diaphragmatic breathing

[kelp princess]

howdy breath-holders

thought people would find this article and the diagrams really interesting.

http://www.doyoga.com/articles_07/web_site_articles/breath/diaphragmatic_breath.pdf

cheers,

kp

 

[demasoni]

I found this passage meaningful:

And then there are times when we anticipate physical stress and begin to breathe harder, using the chest muscles. The problem is that this situation of persistent mental and emotional stress has become more the rule of daily life than the excep- tion. The body is on constant alert via the sympathetic nervous system, but the physical exertion — and the need for accelerated breathing — never comes. As a result, we’ve both pumped in more oxygen and pumped out carbon dioxide in this process of hyperventilation, and a vital chemical balance in the body has been seriously upset.

Here begins the vicious cycle that is so familiar to hyperventilators. The harder we breathe, the more oxygen-starved we feel, and we can’t ‘catch’ our breath. This is not for lack of oxygen, but because so much carbon dioxide has been forced out in the process of overbreathing. The presence of carbon dioxide in our blood allows the hemoglobins to transport oxygen to the body’s tissues. If too much carbon dioxide is ‘blown off’ by hyperventilation, the blood becomes alkaline, and the hemoglobin can’t release the oxygen molecules, which are chemically ‘stuck’ to it. The blood is carrying around plenty of oxygen: the problem is that the body can’t get any of it!