Why Abdominal (Diaphragmatic) Breathing Is The Secret To Great Health

The rule of survival is:

• You cannot survive over three weeks without food
• You cannot survive over three days without water
• You cannot survive over three minutes without air

Therefore it is not exaggerated to say the most important thing in our life is ‘breathing’. Breathing is what we do every second in our lives. Therefore how we breathe directly relates to our well-being.

However nowadays people were not taught how to breathe correctly. Most people use ‘Chest Breathing’, which draws minimal air to our lungs. Today I would like to introduce a healthier way of breathing – ‘Abdominal Breathing’.

What is ‘Abdominal Breathing’

Abdominal breathing (Also called ‘Diaphragmatic Breathing’ or ‘Belly Breathing’) is a type of breathing that is the most efficient, and has the most health benefits.

In fact, we all ‘knew’ how to do Abdominal breathing. When we were in our mothers’ belly, we connect with her through the umbilical cord, which is attached to our belly. The fetus’ belly has an expand, contract movement to absorb oxygen and nutrients from the mother, and also removing wastes, through the umbilical cord.

We can observe how little babies breathe. We can simply put our hands on their tummies and we can feel an expansion and contraction.

However throughout the years, we forget how to breathe. We developed into doing ‘Chest Breathing’ which does not good to our health.

Therefore Abdominal breathing is not what we are not familiar with. We are just ‘relearning’ what has been ‘unlearnt’.

Benefits of ‘Abdominal Breathing’

Abdominal Breathing has many benefits.

• Maximize the intake of oxygen. Therefore increasing the supply of oxygen and nutrients to all cells in our bodies.
• Helps to relax. This can help people to cope with stress.
• Reduces blood pressure and lowers heart rate.
• Reduces muscle tension. It can help with muscle spasm.
• Improves your core muscle stability, so we have less chance of being injured.

How To Do ‘Abdominal Breathing’

For a detailed 2-step instruction on how to do ‘Abdominal Breathing’, check out the video below.

Registered Acupuncturist (R.Ac), Alex Hui created this blog to share with the world the treasures in Chinese Medicine (CM).