Breathing 1 - moving from fight or flight, to rest and digest

Описание: The diaphragm is a thin sheet of muscle that separates the lungs from the stomach contents.

When you breathe in, the diaphragm should contract and flatten out; when you breathe out, it should stretch out and dome up. This allows for gas exchange - oxygen in, carbon dioxide out - to take place at the bottom of the lungs, where it's most efficient.

However, our bodies are governed by two parts to the nervous system: the sympathetic nervous system which puts us into "fight or flight" state - useful if we're being chased down the road by a sabre-tooth tiger - and the parasympathetic nervous system which puts us into "rest and digest" mode - useful for healing and maintaining our bodies.

We should ideally spend most of our time in "rest and digest" - however, 21st century living doesn't often allow for much of that - especially with the current coronavirus lockdown! We're off balance, there's too much scary change going on, and the news is frickin' terrifying - so we are all tending towards "fight or flight".

This affects our breathing (we tend towards mouth breathing, and quicker, shallower breaths) which in turn means the air doesn't get to the diaphragm very well, so the gas exhange is less efficient, which is more stressful for our brains... it becomes a vicious circle.

Luckily, although breathing is usually an automatic process, it's one we have conscious control over. This video explains how to use your breathing pattern to calm your nervous system and move towards "rest and digest"... and this is also useful because it helps the long iliocostalis muscle in your back to relax, which helps with all sorts of problems: neck pain, back pain, groin pain, knee pain... Have a go and see what you can do with it!