The diaphragm is your 'breathing' muscle. It's a large, dome-shaped muscle that attaches to all the hot spots of the "core".
Just like any other muscle in the body, the diaphragm needs to be stretched. It needs to be exercised. Learning how to breathe to work the diaphragm is a challenge. I"m not going to lie, it's the exact opposite of how you've been doing it.
Breathe in, expand your belly. Exhale, tighten the belly. Breathe into Buddha belly. Exhale into slim, tight contraction.
Being able to control your breathing pattern is life saving. Breathing competence is essential so you're not constantly gasping for breath or mouth breathing.
Unfortunately we are shallow breathers. We are mouth breathers. As a result, we over-oxygenate our brain and body. That can't be possible you think, oxygen is good so more is better. WRONG.
Your brain needs oxygen for fuel but it also needs glucose. We all know that too much glucose is bad; your cells are not able to respond to excessive amounts of sugar and therefore the sugar can not get into the cell.
It's the same with oxygen; too much in the blood reduces the cells ability to take oxygen into the cell for use. 100% blood oxygen is NOT GOOD because there is a natural blood gas balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide.
The brainstem, specifically the medulla, is the respiration center because it is responsible for blood gas balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide. Too much oxygen and we don't breathe correctly.
I offer respiration training in private sessions. If you have asthma, COPD, or don't feel like you ever get enough oxygen, book a session with me.
Follow along with me in this simple belly breathing exercise:
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