Fit to Print Volume 25 Issue 3 September 2016 | Page 19

Mind Body Spirit

by Karen Britton

Breathe!
Diaphragmatic Breathing for Health
increase flexibility safely. A tight psoas
may constrict breathing, and, vice-versa,
restricted breathing may cause a tight
psoas, leading to a tight back and
discomfort.

T

here's much more to breathing than
just taking a deep breath.

Diaphragmatic breathing is an exercise
offering many benefits for body and
mind. Within a few minutes, it lowers
blood pressure, improves mental focus
and clarity by increasing blood to the
brain, improves sleep quality, calms you
down for instant stress relief, as well
slowing you down and decreasing tension
as you move. By comparison, holding your
breath while moving makes what you're
doing difficult.
Diaphragmatic breathing strengthens your
diaphragm muscle, which attaches to the
lumbar spine. In turn, this will sustain the
lower back, helping to improve posture.
Also, when lower back is stronger, we
don't over compensate the upper back
and neck muscles, which may lead to
stiffness and pain in these areas.
Another important muscle attached to
our diaphragm and spine is the psoas,
located within our hip creases and the
main muscle for walking. The psoas and
diaphragm muscles connect the acts of
walking and breathing. As we practice
diaphragmatic breathing, the diaphragm
is stronger, which in turns helps our back
and psoas. This has a profound influence
on how well our bodies function. Since
the diaphragm is the main muscle of
breathing and the psoas the main muscle
of walking and our spine is important for
our posture, it's essential that we
maintain strength and flexibility in these
muscles. Proper breathing, with
awareness, is an important component of
maintaining a healthy body.
In yoga, stretching requires stabilization
and breath to get the most out of a
posture. This is achieved by combining
correct alignment, engaging muscles to
stabilize, and proper breathing that will

Diaphragmatic breathing is best
performed lying down when first learning
or recovering from back injury. When
learned, it can be done sitting and or
standing. Yoga classes combine different
breathing techniques depending on the
structure of the class. Deep
diaphragmatic breath may be used at the
beginning and end of classes, occasionally
during, depending on the posture.
Practicing diaphragmatic breathing on

It's a chain reaction; a strong
diaphragm, a stronger back,
and a stronger psoas, allows for
better movement...
your own can prepare you for yoga classes
and help you with other breathing styles.
Engaging the abdominals briefly during
exhalation passively stretches the
diaphragm, which in turn serves to
stabilize the lumbar spine and sacroiliac
joint.
During the diaphragmatic breathing, we
use our core, which strengthens the
muscles and massages abdominal organs.
A strong core opens the back for better
range of motion, therefore taking the
back out of the equation in many
activities where the core should be used
and not the lower back, allowing your
movement to be much safer. This can
make the movement of bending down to
pick something up much easier for many
of us. It's a chain reaction; a strong
diaphragm, a stronger back, and a
stronger psoas, allows for better
movement in everyday activities in and
out of the gym. Also, a strong core
stabilizes the body and improves balance.
Here are instructions for diaphragmatic
breathing that you can do in the comfort
of your home. You don't need yoga
experience to practice diaphragmatic
Autumn 2016 FIT to Print

breathing. All you need are pillows for
under your legs and a comfortable place
to lie on your back. It's best not to use a
pillow for the head in order to keep the
back of the head in line with the spine so
that the neck remains in a neutral
position.
Lie on your back, knees bent, or place a
pillow under your knees. Try to keep the
back of the neck in line with the spine as
best as possible. Your feet should be hipwidth apart. Place one hand on your belly
and one hand on your chest.
Slowly breathe in through your nose,
allowing your belly to rise and your ribs
to open and chest to lift. You may find
that when you inhale, your chest is rising
more than your belly and that your
abdomen draws inward. Stay relaxed and
gently try to breathe in again. As you
inhale, you should feel more movement
under the hand at your belly and less
movement at your chest.
Exhale slowly through pursed lips. You'll
notice your abdomen and rib cage move
down and in. Exhaling this way will
engage your abdominal muscles. If you're
having difficulty feeling your belly rise
when you inhale, concentrate more on
exhales. This will help you more naturally
perform the diaphragmatic relaxation
breath exercise.
Repeat about ten times in a row. Pay
attention to y our breath throughout the
day. If you notice you're holding your
breath, take a slow, gentle, relaxing
breath using the diaphragm muscle.
Practice at least two to three times a
day. For example, when you first wake
up, before going to bed, and another
time in between. Make sure you are lying
on a hard surface without a pillow under
head. It may seem difficult at first but
just keep practicing. Once you feel
comfortable with it and are doing it
properly, it can be done in a comfortable
seat.
Learning to relax and breathe properly

Karen Britton is a certified Yoga Instructor and a regular
contributor to these pages.
She teaches Yoga classes and programs at Fitness Incentive.

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