BREATHING WITH THE DIAPHRAGM

Date: 29/07/2008

Where is the diaphragm? If you could reach in under your rib cage there is a muscle that stretches from front to back and side to side. In the middle are tubes (the esophagus and blood vessels connecting the upper level of the body to the central part). The diaphragm is like a convex pancake which peaks in the middle. It is the major muscle of breathing.

Are you using your diaphragm to breathe? You can tell by inserting as best you can your fingers in under the rib cage. When you take your next inhalation, do you feel major movement? If not you are probably chest breathing. If you feel movement downward, or see your stomach moving out or down with an inhalation then you are probably using your diaphragm.

Why is this important? It is of major importance. The diaphragm is the bodys muscle of breathing and yet most people are not using it. In fact it is used so little by so many that most people are associating diaphragmatic breathing with relaxation. Instead, it should be used all the time to keep us in a more or less relaxed state. Our performance in this condition would be far superior.

You might think of the diaphragm as hard-wired to the brain. When it is used the movement of the diaphragm sends a message to the brain telling it that all is well and there is no danger out there. On the other hand, when you breathe with the chest muscles, these too are hard-wired to the brain and give feedback via chest expansion letting the brain know there is danger and we need to be on alert and in a stress response. Wow!

This signaling system was developed to alert our bodies to respond appropriately. The only times a stress response (chest breathing) is called for is when we are in danger of being attacked by a wild animal or of being cut, shot or injured. Any other kind of stress would be better handled by diaphragmatic breathing to produce a calmer response to the situation. The chest breathe causes certain blood vessels to constrict and if we are physically cut and injured we may have a little more time to get help before we bleed out. Its pretty simple.

Breathe diaphragmatically all the time (with the exception of the above mentioned situations) to remain calm, stay in good health and be in real control.



By Rosemary MacGregor info@themangotreespa

The Mango Tree SPA

Tres Rios de Coronado (Between Dominical and Palmar Norte)

506 2786 5300


http://www.theMangoTreeSpa.com