Breathing

Unfortunately, most of us lose the true system of breathing in our early years, even before reaching our teens.

To understand what nature intended, it is necessary and useful to understand how the diaphragm works. The diaphragm is the U-shaped sheet-like band of muscle separating your chest from your abdomen. When the diaphragm relaxes and moves up into the chest cavity, the lungs contract and air is forced out. When the diaphragm expands, it moves down into the abdominal cavity, pressing on the lower organs. It acts as a massager. In the case where your automatic method of breathing is too shallow or incorrect, you can easily and consciously make changes that will affect the volume of air you inhale and exhale.

The diaphragm muscle does most of the work in breathing. This sheet of muscle, stretching from your backbone to the front of your ribcage, makes a movable floor for you lungs. When breathing quietly, it moves up and down about an inch or less. During vigorous exercise it will move several inches up and down.

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