Diaphragmatic breathing, abdominal breathing, belly breathing, or deep breathing, is a

breathing Breathing (spiration or ventilation) is the rhythmical process of moving air into ( inhalation) and out of ( exhalation) the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxy ...

technique that is done by contracting the diaphragm, a

muscle Muscle is a soft tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissue. There are three types of muscle tissue in vertebrates: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle. Muscle tissue gives skeletal muscles the ability to muscle contra ...

located horizontally between the

thoracic cavity The thoracic cavity (or chest cavity) is the chamber of the body of vertebrates that is protected by the thoracic wall (rib cage and associated skin, muscle, and fascia). The central compartment of the thoracic cavity is the mediastinum. Ther ...

and

abdominal cavity The abdominal cavity is a large body cavity in humans and many other animals that contain Organ (anatomy), organs. It is a part of the abdominopelvic cavity. It is located below the thoracic cavity, and above the pelvic cavity. Its dome-shaped roo ...

. Air enters the

lungs The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syste ...

as the diaphragm strongly contracts, but unlike traditional relaxed breathing (''

eupnea In the mammalian respiratory system, eupnea is normal, good, healthy and unlabored breathing, sometimes known as ''quiet breathing'' or a ''resting respiratory rate''. In eupnea, expiration employs only the elastic recoil of the lungs. Eupnea is t ...

'') the

intercostal muscles The intercostal muscles comprise many different groups of muscles that run between the ribs, and help form and move the chest wall. The intercostal muscles are mainly involved in the mechanical aspect of breathing by helping expand and shrink th ...

of the chest do minimal work in this process. The belly also expands during this type of breathing to make room for the contraction of the diaphragm.

References

{{Meditation Respiration

See also

References