Diaphragmatic breathing

Diaphragmatic breathing, abdominal breathing, belly breathing or deep breathing is the act of breathing deep into your lungs by flexing your diaphragm rather than breathing shallowly by flexing your rib cage.

This deep breathing is marked by expansion of the stomach (abdomen) rather than the chest when breathing. It is generally considered a healthier and fuller way to ingest oxygen^{[citation needed]}, and is often used as a therapy for hyperventilation and anxiety disorders.

Note that some yoga and meditation traditions draw a clear distinction between diaphragmatic breathing on one side, and abdominal breathing or belly breathing on the other. Between these two, the more specific technique of abdominal breathing is said to be more beneficial.^[1][2][3]

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Overview

Performing diaphragmatic breathing can be therapeutic, and with enough practice, can become your standard way of breathing.

To breathe diaphragmatically, or with the diaphragm, one must draw air into the lungs in a way which will expand the stomach and not the chest. It is best to perform these breaths as long, slow intakes of air - allowing the body to absorb all of the inhaled oxygen while simultaneously relaxing the breather.

To do this comfortably, it is often best to loosen tight-fitting pants/belts/skirts as these can interfere with the body's ability to intake air. While at first one may not feel comfortable not expanding the chest during breathing, diaphragmatic breathing actually fills up the majority of the lungs with oxygen, much more than chest-breathing or shallow breathing.

The most complete and fullest way of breathing is called "three-part breath" and includes diaphragmatic breathing as the first step, followed by thorax expansion and then chest expansion. This way of breathing is known in Tantric yoga as that which facilitates the greatest flow of life force through the body.

Exercises

A common diaphragmatic breathing exercise is as follows:

1. Sit or lie comfortably, with loose garments.
2. Put one hand on your chest and one on your stomach.
3. Slowly inhale through your nose or through pursed lips (to slow down the intake of breath).
4. As you inhale, feel your stomach expand with your hand. If your chest expands, focus on breathing with your diaphragm.
5. Slowly exhale through pursed lips to regulate the release of air.
6. Rest and repeat.

Caveat

One thing to note is that for some, the diaphragm is dysfunctional or entirely non-functional, in which case one should focus on slow inhalation and exhalation (through the nose and pursed lips).

Breathing through the mouth is never fully recommended, as it will imbalance the solar or lunar channels. The idea is to stimulate sushmana into applying a balanced current of breath through both nostrils (during the in and out cycles). Both the inhalation and exhalation should also be of the same length.

See also

• Breath
• Circular Breathing
• Kussmaul breathing

References

• Staying Healthy and How to Perform Diaphragmatic Breathing
• Diaphragmatic Breathing
• Diaphragmatic Breathing for Anxiety Disorders