The Amazing Diaphragm

For anyone who has been on my massage table, you know I like to ask you to breathe. Sometimes I’ll even press on your chest and have you breathe into my pressure and into your back to help engage the relaxation response in your body. Sometimes I’ll put one hand over the front of your lower ribcage/upper belly and my other hand on the back of your lower ribcage and ask you to direct your breathing right between my hands until I start to feel your diaphragm begin to soften. There are a lot of reasons why I do this…

The diaphragm is the large, flat, horizontal muscle at the base of the rib cage. You know the one, it helps us to breathe. It attaches to the first, second and third lumbar vertebrae, the inner part of the lower six ribs as well as the back of the sternum at the xiphoid process. The central tendon of the diaphragm attaches to the third lumbar vertebrae.
The diaphragm has 3 natural holes in it; one to allow the esophagus to drop down through it to attach to the stomach organ; one for the inferior vena cava to travel through to bring all of the deoxygenated blood from the lower body up to the heart; and one for the aorta, the largest artery of the body that carries out oxygenated blood to the body.
Also, the Psoas muscles (the major hip flexors of the body connected with lower back pain issues and so much more) and the Quadratus Lumborum muscles (they hike up a hip like when carrying a toddler on the hip – also notoriously involved with lower back tension/pain) both attach right up under the lower, posterior side of the diaphragm. Both sets of muscles are very integrated and effected by the diaphragm’s activity.

In our daily lives, when we are busy living and doing ‘all the things’, most of us don’t really think consciously about our breathing. Perhaps in those moments we are only taking half-breaths, not allowing our diaphragm to engage in it’s full range of motion. Just like with any other muscle in the body, if it doesn’t get it’s full range of motion (aka stretching), overtime it’ll become shortened, feeling stiff and tight and require extra efforts to get it to loosen up and regain it’s full range of motion once again.
Definitely when we are stressed and in ‘flight or flight’ mode, we are only taking shallow breaths, thus letting the diaphragm tighten up even more.

If you think about all the connections your diaphragm has within your body, you can start to understand why a lack of deepened, elongated, conscious breathing can lead to things like heartburn/indigestion (from it pulling on and tightening around the esophagus), lower back tension and pain (from it’s tension pulling the lower ribs inward and decreasing the potential movement of the lumbar spine), potentially decreased blood flow around the body by tightening around the vena cava and aorta. In structural-alignment, a tightened diaphragm plays a major role in a forward-stuck body posture where the shoulders and head are being pulled down and forward and the lower back is swayed forward and tightened with knees locked (a whole list of uncomfortable symptoms come from forward patterns like these). I’ve also worked on many diaphragms where the left or right side of the diaphragm is tighter than the other, contributing to uncomfortable sidebend postures…

So, what to do to help your diaphragm expand and loosen? Well, breathe of course. 😉
Try this breathing exercise…

Allow your belly to relax. Breathe into your belly and lower back gently, but fully, several times.  Gradually let your breath deepen more and more. Notice where you feel extra tension in your torso that is harder to breath into – like perhaps your mid to low back. Intentionally aim your breath extra into that area of tension, really letting that area expand with your inhale.  Hold your breath expanded for a couple seconds. Then, on your exhale, try to keep the expansion in that area of your body even as you let your breath out. Breathe in again, aiming into that same expanded area, hold for a bit, then stay expanded on your exhale again. Repeat for as long as you like and are comfortable with, then relax back to normal breaths again.  Notice if breathing into this area (and all over) is easier.
Sometimes, when my mid/low back is tight, I’ll do this exercise and I’ll get a little bit of a cramping feeling in my lower ribs as I’m stretching my breath into it and holding it open in expansion, but I stick with the exercise (knowing by my own experiences with my body that I’m not hurting myself) then after a couple of breaths, the tension lets go to a new, relieved, freeness in my tissues. What an easy, quick way to get relief!  When I try out the feeling of just breathing normally again, I notice the change in volume of breath I can take in without all the effort. So nice to be able to breathe fully!  I’ll often also aim my breath expansion into my shoulders, one at a time and notice a feeling of better circulation into my arms.  Please let me know what you try and experience with this in the comments below!

For more breath exercise ideas, you may like…
the app: ‘Breathe2Relax’
the book: Breathe Deep, Laugh Loudly by Judith Kravitz
breath meditations: Suzanne Scurlock’s Healing From the Core Full guided meditation cd or digital set.

Meditation Oasis podcast: Episodes #3, 4 and 60 all focus on the breath in different relaxing ways.

Extra thoughts:  Benefits of deep breathing…

Diaphragmatic movements squeeze the organ cavity, effectively massaging organs, helping them to function better. It helps in digestion and moving lymph through the body.

Deep breathing helps to relax the psoas muscles, decompressing the lumbar spine as well as taking pressure from psoas muscles and diaphragm off of the adrenal glands, helping to lower stress levels further.

Deep breathing signals to the brain that we are safe and out of danger.  Allows our vision to widen and lets us think more creatively.

A relaxed diaphragm with deeper breathing increases circulation all through body and increases oxygen levels in the blood.

Deep, rhythmic breathing opens the cranial/sacral flow, allows muscles to release all over the body and even helps us to release pent-up tension and emotions held within our tissues.  Breathing helps us feel better physically and emotionally.

Focusing on breathing deeply helps your massage therapist deliver a more effective massage to you. 🙂

Deep rhythmic breathing is contagious.  Try being the one to help a whole crowded room calm itself down simply by starting to breathe deeply yourself and watch the effects spread out to people around you.  Help a loved one calm down and maybe fall asleep by doing deep breathing while you hold them.