All muscles have their purpose, but few are critical for survival. One muscle you can’t live without is your diaphragm.
Shaped like an umbrella at rest, your diaphragm flattens as it contracts, pulling air into your lungs so you can breathe – approximately 22,000 times a day!
When you developed from a bunch of cells into a human, your diaphragm formed from the same tissues that surround your heart, esophagus and anterior core. Your diaphragm is complex and serves not only as a divider of lungs and heart from stomach, but helps your nervous system communicate important bodily functions to your brain. All systems of the body communicate through fascia and because of its location and function, the fascia that forms your diaphragm is a pretty important player in your overall health.
Your diaphragm controls your breath (automatic or controlled), allows you to spit, vomit, defecate, urinate, swallow and talk. It influences metabolic balance, cardiovascular health, and stimulates venous and lymphatic return. Your diaphragm helps stabilize your core so you can walk and move your limbs and works in synergy with the muscles of your back, abdominals and pelvic floor to maintain your posture, shape and intra-abdominal pressure (important for spinal and visceral health).
Today, we continue to learn the rich contributions it has in our overall health.
Mental health
Because of the influence your nervous system has on your diaphragm and your diaphragm on your nervous system and physiology, the way you breathe can change the way you feel. Research continues to support controlled breathing techniques to influence nervous system regulation, heart rate variability and psychological flexibility.
If you could implement a few daily exercises to improve your posture, physiology and your sense of well-being, wouldn’t you want to do them?
What if I told you all you have to do is breathe?!
You don’t have to go anywhere, buy anything or prepare your surroundings to exercise your diaphragm. You just have to breathe — slowly, deeply, and through your nose.
“There is arguably no other muscle in the human body that is so central literally and figuratively to our physical, biochemical and emotional health as the diaphragm. From its obvious role in respiration to its less obvious roles in postural stability, spinal decompression, fluid dynamics, visceral health and emotional regulation, the diaphragm has a repertoire of function that is broad by any muscle’s standard.” Matt Wallden DO, ND
What should be simple is not always simple
Though the act of breathing diaphragmatically sounds simple, it really isn’t for most people. Many people who suffer back and shoulder pain demonstrate a dysfunctional breathing pattern. Often, musculoskeletal pain has a direct impact on breathing and non-optimal breathing influences pain.
It can be a nasty cycle.
Types of dysfunctional breathing include apical (chest) breathing, mouth breathing, reversed breathing (where the chest inflates with the inhale and the belly pulls in with the exhale) and others. Without going into detail on the side-effects of dysfunctional breathing, know that poor breathing patterns have compound effects on physiology, not to mention physical strain on your muscles. The muscles in your neck, shoulders and even your back are considered accessory breathing muscles and meant to kick in when you are exerting yourself and need to pull in more air.
Not when you are at rest.
If you overuse these muscles during relaxed breathing, it makes sense you won’t feel relaxed when you breathe!
Sound exhausting?
If you begin to appreciate the relationship between your body, mind and breath, you can begin to untangle and address the underlying factors that may contribute to or perpetuate what ails you. Why not start with improving the way you breathe?
It’s free and it’s natural.
Tips
Learning to breathe more efficiently in the early stages of rehab can have an immediate and profound effect on both the musculoskeletal and the nervous system. And taking time each day to think about and practice diaphragmatic breathing is well worth your time.
Here are a few tips for improving the quality of your breathing by utilizing your diaphragm fully.
- Sit or lie comfortably with one hand on your chest and the other on your belly. (Comfort is important here, so take time to get into a position where you can relax.)
- Release tension from your face, jaw and the muscles in your neck and shoulders. You may try rolling the shoulders, dimming the lights, or propping your arms up if needed so you feel at ease.
- Inhale slowly through your nose and guide your breath deeply into your lungs. As you draw your breath inward, allow your belly to rise into your hand and attempt to keep the hand on your chest from moving (or moving much). Repeat for 1 to 5 minutes 2–3 x a day to as a start.
Breathing diaphragmatically is a three-dimensional experience. Your entire rib cage into your back expands as your lungs inflate and deflate. It is a multi-system experience for all the reasons I listed above.
Summary
If you struggle to breathe well for whatever reason, investigate why. Where do you feel limited? What prevents you from breathing more deeply? How does focusing on your breathing make you feel? Are there any adjustments you can make to improve the depth and quality of your breath?
The simple act of diaphragmatic breathing can be an excellent starting point for the optimal mind-body health we all strive to attain.
References
- J Multidiscip Healthc|Anatomic connections of the diaphragm: influence of respiration on the body system by Bruno Bordoni and Emiliano Zanier
- J Pain Res | The effect of diaphragm training on lumbar stabilizer muscles: a new concept for improving segmental stability in the case of low back pain by Regina Finta, Edit Nagy, and Tamás Bender
- Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies | The diaphragm — More than an inspired design by Matt Wallden
- Cureus | The Fascial Breath by Bruno Bordoni, Marta Simonelli, and Bruno Morabito
- European Respiratory Journal |The earliest history of diaphragm physiology by J-Ph. Derenne, A. Debru, A.E. Grassino and W.A. Whitelaw
- Arq Bras Cardiol |Effect of diaphragmatic breathing on heart rate variability in ischemic heart disease with diabetes by Kulur AB, Haleagrahara N, Adhikary P, and Jeganathan PS
- Manual Therapy | Changes in pelvic floor and diaphragm kinematics and respiratory patterns in subjects with sacroiliac joint pain following a motor learning intervention: a case series by O’Sullivan PB, and Beales DJ