Pranayama: 2 Part Diaphragmatic Breath / Full Yogic Breathing
Note on the Video: Sorry the image is small— the full screen recording was corrupted and this was the only version let standing. Thank you for your patience.
You can imagine the lungs like tree roots. The trunk would be our trachea, our wind pipe, and from there we have two large main roots, the bronchi, reaching down into each lung. The bronchi branch off into smaller and smaller tubes called the bronchioles. The bronchioles are only as thick as a strand of hair, and there are almost 30,000 of them in each lung. At the end of each bronchiole are tiny air sacs called alveoli. These air sacs inflate and deflate with each breath, and are covered by tiny blood vessels called capillaries— the smallest blood vessels that branch out to create network throughout our entire body aiding gas and waste exchange between our cells. You can picture the exchange like a train car, oxygen gets on when carbon dioxide gets off, and vice versa. If these air sacs don’t work well then they don’t allow for this exchange to take place, this particular illness is called emphysema. Adult lungs have anywhere between 300-500 million alveoli helping us exchange about 1 and a half cups of oxygen and CO2 each minute!
The primary muscle aiding in this exchange is the diaphragm, as well as the external intercostal muscles, the muscles in between each rib. The diaphragm sits inside our rib cage like a parachute, separating the thoracic cavity of the heart and lungs from the abdominal cavity, containing muscles of digestion and elimination. Our mushroom shaped diaphragm attaches to the interior portions of the lower six ribs, and from this protected space, also sends down three strong tendons, called the crura, which attach to the top three lumbar vertabrae. At the front, our diaphragm attaches to the xiphoid process, and at the bottom to our quadratics lumborum and psoas muscle, the latter of which is our primary muscle of locomotion (walking). As Tom Meyers writes, it is this connection that intimately connects the rhythm of breathing to the rhythm of walking (cite), meaning that we are meant to breathe and move. THough our culture is very limited in its movement capacity, evolutionarily, we had to move ALOT to survive, and the more we moved the more breath we needed. The next time you go for a walk, watch your breath and see if you can feel this relationship in yourself. You might also find it easier to ‘watch your breath’ when you walk as you begin to see the process operate as a whole.
When we inhale, our diaphragm contracts and the dome of the parachute flattens down about an inch. This downward push creates a larger space in the thoracic cavity, which we feel as our belly expand. To visualize this, interlace your hands in front of your chest as you exhale, then press the hands down and allow them to spread open and elbows open up the sides (like you were cracking your knuckles, even though you probably never do that)— this imitates the downward expansion of the diaphragm as you inhale. WIth each exhale, allow the hands to recoil back up to interlaced position in front of the chest, and with each inhale gently push the hands down and open. This diaphragmatic ‘nudge’ pushes the organs of digestion and elimination out of the way to make room for expansion of the lungs, and this nudge accounts for about 75% of our total air intake. Simultaneously, the lower ribs are elevated on the front, sides and back of the body, which increases the diameter of the lower portion of the cavity— you can feel this as well by simply placing the hands on the sides of the ribs as you breathe, and noticing their slight upward rotation. This expansion of the lower ribs accounts for the remaining 25% of air intake.
The diaphragm is considered a major player in our deep core musculature of postural support, as well as a respiratory muscle. If, though, deep core muscles like the transverse abdominus and deeper aspects of our functional core such as the internal obliques are not performing well, then the diaphragm assumes more and more of a postural role than a respiratory role. This means that it will stay in a semi-contracted, or flattened state, creating a hyper-inflated” breath flow which results in over-breathing, poor oxygen absorption, restriction of blood flow to the brain and intestines, a tight neck and shoulders, flaring of the ribs and low back pain, decreased intra-abdominal pressure, as well as increased breathing rates which lead to hyper-arousal of our sympathetic nervous system, a primary cause of stress and anxiety.
Our culture is currently experiencing an epidemic of shallow breathing— studies have shown that the average adult tends to breathe 12-18 breaths per minute, whereas roughly five breaths per minute have been shown to be ideal for oxygen assimilation. We are breathing more rapidly and with less efficiency (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3655580/ ). The funny thing is that instead of addressing this concern, we are simply raising the breathing average to account for it. Ancient yogis, on the other hand, have said that we are born with a finite number of breaths, so the idea of breathing shallow and often is time taken away from this precious human birth.
