Diaphragmatic Breathing & Its Benefits
Diaphragmatic breathing is a type of breathing exercise that helps you in strengthening the muscles of your diaphragm. The diaphragm plays a vital role in breathing and works non-stop from the day we are born. It not only fatigues the muscles but weakens them to take a major toll on the respiratory system.
Diaphragmatic breathing is a way to regularly train the muscles of your diaphragm by implementing the best practices of breathing. As it involves belly or abdomen – it is popularly known as belly or abdominal breathing too.
Benefits of Diaphragmatic Breathing: Here are some other benefits of diaphragmatic breathing:
- Helps in relaxing and lowering the effects of stress hormone (cortisol) on your body
- Brings your heart rate to optimal levels
- Helps you in reducing blood pressure
- Found highly-beneficial for people coping with post-traumatic stress disorder
- Strengthens your core muscle
- Increases endurance of the body for intense exercise
- Can decrease the energy expend and improve your stamina
Ways to practice abdominal breathing
There are three ways you can practice diaphragmatic breathing:
1. Diaphragmatic Breathing Instructions (Basic)
- Position yourself in a sitting position on the floor or bed. Alternatively, you can choose to lie flat.
- Relax your shoulders.
- Place one hand on your chest and one on your stomach.
- Breath in, and during that make sure your stomach moves outward while your chest remains still.
- Purse your lips like you drink through a straw and press gently on your stomach and exhale slowly after two seconds.
- Repeat this step several times for the best results.