Respiration Training Drill: How to Belly Breathe

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:

Science of Breathing for a Healthy Brain

A healthy brain needs two things; fuel and activation.  The two types of fuel your brain needs are glucose and oxygen.  You need to eat and breathe.  Eating for a healthy brain is an entirely different blog so in this post I'd like to talk about breathing, particularly carbon dioxide.

Growing up, we were taught to believe that oxygen is good and carbon dioxide is bad.  That's half true: carbon dioxide is also good.  In fact, carbon dioxide drives respiration.  Movement produces carbon dioxide.

This is not good news if you don't move.  If you don't move much, you're not producing carbon dioxide.  You're over breathing, meaning you're taking in too much oxygen, but without carbon dioxide, your cells cannot get the oxygen you need.   The oxygen gets stuck in the bloodstream.

In all simplicity, carbon dioxide is a messenger molecule.  It attaches to the oxygen molecule and takes it into the cell.  100% blood oxygen is NOT GOOD.  95-97% Oxygen saturation is good.

Here is an excellent article about carbon dioxide:  Science of Breathing. Truth about Carbon Dioxide

How to you increase carbon dioxide?  You move.  You exercise.  Nasal breathing. And most important, you bag breathe.  Not like you're hyperventilating but slow and controlled.  In a bag, 30 seconds, 3-4 times per day.

Just breathe.

The Two Types of Fuel a Brain Needs to be Healthy

In this day and age, we all want a healthy functioning brain.  With the risk Alzheimers and other dementias increasing with age,  people who are willing to go to great lengths to keep their brain healthy.

Scientifically, a healthy brain needs two things for survival.  Two simple things that don't cost tons of money.  A healthy brain needs activation and fuel.    Your brain and the entire nervous system function on a "Use It or Lose It" principle so activating the entire brain is necessary for optimal performance.

  Brain SuperFood:  OJ & Salt

In my small group classes, I teach mature adults how to activate the different areas of the brain, including the sensory systems.  For those who cannot attend a live session,  I've created an online balance training course, Balance Training 101, to teach you how to activate both the sensory and motor components of the brain.l

When it comes to fueling your brain, the two type of 'food' your brain needs for healthy function are:

1. Glucose
2. Oxygen

You need to eat and you need to breathe.

If only it were that simple!  Nutritionally, we are a mess.  We've been fed untruths about what's good and what's bad for us from the leading agency in our country, the USDA and as a result, we don't know what to eat.  The foods your brain needs are exactly what government agencies are telling us NOT to eat.

Your brain needs SUGAR!  Your brain needs glucose to function.  The brain superfood is Orange Juice.  Orange juice with sea salt in it.  OJ is quick digesting and provides instant burning fuel.   Give it a try: 4-6 ounce OJ/sal shots throughout the day, especially before class or sensory training!

For more brain-smart eating, check out Kate Deering's book, "How To Heal Your Metabolism".  Quick read with lots of easy to understand scientific facts.  Highly recommended. 

Your brain needs OXYGEN!  If breathing wasn't an automatic function, half of us would be dead!  We are a bunch of shallow breathers.  We take in shallow breaths and don't exhale enough!  The result is a build up of oxygen in the blood.  We need to exhale.

I'm going to teach some breathing exercises in the next few weeks but in the meantime, practice the diaphragm stretch!  

Here is a demonstration of me doing the diaphragm stretch for you:

Diaphragm Stretch from The Brains and Balance Lady on Vimeo.