A note on intra abdominal pressure— the movement of our diaphragm is key to maintaining the pressure within our core cylinder. The outward pressing force of the diaphragm stays in dialogue with the inward pressing force of our core cylinder, creating a powerful synthesis— much like how a can with liquid in it can’t be crushed, but a can without liquid in it can be easily crushed— without our intra abdominal pressure our core cylinder is compromised, no matter how strong the muscles of our core cylinder may be. We can gently utilize and awaken our intra-abdominal pressure during our diaphragmatic breathing by simply resisting the outward push of the diaphragm as we inhale, and then also resisting the inward pull of the diaphragm as we exhale—basically trying to keep a degree of pressure while we breathe. This can be an optional part of the practice done in the exploration phase of the pranayama.
But the goal isn’t to swing the pendulum to the other extreme, but to begin to utilize our diaphragm and rib cage to breathe fully and naturally once again. We will take time to isolate portions of our breath, but don’t let this lead you to doership in breathing, but instead to awaken your natural capacity.
Diaphragmatic Breathing Intro: The goal of diaphragmatic breathing, or the full yogic breath, is to awaken our primary muscles of respiration, the diaphragm and intercostals, and relax our tendency to breathe from our upper chest. This practice will oxygenate more of our blood with less energy, and helps us shift from the sympathetic to parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and presence— that being said, it can at first feel uncomfortable to experience this different state of equilibrium. For this reason it is very important to approach diaphragmatic breathing slowly, and using less effort than our minds may encourage us to— it’s all too easy for pendulum to swing the other way, so if you ever feel light headed when doing this pranayama, take your effort down by 50% and approach it more slowly. Ideally this pranayama will leave you feeling refreshed, recharged, centered and strong.
Full Yogic Breathing Setup/Technique:
Setup: Ideally, the muscles of the face, shoulders, neck and throat are relaxed during our pranayama practice. Relaxing the face is a great method for relaxing the mind, as our face is used so frequently to communicate our thoughts.
You can imagine your torso in two sections, the ribs and chest, and the belly.
Rib Cage Expansion: Because of our sedentary culture, there can be a tendency for the low back to arch and pelvis to spill forward when we breathe into our ribs. This limits our overall capacity for breathing and reinforces a problematic posture. To offset this tendency, bring your awareness to the sides and back of the rib cage when you breathe, allowing yourself to feel the expansion of the ribs in 360 degrees, instead of just in front of you. ‘Breathing into your back’ will naturally fill you with inner awareness as we feel and are nourished by this hidden back space of the breath. You can also feel the xiphoid process rising up towards the chin to support expansion in this middle section of the torso.
Take a moment to rest the hands on the lower abdomen, below the belly button, the middle fingertips barely touching. Take 2-3 breaths here feeling for movement in this lower abdominal cavity. Try not to over-breathe, and take time to feel what happens naturally with each breath. The very fact that you are focusing your awareness here will naturally increase your breath without any effort.
The full yogic breath: Place one hand on the lower abdominals, below the navel, and the other on the side of the ribs, without creating any tension in the shoulder and neck. Begin with a gentle inhale, and let that be followed by a slow and thorough exhale. As you exhale, feel the ribs and lower abdominals compress towards your mid line. Once the pipes have been cleared, let the inhale come to you, feeling gentle movement and expansion in the lower abdominals, then the pinky edge of the hand on the ribs, up to the thumb edge of the upper hand, and even gently across the skin of the clavicles. The breath is alike a slow and gentle wave moving from the navel to the upper ribs. Remember to breathe into the sides and back of the ribs to keep the back from arching, keeping the diaphragm and ribs in communicatnion. The experience should always feel natural, smooth, gentle and controlled. We have to continually remind ourselves that we are working with a subtle tool and even subtler energy, and therefore can’t let ourselves get caught in the physical experience of expansion as a gauge of pranic expansion. Light headedness can indicate that you are over-breathing. Keep relaxing the face, neck and shoulders as you breathe, refocusing on the primary movers of the diaphragm and intercostals.
The exhale is a natural rebound of the breath, meaning it takes very little effort to do well. The only effort of exhaling is to do it slowly and gracefully. One helpful focal point is to keep your attention on the ever so slight lift of the sternum at the peak of your inhale, and to maintain that subtle lift as you begin to exhale. This will allow you lay the ribs back down like a precious Rudraksha mala, one seed at a time. As the exhale comes to a close, the sternum will naturally depress as the lower abdominals draw once again towards center.