Belly breathing or Diaphragmatic Breathing

Most of us start out our lives breathing correctly, with our stomachs rising and falling with each breath.
Unfortunately,as we grow up, most of us start to un-learn this natural breathing as life becomes full of stress and our bodies become less relaxed.

The problem with this is that we NEED this natural, soothing way of breathing to keep us healthy. Breathing into our stomachs, rather than into our chests, allows for deeper breath and tells our brain that we are OK. That message signals to our brain to shut off the stress reaction.  It allows more oxygen to get to the thinking  part of our brain, the cortex, so that we can think more clearly.  

You can see how important it is to be able to breathe correctly when we are in a difficult but not life threatening situation, one where we want to be able to think critically.  Situations, for example, where we are in a conflict with someone we care about, or when our emotions are coming on too strong.  We want to be able to turn off the Danger! Danger!  signal and be able to respond from a relaxed and thoughtful place.  In order to be able to return to this natural way of breathing, we need to practice Belly or Diaphragmatic Breathing.

Click HERE for a good article on how Diaphragmatic Breathing works. 

Practice this breathing technique when ever you can, several times a day, until it feels easy and normal.  Click HERE for a video that explains exactly how to do it.  

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