Diaphragmatic breathing is the healthiest and most natural way of breathing.
Observe how a very young baby breathes through their diaphragm and breathes through its belly with each breath.
Our bodies use ventilation to maintain an optimum internal oxygen-carbon dioxide balance.
Too much oxygen (as compared to the level of carbon dioxide) makes us feel agitated and jumpy.
Too much carbon dioxide makes us feel sluggish and tired.
Upper chest, rapid breathing gets rid of too much carbon dioxide causing us to feel agitated and breathless.
Diaphragmatic breathing helps us maintain a good balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide.
An exercise in diaphragmatic breathing: 1.
Always stay upright in the whole process.
Relax your shoulders.
2.
Put the palm of one hand on your upper chest and the other over your navel.
Your lower hand rises first when you slowly inhale through your nose or pursed lips.
3.
Keep your lips pursed and let your air out.
Wait for a second or two until the body spontaneously begins the inhalation automatically.
4.
Allow the air to naturally flow in until it stops on its own.
Do not intervene, but allow your body to find its own natural rate of breathing and slow down to become more and more shallow.
5.
Continue doing this for 5 to 10 minutes.
Practice this technique for a few minutes a couple of times each day.
The goal is to counter the effects of losing this natural tranquilizer caused by upper chest breathing.
This method of breathing takes time to acquire.
Understand this may not be easy because what you are essentially doing is trying to teach your body a new way to breath.
Initially, you may experience a fluttering effect in the diaphragm area will go away with practice.
You may only be able to breathe this way for a minute or two at first.
Gradually the time will become longer.
Some people experience sleepiness.
This feeling should go away over time.
With practice your body can be trained to use diaphragmatic breathing as the standard way of breathing
Observe how a very young baby breathes through their diaphragm and breathes through its belly with each breath.
Our bodies use ventilation to maintain an optimum internal oxygen-carbon dioxide balance.
Too much oxygen (as compared to the level of carbon dioxide) makes us feel agitated and jumpy.
Too much carbon dioxide makes us feel sluggish and tired.
Upper chest, rapid breathing gets rid of too much carbon dioxide causing us to feel agitated and breathless.
Diaphragmatic breathing helps us maintain a good balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide.
An exercise in diaphragmatic breathing: 1.
Always stay upright in the whole process.
Relax your shoulders.
2.
Put the palm of one hand on your upper chest and the other over your navel.
Your lower hand rises first when you slowly inhale through your nose or pursed lips.
3.
Keep your lips pursed and let your air out.
Wait for a second or two until the body spontaneously begins the inhalation automatically.
4.
Allow the air to naturally flow in until it stops on its own.
Do not intervene, but allow your body to find its own natural rate of breathing and slow down to become more and more shallow.
5.
Continue doing this for 5 to 10 minutes.
Practice this technique for a few minutes a couple of times each day.
The goal is to counter the effects of losing this natural tranquilizer caused by upper chest breathing.
This method of breathing takes time to acquire.
Understand this may not be easy because what you are essentially doing is trying to teach your body a new way to breath.
Initially, you may experience a fluttering effect in the diaphragm area will go away with practice.
You may only be able to breathe this way for a minute or two at first.
Gradually the time will become longer.
Some people experience sleepiness.
This feeling should go away over time.
With practice your body can be trained to use diaphragmatic breathing as the standard way of breathing
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