Are you a Chest Breather?
Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen. Which one moves
when you breathe in?
Babies breathe naturally, that is they are natural abdominal breathers. As we get
older we are told to stand up straight and hold our tummies in. By doing this we can
only breathe using our chests.
Chest breathers:
 Waste a lot of effort just to get air into their lungs.
 Tend to raise their shoulders and employ incorrect muscles in breathing.
 People that are chest breathers tend to take more breaths per minute than
abdominal breathers.
Abdominal breathers:
 Employ the diaphragm to get air into the lungs.
 Use this efficient method of breathing to obtain greater oxygen transfer.
 Can use breathing as a strategy for stress relief and relaxation.
Abdominal breathing is also known as diaphragmatic breathing. The diaphragm is
situated between the chest and the abdomen and is attached to the lower ribs.
Respiration is an automatic or reflex action.
The volume of air in the lungs changes with each respiratory cycle. Although the
total lung capacity is around 6000 ml, the tidal volume (volume of air taken into and
out of the lungs with each breath) is only 600 ml.
As we get older our breathing becomes shallower, so there is even more reason to
increase the amount of oxygen that we take into the body by abdominal breathing.
Breathing provides oxygen to the blood stream and body – inhalation provides us
with oxygen and exhalation removes carbon dioxide.
How you breathe also affects your nervous system. Chest breathing creates beta
(shorter) brain waves than those produced by abdominal breathing. The (alpha)
longer, slower brain waves are similar to those that the brain makes when you are
relaxed, so abdominal breathing helps to relax and calm you. Theta waves are
produced in a meditative state. These brain waves are longer than Alpha waves and
require regular practice, training and patience to achieve.
Gill Brydon
Look at this web link to understand the differences in brain waves:
www.crystalinks.com/medbrain.html
When you practise abdominal breathing regularly, the breathing will be slow and
deep. This is the ultimate goal of abdominal breathing.
Deep abdominal breathing combined with slow graceful motion helps to oxygenate
the body, improve blood circulation, move lymphatic fluids, and release skeletal
muscle tension.
The mechanics of abdominal breathing
 As the diaphragm contracts it descends: this increases the volume of the
chest cavity.
 There is a subsequent decrease of air pressure so the greater air pressure
outside the body, forces air into the lungs.
 As the diaphragm relaxes the diaphragm moves upwards and so air is
expelled from the lungs.
Now is a good time to look at abdominal breathing from a different perspective.
The diagram below shows the correct breathing for your Qigong practice.
Once you have mastered
abdominal breathing you can
move onto Qi breathing.
Qi breathing involves using intent
(Yi) to draw the ‘breath’ down
through your body, into the
dantien.
Abdominal breathing brings
energy into the dantien: this is
where you can store, cultivate
and develop qi, your life force
energy.
Gill Brydon