Deep and Diaphragmatic Breathing

The Benefits of Deep Breathing

If you are feeling tired, stressed or anxious in your day to day activities, deep breathing can be a way for you to help relax and control your immediate health. There are some more long-standing benefits of deep breathing to your health that you should also be aware of.

An introduction to deep breathing physiology

What is the diaphragm? The diaphragm is a large, dome-shaped muscle located at the base of the lungs that upon inhalation, contracts enlarging the chest cavity.  This contraction creates a vacuum that pulls air into the lungs. Upon exhalation, the diaphragm relaxes, and air is forced out of the lungs. 

Deep or diaphragmatic breathing is meant to assist your learning of correct breathing patterns whilst breathing at rest and to stop you from breathing into your chest and shoulders. During deep breathing, the diaphragm is strengthened. It can therefore take in a greater volume of air during inhalation at rest.

Many people haven’t learned to breathe properly with their diaphragm or are stuck in patterns of stress, have poor posture, restrictive clothing or weak breathing muscles and thus, breathe with their chest, neck and shoulders. This can be detrimental and cause tightness and muscle pain in the shoulders, neck and chest. When these muscles tighten it can cause chronic headaches, bad posture, neck or upper back pain and numb and tingling hands.  Stress can compound these issues because attention and focus are not directed to proper breathing techniques.

Here’s a step-by-step on how to perform proper diaphragmatic breathing:

• Lie on your back on a flat surface with your knees bent or out straight. Use a pillow under your head and your knees to support yourself and to aid in making you more comfortable.
• Place one hand on the upper chest on your sternum and the other on your stomach, just below your rib cage.
• Breathe in slowly through your nose, letting the air in deeply, towards your lower stomach. The hand on your chest should remain still, while the one on your stomach should rise.
• Tighten your abdominal muscles and let them fall inward as you exhale through pursed lips, as you exhale the hand on your stomach should move down to its original position.

You can also practice this sitting in a chair, your shoulders, head, and neck relaxed. Practice for five to 10 minutes, around 3-4 times a day depending on the time you have available.

To know if you’re performing diaphragmatic breathing correctly, when you take a deep breath, you are aiming to get air into the bottom of your rib cage by actively pulling the diaphragm down. Your ribs should expand to the sides and back and lift from towards the bottom where the diaphragm meets the lower ribs, you should feel a sensation of the stomach stretching and expanding throughout the in-breath.

Benefits of Deep Breathing.

Deep breathing changes what state your brain is in, promoting alpha waves which are related to body and mind relaxation.

Deep breathing also stimulates your vagus nerve via the parasympathetic nervous system.  By tapping into your vagus nerve with a few deep breaths, we can decrease our cortisol levels and induce relaxation. Cortisol is a stress hormone that when chronically stimulated, can produce an inflammatory reaction within your body.  

High levels of inflammation have been shown to be part of many chronic diseases such as inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, depression, heart disease, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Crohn’s disease to name a few. Many sufferers of chronic pain also have higher levels of cortisol and inflammation.    

Deep breathing can strengthen the diaphragm and improve the amount of oxygen you take in when you’re at rest.  This means you can be more productive and decrease stress and anxiety. The benefits of deep breathing are vast, improving blood pressure and digestion, enhancing stamina, building endurance, increasing muscular strength & improving the speed of recovery, reduction of inflammation and an improved sex drive. 

If that is not enough, deep breathing can improve your pelvic floor & core muscles as your breathing muscles work very closely together with these. It can also improve the flow in your lymphatic system resulting in an improved immune function. Deep breathing can help you in the short term when you need to relax and take a moment for yourself, and it can help in the long term to improve a multitude of health issues. Deep breathing increases your overall sense of wellbeing. So stop now, and take a deep breath and feel the benefits today!

To learn how to engage your deep breathing muscles correctly with www.cityphysiotherapy.com.au

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