following to get into a good groove:

  •     Do your exercises in the same place every day. Somewhere that’s peaceful and quiet.
  •     Don’t worry if you’re not doing it right or enough. This may just cause additional stress.
  •     Clear your mind of the things that are stressing you out. Focus instead on the sounds and rhythm of your breathing or the environment around you.
  •     Do breathing exercises at least once or twice daily. Try to do them at the same time each day to reinforce the habit.
  •     Do these exercises for about 10–20 minutes at a time.

You may also refer to the instructional video below:

 

 

 

sources:

https://www.healthline.com

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