Train Your Diaphragm & Access The Healing Power Of Breathing

Our diaphragm is the key muscle involved in respiration, however, stress, life events, and common breathing dysfunctions can cause it to stop working optimally. This breathing practice will guide you on both a physical and energetic level to come back into a relationship with this area of your body.

When we breathe optimally we can experience greater physical health (digestive, immunity, fertility), mental health (clarity, focus, energy, calm) and spiritual health (a feeling of connection to the world, nature, and others).

Every breath is an opportunity to transform our lives, experience more love and joy, so join me now in this healing practice.

Transcript

Welcome to this diaphragmatic training practice designed to help you connect to the diaphragm and breathe more fully into the body.

Any preconceived ideas,

Expectations or perceptions of your breathing capacity,

I encourage you to put them aside now and to arrive at this practice with fresh eyes and bring your curiosity with you.

Each of you will have different experiences of breathing,

Day to day,

During exercise,

Yoga classes or amidst various life events and emotional states.

Every one of us will experience slightly different movement in our muscular and skeletal systems during respiration.

This is because our bodies are all slightly different.

Even if we were all breathing optimally,

It would still look different.

So let's quickly discuss some misnomers in relation to our breath.

For example,

You might have heard or been told that chest breathing is bad and belly breathing is good.

But those two statements don't give the whole picture.

In reality,

It's our rib cage,

Lower chest,

Upper belly and middle back that allow space for our lungs to fill with air,

Whilst our diaphragm,

A sheet-like muscle,

Contracts down creating space for the lungs to fill.

Take a moment to locate these now.

Feel down to where your rib cage ends and the upper belly starts.

Somewhere around here the diaphragm lies and although we can't feel it,

It's important we are aware of it as a key component in our breathing mechanism.

During this practice I'll guide you to bring your attention to the diaphragm as it contracts down on the inhale,

Creating space for the lungs to fill,

And then relaxes up on the exhale.

The exercise we will be doing is safe and very gentle and will be led by your individual comfort levels.

But please listen to your body and if you feel uncomfortable at any point,

Just take a break or move into a more comfortable position.

And I really encourage you to aim for presence rather than perfection.

We will start by lying down on our backs.

Get really comfortable,

Make sure you're warm enough.

Grab warm clothes or blankets if you need them.

Bend your knees and bring the soles of your feet up to the floor hip distance apart and drop your knees together.

We're trying to create a sense of openness in the lower back as this position allows for a fuller breath.

So adjust your feet in order to get your back as flat as possible on the ground.

If it feels comfortable to then close down the eyes.

If not,

Then just relax your gaze.

Rest your hands alongside your body with the palms facing up.

Let's do a quick scan to see if we can let go of any tension that might be in the body.

Your forehead.

Your eyebrows.

Softening.

Softening now.

Your jaw.

Your neck.

Your shoulders.

Your arms.

Your legs.

Your arms.

Your legs.

Your neck.

With each exhale allow your body to soften a little more.

Your neck.

Your shoulders.

Your chest.

Your arms.

Breathing space into any tension.

Your wrists.

Your hands.

Your thighs.

Allowing the ground to cradle you.

Your calves.

Your ankles.

Relax a little deeper.

Your feet.

Each of your toes.

Allow yourself to surrender to the breath.

Surrender to the earth.

We will spend the next 20 minutes connecting to our diaphragm,

Our solar plexus and our innate curiosity.

Bring your hands to your upper belly.

Your thumbs resting on your lower ribs.

Take a few moments to settle.

Notice the natural ebb and flow of your breath.

Now pay attention to your fingertips.

Taking a few natural breaths.

Are they moving apart even slightly as the ribs expand?

We are going to be breathing in through our nose and out through our nose for the duration of this practice.

Inhaling through the nose allows us to draw air in more slowly.

Filling up the lungs from the bottom to the top.

Saying that,

If at any point this feels uncomfortable then please do open your mouth.

Just try to stay engaged with the nose.

So we are going to imagine that we can consciously move our diaphragm.

When I use the word imagine that is completely personal to you.

You might see it,

Feel it or sense it.

