S11L1 Diaphragmatic Abdominal Breathing by Simply Better Movement

Most people under-utilise their diaphragm in the act of breathing. There are many reasons for this which I am not going to go into here. Suffice to say that when you learn how to better access the diaphragm your breath is slower, fuller, anxiety lowers, neck pain reduces, lung capacity increases.

This is a shorter lesson than usual, the first Awareness Through Movement lesson in a breathing series I created. Before this first audio lesson I asked attendees where they thought their lungs were. They used their hands to indicate where on themselves they believed they were. Do that yourself on yourself now. If you had to explain to a child where your lungs were what would you do, where would you map or indicate on yourself?
Then I presented some simple anatomy related to breathing - the ribs, lungs, diaphragm, abdominal organs below. This included a couple of short videos demonstrating the location and action of the diaphragm that separates the lungs and heart in the thoracic (chest)cavity from the essentially liquid contents of the abdomen below. Perhaps you can google "breathing diaphragm" and see if what you see changes your idea about where your lungs are. After the 6 weeks of breathing classes everyone had a very different and more accurate idea of where their lungs were and how they could more easily get air to enter and exit them.
I also showed an animation and a MRI image of the contents of the chest and abdomen separated by the diaphragm, moving when the diaphragm is drawn down freely. Here is a link to a different video that shows the action of the diaphragm in abdominal breathing https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10156874771181110 (you may need to copy and paste it).
Since breathing is tied closely to our emotional state you should be aware that for some people manipulating the mechanism of breathing can disturb them. You should stop if the disturbance is too great and not something you can observe simply and curiously.
If you live in Perth Western Australia and think you could do with some help to better your breathing or deal with some other movement or pain problem, why not book a private session with Vanessa (through www.simplybettermovement.com.au . Don't assume that the act of breathing is "natural" and you know all you need to know to about it.