What is belly breathing?
Why is belly breathing important? How does belly breathing work? What is the connection between anxiety and breathing?
Belly breathing is a breathing practice that allows more oxygen into the lungs. Of course, we don’t actually breathe into our belly. But when expanding the belly as we inhale, we allow the diaphragm to relax and move downward. With the relaxation of the diaphragm, our lungs are given ample space to expand and take in more air. When we breathe with the chest expanding, the diaphragm tends to retract upwards, and our lungs have less space for inhaling air.
The diaphragm is a tendinous muscle separating our colon from our chest cavity. Diaphragmatic breathing and belly breathing are two names for the same process.
Try an exaggerated inhale of air, and expand the chest as you do so. What do you notice? You may notice your diaphragm rising up in an exaggerated manner, and your belly retracting inward. Now, try belly breathing. What do you notice? If done according to Belly Breathing Made Simple, you will notice more air entering your lungs. With ample oxygen, we tend to feel more relaxed and calm. Find Belly Breathing Made Simple on this Blog.
Anxiety is directly connected to how we breathe.
Typically, when anyone gets anxious their breathing becomes shallow. The more anxious or afraid they become, the shallower their breathing gets. We begin to chest breathe, especially upper chest breathe. As this feedback loop between the brain and the body escalates, the brain is receiving signals that the lungs and heart are wanting more oxygen. The brain says something like ‘breathe harder and faster’, so we do. This is how it may feel to have a panic attack or to experience hyperventilation.
Why does belly breathing help you relax?
It’s about the vagus nerve. The neurological system of our body has a nerve called the vagus. The vagus nerve is quite complex and moves throughout our body. One important part of the nerve goes from our brain stem all the way to our upper colon. The vagus nerve is a two way transmitter sending signals between our belly and our brain about how we feel. This is part of the reason we may feel queasy in our belly when experiencing fear. Belly breathing helps us relax because it expands the diaphragm allowing more oxygen to enter the lungs, then the vagus nerve signals back to the brain that all is well. When the vagus nerve is relaxed good things happen. As Donald Altman, in his book The Mindfulness Tool Box, points out, when the vagus is calm our blood pressure is lower; alpha brain waves increase; and the neurotransmitter serotonin moves into our bloodstream and up to our brain in less than 30 seconds. By the way, most of the serotonin we store in the body is in the stomach lining and intestine.
Go to Belly Breathing Made Simple on this website for instruction in belly breathing.
What is belly breathing?
Why is belly breathing important? How does belly breathing work? What is the connection between anxiety and breathing?
Belly breathing is a breathing practice that allows more oxygen into the lungs. Of course, we don’t actually breathe into our belly. But when expanding the belly as we inhale, we allow the diaphragm to relax and move downward. With the relaxation of the diaphragm, our lungs are given ample space to expand and take in more air. When we breathe with the chest expanding, the diaphragm tends to retract upwards, and our lungs have less space for inhaling air.
The diaphragm is a tendinous muscle separating our colon from our chest cavity. Diaphragmatic breathing and belly breathing are two names for the same process.
Try an exaggerated inhale of air, and expand the chest as you do so. What do you notice? You may notice your diaphragm rising up in an exaggerated manner, and your belly retracting inward. Now, try belly breathing. What do you notice? If done according to Belly Breathing Made Simple, you will notice more air entering your lungs. With ample oxygen, we tend to feel more relaxed and calm. Find Belly Breathing Made Simple on this Blog.
Anxiety is directly connected to how we breathe.
Typically, when anyone gets anxious their breathing becomes shallow. The more anxious or afraid they become, the shallower their breathing gets. We begin to chest breathe, especially upper chest breathe. As this feedback loop between the brain and the body escalates, the brain is receiving signals that the lungs and heart are wanting more oxygen. The brain says something like ‘breathe harder and faster’, so we do. This is how it may feel to have a panic attack or to experience hyperventilation.
Why does belly breathing help you relax?
It’s about the vagus nerve. The neurological system of our body has a nerve called the vagus. The vagus nerve is quite complex and moves throughout our body. One important part of the nerve goes from our brain stem all the way to our upper colon. The vagus nerve is a two way transmitter sending signals between our belly and our brain about how we feel. This is part of the reason we may feel queasy in our belly when experiencing fear. Belly breathing helps us relax because it expands the diaphragm allowing more oxygen to enter the lungs, then the vagus nerve signals back to the brain that all is well. When the vagus nerve is relaxed good things happen. As Donald Altman, in his book The Mindfulness Tool Box, points out, when the vagus is calm our blood pressure is lower; alpha brain waves increase; and the neurotransmitter serotonin moves into our bloodstream and up to our brain in less than 30 seconds. By the way, most of the serotonin we store in the body is in the stomach lining and intestine.
Go to Belly Breathing Made Simple on this website for instruction in belly breathing.