What Is Diaphragmatic Breathing, and How Do You Do It?

What is the diaphragm? How do you breathe with it and use it?

The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle beneath our rib cage, but it is a lazy muscle. We direct the breath taken through the mouth or nose towards the diaphragm in a controlled way. We can imagine inflating a balloon while doing so. The muscle we call the diaphragm is a balloon, and it deflates when we release our breath through the mouth. Our upper abdomen should therefore expand as we inhale and fall as we exhale.

Diaphragmatic breathing is the most correctly used type of breathing and enables us to take deep breaths. Babies provide the clearest example: their abdomens rise and fall as they breathe, just as ours did when we were babies. Exercises can develop and expand our diaphragmatic breathing, or our balloon. However, prolonged practice can cause dizziness because the body’s consumption of carbon dioxide increases.

Let us look at the benefits of diaphragmatic breathing:
• It reduces panic and anxiety and helps control stress.
• It makes concentration easier by increasing blood flow to the brain’s prefrontal cortex.
• It improves mood.
• It revitalises the skin through oxygen saturation and faster blood flow.
• It makes falling asleep easier.
• It facilitates weight loss by balancing anabolic hormones and stress hormones.
• It helps with low blood sugar and reduces the risk of diabetes.

Finally, let us also mention the side effects:
• Diaphragmatic breathing performed too quickly causes wrinkles.
• Excess oxygen affects connective-tissue molecules, which begin to deform.
• While relieving abdominal pain, it may cause back pain.

Zeynep Fuçucuoğlu
Rekor Sanat – Singing Teacher