Are you breathing properly?

According toMayo Clinic, from the moment you were born, you knew how to breathe properly. That means letting your diaphragm - the large, thin muscle just below your rib cage - do the work of drawing air into your lungs and pushing air out. It's called diaphragmatic breathing or belly breathing, and it's the most efficient way to breathe.

But over time, most people forget how to do it. Instead of belly breathing, people start chest breathing. When you breathe from the chest, the muscles between your ribs and neck have to do a harder job of raising and lowering your rib cage to pull air into your lungs and push it out. Chest breathing requires more effort for less air to go in.

When it comes to proper breathing, it doesn't matter whether you breathe through your nose or mouth. The most important place to breathe is your belly, not your chest.

Chest breathing and belly breathing

Relaxed breathing should originate primarily from the diaphragm, with minimal movement of the chest and shoulders. Chest breathing is useful when running away from danger. However, prolonged chest breathing can cause coughing, hoarseness, tension headaches, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and anxiety.

Belly breathing promotes a sense of calm relaxation. That's why it's often a part of mindfulness and yoga practices.

Benefits of belly breathing

About 80% of people with chronic cough have more than one contributing factor to their symptoms. These may include postnasal drip, gastroesophageal reflux disease, asthma, respiratory infections, dry throat, and ineffective chest breathing (which is often an overlooked cause of cough). People with chronic cough tend to adopt ineffective breathing habits.

Each of these conditions can aggravate the other, and the cough may persist unless the person addresses all contributing factors at once.

Research has shown that people with gastroesophageal reflux disease who practice belly breathing after eating reduce the frequency of acid reflux. People with sleep apnea and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may find relief from belly breathing, making them feel less short of breath and anxious.

Belly breathing can also slow the heart rate and lower or stabilize blood pressure.

One of the pain-relief techniques used at Mayo Clinic rehabilitation centers in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota is to train patients to relax and breathe from their belly, not their chest.

Medications can’t correct chest breathing. The only solution is practice and patience. Most people can improve their breathing patterns with enough time and attention. As a bonus, you may have fewer headaches and less anxiety.

According to Harvard Medical School, diaphragmatic breathing promotes adequate oxygen exchange, meaning a favorable exchange of incoming oxygen for outgoing carbon dioxide. Not surprisingly, this type of breathing slows the heart rate and can lower or stabilize blood pressure.

This breathing technique is especially important for people with COPD. In this condition, air can become trapped in the lungs, causing the diaphragm to collapse. This weakens it and makes it less efficient. Diaphragmatic breathing can help people with COPD strengthen their diaphragm, which in turn helps them use less energy to breathe.

Many studies have shown that diaphragmatic breathing can have many benefits. It can help you relax, manage symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, lower your heart rate and blood pressure, enhance the effectiveness of core strength exercises, improve core stability, and more.

Check your breathing technique

You can determine your breathing pattern with a simple test:

- Stand or lie straight on the bed or floor.

- Place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your stomach.

- Observe your hands as you inhale and exhale.

If you are chest breathing, the hand on your chest will rise and fall. If you are belly breathing, the hand on your belly will rise and fall. Other signs that you are chest breathing include frequent sighing and yawning, which indicate that you are not getting enough air into your lungs.

Relearning belly breathing takes practice. If you've ever taken a yoga class or done a mindfulness exercise, you can start with belly breathing.

Begin your practice by repeating the test throughout the day while lying down, standing, or sitting upright. As you become more comfortable breathing from your belly, you can try breathing during more strenuous activities, such as walking. Then, begin practicing belly breathing while engaging in more vigorous activities, such as exercising, running, mowing the lawn, or dancing.

Don't worry if you go back to chest breathing, be patient with yourself. Diaphragmatic or belly breathing is not only effective and powerful, it is also free and has no side effects. Breathe from your belly, your body and mind will thank you.