Your Old Friend, the Diaphragm
As it turns out, we all (unless we suffered a trauma or illness) started out in life breathing deeply and naturally.
“When we were young, it was pretty much across the board diaphragmatic breathing,” said Kevin Mutschler, L.Ac., a licensed acupuncturist and Qigong educator in Silver Springs, Md.
“The diaphragm is one of the most amazing organs in our body. Aside from its functions in facilitating respiration, it’s interesting because it’s one of the few organs that is activated by the autonomic nervous system and voluntarily.”Kevin Mutschler“Diaphragmatic” refers to the wonder muscle, the diaphragm, which rests in our abdominal cavity right beneath our lungs. The purpose of that muscle, when we’re using it correctly, is to assist in taking nice deep breaths, the ones that completely fill our lungs with air.
Just look at your nearest toddler and watch them breathe with their belly going in and out. Perfect diaphragmatic breathing.
“The diaphragm is one of the most amazing organs in our body,” Mutschler said. “Aside from its functions in facilitating respiration, it’s interesting because it’s one of the few organs that is activated by the autonomic nervous system and voluntarily.”
But, stupid us, we rarely give it a chance to do its job. We grow up and a variety of influences in our lives start to inhibit this natural breathing. Most of us breathe very shallowly, not filling our lungs like we could.
“As we become adults we spend a lot of time in situations where we are literally holding our breath,” Mutschler said. “When we start to concentrate, we tend to hold our breath. When a situation is unsettling, we hold our breath. When we are doing heavy work, we hold breath. We shouldn’t, but we do. By the time we get to be adults, our natural breathing time is when we’re sleeping.”
Just think about when you lie down. That instant sigh? That’s the sound of diaphragmatic breathing starting again.
Rockwood said other culprits that interfere with optimal breathing are vanity, which wants us to lose the gut and suck in that belly; and stress, which tightens up our solar plexus. The solar plexus is a network of nerves in the abdomen behind your stomach. When it tightens, it’s what you’re referring to when you have a “pit in your stomach.”
“Poor posture sure doesn’t help either,” Rockwood said.
Even the way we stand stops us from breathing properly. Mutschler said that most people stand with their knees locked to take the tension off the legs. He likens it to balancing your torso on stilts.
“When you lock your knees, you shift your weight from the pelvis up,” he said. “It keeps your top half in constant tension, with the belly and back constantly countering that tension.”
If your belly can’t relax then you can’t breathe diaphragmatically. Simply unlocking your knees can also unlock the door for powerful breathing.
