How belly breathing benefits your body, mind

From the day you're born, you know how to breathe correctly. That means letting the diaphragm — the large, thin muscle just below the rib cage — do the work of drawing air into the lungs and letting it out. It's known as diaphragmatic or belly breathing, and it's the most efficient and effective way to breathe.

But over time, almost everyone needs to remember how. Rather than belly breathing, people begin chest breathing. With chest breathing, the muscles between the ribs and the neck do the harder work of raising and lowering the rib cage to pull air into the lungs and push it out. Chest breathing requires a lot of effort and moves less air.

When it comes to the correct way to breathe, it doesn't matter whether you breathe through your nose or your mouth. Where you breathe from matters: your belly and not your chest.

Chest breathing vs. belly breathing

Relaxed breathing should originate primarily from the diaphragm, with little movement of the chest and shoulders. Chest breathing activates accessory respiratory muscles that tighten the neck, chest and vocal cords, and can trigger a fight-or-flight stress reflex.

A chest-breathing pattern is useful in short bursts when running from danger. However, prolonged chest breathing can contribute to coughing, hoarseness, tension headaches, chest tightness, shortness of breath and anxiety.

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

Benefits of belly breathing

About 80% of people with chronic cough have more than one factor contributing to symptoms. These can include postnasal drip, gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, asthma, respiratory infections, throat dryness and inefficient chest breathing, which often is an overlooked cough trigger. People with chronic coughs tend to adopt inefficient breathing habits.

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

Research has indicated that people with GERD who practice belly breathing after eating reduce how often they experience acid reflux. People with sleep apnea and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, can find some relief with belly breathing to help feel less shortness of breath and anxiety. Belly breathing also can slow your heartbeat and lower or stabilize blood pressure.

Mayo Clinic Pain Rehabilitation Centers in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota help people experiencing chronic pain find ways to alleviate or control it. One way is by using biofeedback to train patients to relax and breathe with 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 end up with fewer headaches and less anxiety.

Test your breathing technique

You can determine how you tend to breathe with a simple test:

• Stand up straight or lie flat on a bed or the floor.
• Put one hand flat on your chest, the other one flat on your belly.
• Watch your hands when you inhale and exhale.

If you're chest breathing, the hand on your chest will go up and down. If you're belly breathing, that hand will go up and down. Other signs that you're chest breathing include frequent sighing and yawning, which indicate you're not getting enough air into your lungs.

Relearning how to belly breathe takes practice. If you've ever taken a yoga class or done a mindfulness exercise, you likely started with belly breathing practice.

Begin your training by repeating the test throughout the day while lying down, standing or sitting with your back straight. As you get more comfortable breathing from your belly, you can try it when you're more active, such as walking. Then build your way up to practicing belly breathing while engaging in more vigorous activities, such as working out, running, mowing the grass or dancing.

Practice reaps results

Don't worry if you revert to chest breathing. Think about it this way: Chest breathing will get you there, just like crawling does. But neither is efficient. As a toddler, you spend countless hours, with plenty of falls and tumbles, learning how to walk so you can get from point A to point B most efficiently. Like walking, belly breathing will become normal to you. Be patient with yourself.

Not only is diaphragmatic or belly breathing efficient and powerful, it's also free and has no side effects. Embrace belly breathing, and your body and mind will thank you.

Richard Crockett, M.D., is an allergist in Mankato and New Prague, Minnesota.