Diaphragm Breathing, the Practice Good For Your Health
Breathing is one of those processes that happen by themselves, without requiring any regulation on our part. However, if desired, we can control it by changing the frequency, depth, speed of inhalation and exhalation. There are many breathing practices with which it is possible to influence your physical and emotional state. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is one of these simple and useful techniques.
Diaphragmatic breathing is one of the best ways to provide the body with enough oxygen. An adult receives up to 2/3 of the volume of air precisely due to the contraction of the diaphragm and only 1/3 – with the movement of the chest.
The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle located under the lungs and separating the chest and abdominal cavity. When we inhale, it goes down, when we exhale, it rises, pushing the air out of the lungs. The abdomen actively participates in diaphragmatic breathing: it smoothly protrudes and retracts during inhalation and exhalation. At the same time, the chest remains motionless. Such breathing from the point of view of health is considered the most useful.
It is important to note that diaphragmatic breathing does not contract the muscles of the chest, as well as the muscles of the press. They remain relaxed.
What are the benefits of diaphragmatic breathing?
This universal technique allows you to improve both the psycho-emotional state and the physical. Many body-oriented psychotherapists use deep diaphragmatic breathing to heal deep traumas, release accumulated negative emotions and feelings, mental and physical pain. In physical healing, this technique is used to improve the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and improve metabolic processes. Of course, diaphragmatic breathing is not the only way to relax. People have their own practices. Some choose to focus their intention on games. For this reason, they opt for online casinos to chill. If you want to try this technique, we suggest you have a look at Bizzo Casino and see if this works for you. We’ve heard it does!
Release of repressed emotions
You have probably noticed how our breathing changes depending on the emotional coloring of the situation. For example, when something frightens, surprises or delights us, our breath stops. Pause in breathing is a natural mechanism for concentration. With its help, you can stop a moment in an ever-changing reality in order to fully experience some moment of your life.
A pause in breathing can be a marker of repressed experiences in situations where we cannot express them. Remember how small children, in the event of an unpleasant situation for them, clench their teeth, clench their fists, hold their breath, thereby locking anger, resentment, guilt inside themselves. It’s a kind of anesthesia that helps overcome fears. But if such a reaction becomes a habit, it begins to negatively affect the human condition. A lot of unlived situations and emotions accumulate in the body, we spend our life force on holding them.
There are no pauses in diaphragmatic breathing. It is this technique that helps to release repressed feelings and the energy contained in them.
Deep relaxation and rest
A modern person, especially a city dweller, experiences great physical and emotional overload. Diaphragmatic breathing is one of the easiest ways to achieve deep relaxation. It promotes calm, grounding in the moment, and clarity of mind.
Experience of obtaining an unusual state
It is human nature to go beyond the usual and gain new experience. Diaphragmatic breathing puts him into a pleasant, relaxed altered state. This allows you to get some kind of meditative experience, dive deeper into your inner world, find new resources, and change your attitude towards yourself.
Physical wellness
Diaphragm movements are an excellent way to eliminate the prerequisites for stagnation of blood and lymph, to ensure good nutrition of the organs and supply them with oxygen. Experts highly recommend learning the technique of diaphragmatic breathing to all those who have diseases of the cardiovascular system. In this way, you can control the pulse rate and pressure. Also, this breathing practice improves the quality of sleep and the condition of the respiratory system.
How to Prepare for the Diaphragmatic Breathing Technique
On the one hand, the use of the diaphragm in breathing is a natural process, on the other hand, this muscle is not developed in many of us. The diaphragm is a problematic muscle. Here tension accumulates from experiences, resentment, guilt. For those who do not practice breathing, it is usually clamped. Therefore, in order to master the technique of diaphragmatic breathing, you must first let it warm up.
To do this, before starting the practice of diaphragmatic breathing, do the following exercises.
* Stand up or sit down, put one hand on the upper abdomen, the other on the chest to control the technique of the exercise. Make 20 active exhalations through the nose, while inhaling passively, the air is pushed out by the diaphragm. In the second approach, exhale as quickly as possible and also do 20 breathing movements.
* From the same position, take 20 active breaths, passive exhalation. In the second approach, increase the speed, leaving the number of repetitions the same. If during this exercise you began to bounce, it means that the pectoral muscles were included in the work. It shouldn’t be, only the diaphragm works.
It is very important to keep your back straight while practicing diaphragmatic breathing. The spine should be extended in a straight line, as if you were being pulled by an invisible wire attached to the top of the head. Many people find it difficult to perform the technique while sitting, in this case, you can lie on a hard surface without a pillow. In this position, it is easier to catch the balance between the movement of the diaphragm and the chest. If you’re sitting, choose hard surfaces, not an armchair or sofa that you sink into
How to Do Diaphragmatic Breathing
Before breathing exercises, run your mind’s eye over your body. Check if the face is frowning, if the jaws are closed, if the hyoid muscles are tense. With complete relaxation of the muscles of the face, the mouth can be slightly ajar. And don’t forget to straighten your spine and straighten your shoulders.
Place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach just above your navel. Breathe in for about five counts. At the same time, the stomach slowly rises up. Then exhale in the same way for five counts. With this type of breathing, only the hand lying on the stomach should move, and it expands due to the movement of air, and not due to muscle tension.
It is important to note that during diaphragmatic breathing there are no pauses between inhalation and exhalation. If you are interrupted during breathing, shorten the duration of inhalation and exhalation. Let for starters, it will be only two accounts. It is important that the hand lying on the stomach moves smoothly and evenly.
Can the Diaphragmatic Breathing Technique Be Harmful?
When performed correctly, such breathing has no contraindications. When forcing exhalation, a state of airway turbulence may develop. It can cause bronchospasm and cause difficulty breathing. Starting the practice, do not do too many breathing cycles. 3-4 consecutive repetitions will be enough. A larger amount is fraught with hyperventilation of the lungs.