You might not feel anything yet.

But the simple act of bringing our attention to this area is going to create a flow of energy.

Where our attention goes,

Energy flows.

So with your hands so that you can feel the lower part of your ribs.

With each inhale we are going to draw breath down towards this area.

Imagining your ribs creating space for the diaphragm to contract down and the lungs to fill.

Do this completely in your own time.

Drink in the perfect amount of air for you in this moment.

And let this inhale be as slow and gentle as possible.

And with the exhale let your ribs relax down as your diaphragm relaxes and your lungs empty.

Breathing in slowly,

Gently through the nose.

Allowing the ribs to rise as the diaphragm contracts down and the lungs fill.

And with each exhale allow your body to sink a little deeper into the ground.

It's kind of like your body is a jug.

And when you inhale the breath fills from the bottom to the top.

Then on the exhale it pours out from the top to the bottom.

On the inhale drawing air deep into the bottom of the lungs.

Up to the top where you might feel your chest move slightly.

Then on the exhale out from the top of the lungs to the bottom.

At your own pace inhaling slowly,

Gently.

Feeling the lower ribs move out and up.

Imagining the diaphragm contracting down.

And on the exhale letting it all go.

Let the ribs fall down.

Letting air slowly,

Gently be released through the nose.

And with each exhale see if you can feel your body relax just 1% more.

Feel it sink into the floor.

You're going to feel other areas of your body move.

Your belly,

Your chest,

Perhaps other areas.

But just keep your focus on your lower ribs and your diaphragm.

At your own pace,

Slowly,

Gently.

As you notice tension particularly in the chest or neck or shoulders.

See if you can let them soften and fall into the floor with each exhale.

Be mindful that you're not forcing the breath.

Or trying to exaggerate the expansion of the ribs.

If it helps you can aim for 80% capacity.

So taking in air to 80% full and exhaling to 80% empty.

In through the nose as slowly as possible now.

Really gently.

Sensing that diaphragm contracting down as the ribs move out and up.

Exhaling,

Letting the ribs and diaphragm relax.

Allowing your body to sink into the floor.

When our diaphragm moves optimally what happens is that it gives our internal organs a beautiful massage.

And this aids our digestion and our blood flow.

In your own time,

Imagining that diaphragm contracting all the way down.

Creating beautiful space for the lungs to fill.

And then that diaphragm relaxing up on the exhale as the lungs empty.

Ok,

So let's move our attention to our upper belly now.

If it's more comfortable,

Move your arms to your side,

Palms up.

Please do always choose the most comfortable version for you.

So let's focus our attention on the upper belly now.

Feeling it rise on the inhale.

Drawing air in slowly,

Gently.

The diaphragm contracting down.

And on the exhale feel the belly fall.

The diaphragm relaxes.

Your body lets go.

Let's go.

This exhale is so key.

I think we focus on and hear about the inhale a lot.

But the exhale is where we release not only tension,

But anything we don't want to hold onto anymore.

So see if you can really allow yourself to let go with each exhale.

On the inhale the upper belly rises.

The diaphragm contracts down.

Drawing air in slowly,

Gently.

And on the exhale sink deeper into the ground.

If thoughts arise,

Become witness to them.

If it helps,

You can imagine them as clouds passing by.

Or it might help to imagine a coat stand.

And you're hanging those thoughts on the coat stand.

Knowing that you can come back to them later.

But right now,

In this moment,

It's just you and your breath.

Inhaling gently,

Slowly.

Exhaling,

Releasing tension.

It's very normal for emotions to arise during this practice.

And there's a couple of reasons for this.

Firstly,

When we breathe slowly,

We can go into a meditative state.

And our brainwaves also become slower and longer.

And it's from this state that we access the subconscious mind.

And the subconscious mind is where memories and unprocessed emotions are stored.

So if you do find tears arriving,

Or emotions being unearthed,

The kindest and most empowering thing you can do for yourself is to allow yourself to feel them.

Knowing that it is safe for you to feel them now.

And it's when we allow ourselves to experience them and process them that they can become reintegrated into our bodies.

