One of the greatest things you can do to improve your health is to learn how to breathe properly ,whether you are pregnant, postpartum, or not a birthing person at all. The key to good breathing is through expansion of your diaphragm. This primary respiratory muscle, located just below your lungs, plays a crucial role in your overall well-being as it is closely tied to your Nervous System. By mastering the art of diaphragmatic breathing, you can significantly enhance your health in numerous ways.

Why Diaphragmatic Breathing Matters

Learning how to expand your diaphragm involves the ability to fully expand your ribcage. This simple yet powerful technique can lead to a multitude of health benefits:

Pain Relief

Proper diaphragmatic breathing can help alleviate various types of pain, including:

Back Pain
Pelvic Pain
Sciatica
Neck Pain

By engaging your diaphragm correctly, you can reduce the tension in these areas and promote better posture and alignment.

Nervous System Regulation

One of the most significant benefits of diaphragmatic breathing is its impact on your nervous system. It helps you transition more smoothly between the sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) states. When you breathe deeply into your ribcage, expanding your diaphragm, you naturally trigger your parasympathetic nervous system. This "rest and relax" response helps to:

Reduce Stress
Lower Cortisol Levels
Promote Relaxation
Improve Sleep

In moments of high stress, breathing diaphragmatically can shift you away from the fight or flight response, preventing stress from taking over and helping you remain calm and balanced.

Benefits for Pregnant and Postpartum Individuals

For pregnant and postpartum individuals, diaphragmatic breathing offers specific advantages:

Regulation of Intra-Abdominal Pressure

Pregnancy and childbirth can lead to various pelvic floor and core dysfunctions, such as incontinence, organ prolapse, and Diastasis Recti. Learning how to expand your diaphragm helps regulate your intra-abdominal pressure, which is a major component in managing these dysfunctions. Proper breathing can not only help to heal such dysfunctions, it can aid in preventing them from ever becoming an issue. Simply by breathing well, you can eliminate the “mommy pooch”, urine leaks when you jump, cough, or sneeze, and greatly improve your pelvic floor function (including sex!)

Enhanced Recovery and Well-Being

Postpartum recovery can be challenging, but diaphragmatic breathing can support the healing process. It helps reduce stress and promotes a sense of well-being, making it easier to cope with the physical and emotional demands of new parenthood.

How to Practice Diaphragmatic Breathing
The simple mechanics of diaphragmatic breathing are:

Find a Comfortable Position: Sit or stand in a comfortable easeful way. In a chair, ensure your hips, knees, and ankles are all at 90 degree angles. If you are sitting on the floor, use a folded blanket (or two or more) under your sit bones with your legs off the edge. This slight lift of your pelvis untucks your tailbone and allows your spine to align.
Align yourself: Stack all of your major joints vertically. If you are sitting, this will begin with your hips.

From bottom to top: ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, ears (okay not a “joint) but a marker for the joints in your neck.)
Drop your Ribs! As my amazing teacher says “Drop your Ribs”. This means to stack your ribcage in alignment with your pelvis.
Use your hand to find your ASIS (the pointy part of the front of you hip). Then slide your palm up to also find your bottom rib. These four points (your right and left halves) should be in alignment. If you could walk into a wall, they would all hit at the same time.
Hands offer Feedback: Your hands offer great feedback to assist your efforts. With one or both hands on your ribs + pelvis, you can feel the expansion as well as the decrease (or return to neutral). You can cross your right hand to your left side or vice verse. You can also cup your hands around the side of your rib cage or anywhere around the circumference where you might feel a little stuck or tight.
Inhale Deeply: Breathe in slowly through your nose if that is comfortable. Soften your breath into your belly, then allow breath to expand your ribcage. This action hinges your ribcage open much like an umbrella. Your diaphragm is located at the bottom of your ribcage separating your top half from your bottom half.
Exhale Fully: Breathe out slowly through your mouth. Hug your lower belly towards your spine and close the umbrella of your ribcage. Try to feel your ribcage and abdominals.
Practice Regularly: Incorporate diaphragmatic breathing into your daily routine to maximize its benefits.

Conclusion

When you inhale, your diaphragm expands by moving downward. Like a vacuum, it draws breath into your lungs. When you exhale, the diaphragm returns to it’s resting dome shape releasing your breath.

By actively working to increase your expanse and decrease, you improve your quality of breath. You will soon be able to draw in more breath, and release more on your exhale. Bigger breathes with great ribcage movement stimulates your Vagus Nerve. When the Vagus Nerve is stimulated this way, your parasympathetic (rest and digest) state is activated. Conscious Diaphragmatic Breathing can aid in moving yourself from the Sympathetic (fight or flight) State.

Additionally, all of this expansion and contraction strengthens your core! Your core is the cylindrical canister of your torso. Abdominals in the front and sides, your spine in the back, your diaphragm is the lid, and your pelvic floor is the bottom (that’s why it’s called a “floor” despite being shaped more like a bowl or basket. Due to this, diaphragmatic breathing improves your regulation of intra abdominal pressure. Better pressure regulation equals reduced Diastasis Recti, Back Pain, Pelvic Pain, Pelvic Dysfunctions such as incontinence, prolapse, and even pain with penetrative sex. If that isn’t enough to encourage your better breathing, it helps tone your belly and improve orgasms.

Diaphragmatic breathing is a simple yet profound practice that can transform your health. By learning how to expand your diaphragm and breathe deeply, you can alleviate pain, reduce stress, regulate intra-abdominal pressure, and enhance your overall well-being. Whether you're pregnant, postpartum, or just looking to improve your health, mastering this technique can make a significant difference in your life.

So take a deep breath, expand your diaphragm, and embrace the journey to better health. Your body and mind will thank you.

Want to learn more about the application of Diaphragmatic Breathing to improve your health and overall wellness?
Come to Class!
Or inquire about scheduling your One-on-One VIP Private Session today!

Learn more