When we breathe more deeply into the body,

We're also sending that breath down towards the solar plexus.

Which again,

Can hold unprocessed emotions.

But it's also the energy center that governs our ability to be confident,

Assertive,

And make decisions from a place of inner wisdom.

It is the key to unlocking our personal power and building a strong sense of self.

So breathing in now,

Drawing air in through the nose.

Softly,

Gently,

Down into the lungs as the upper belly rises and the diaphragm contracts down.

And with each exhale,

Allow anything you no longer want to hold onto to be released.

It's a beautiful thing to imagine that with each inhale we have the opportunity to draw in new energy.

And with each exhale,

We have the opportunity to release old energy.

That means that every single moment of your life is a chance to transform.

Keeping that breath slow and gentle,

Let's bring our attention to our middle back now.

And this can feel the most challenging because the likelihood is you're going to feel very little or perhaps no movement.

It's completely normal.

All we're going to do is bring our attention and our energy to our middle back.

Imagining,

If not feeling,

It expand on the inhale as the lungs are filled,

The diaphragm contracting downwards.

We are breathing air into the back of our lungs,

Filling every inch of them.

Keeping the breath slow and gentle through the nose,

The back expanding,

The diaphragm contracting down and the lungs filling.

And with each exhale,

Feel yourself sink into the floor,

Your body relax as you let go.

Energy in on the inhale.

Tension out on the exhale.

At your own pace,

Breathing in through the nose,

Slowly,

Gently.

Feeling the middle back expand as the diaphragm contracts down,

The lungs filling.

And on the exhale,

The middle back relaxes,

The diaphragm relaxes up and the exhale is released through the nostrils.

And with the next exhale,

I'd love you to see,

Feel or sense any tension left in your body flowing out of your middle back.

Flowing like water.

Out of your body,

Into the floor and down,

Down,

Down into the earth.

Letting go of limiting beliefs,

Letting go of old thought patterns,

Old behaviour patterns.

You can thank your body for holding onto them.

Usually it's just trying to protect you.

But you no longer require their help.

Letting go of all tension through the middle back,

Into the earth below.

If thoughts arise,

Just witness them.

Be curious about them rather than make judgements.

And it is in cultivating curiosity during the practice that we can then experience it in our everyday lives.

Curiosity with ourselves,

With others,

With situations.

Curiosity will start to replace tension,

It will replace judgement,

It will replace comparison.

And it will allow you to integrate what was with what is in this present moment.

Breathing in curiosity,

Breathing out tension.

Breathing in compassion,

Breathing out judgement.

See each breath as an expression of love for yourself.

Each breath is a meeting of yourself in this moment,

An opportunity to transform.

And one last breath through the nose,

Slowly,

Gently,

Feeling the middle back expand as the diaphragm contracts down and the lungs fill.

And on the exhale,

Your middle back relaxes,

Your diaphragm relaxes up,

Your lungs empty as you release that breath out of the nostrils.

Ok,

Now return to a natural,

Steady rhythm of the breath.

Bring your hands to your upper belly,

Your thumbs resting on your lower ribs.

And pay attention again to your fingertips.

Take a few natural breaths.

Are your fingertips moving apart,

Even slightly,

As the ribs expand?

Can you feel any more movement since we started the practice?

Bring awareness back to the whole body now.

Wiggle your toes,

Wiggle your fingers,

Stretch if you want to.

And as you continue with your day,

See if you can find moments to just connect with your body as you're breathing.

Notice the expansion of your ribs,

Upper belly and back.

Bring your attention to the diaphragm as it contracts down on the inhale and relaxes up on the exhale.

The more we do this,

The more we send messages to our brain to use the diaphragm optimally and therefore breathe more fully.

Thank you for joining me.

Have a beautiful day.

Reviews

I really enjoyed connecting to my diaphragm through this meditation. Not sure if aware of a small blank spot in the recording towards the end. Not sure if editable, but thought I’d mention.

Thank you so much for this 🙏🏽 I definitely feel lighter and more connected

Our breath is what’s keep us alive. I tend to forget about it. I forget that proper breathing is medicine. Thank a lot for this guided practice