Breathing exercises (called pranayama - pranayama) are an important part of any yoga practice. So if you go to a yoga class, you're sure to hear teachers teach students to control their breathing in a variety of ways, some of which are more complicated than others. The instructions I hear most often are "inhale into the abdomen" and "inhale into the chest cavity".
When I first started practicing yoga, I found myself confused about the mechanics of these two different behaviors, which were never fully explained in class (not the teacher's fault, just not enough time). I often think to myself:
How exactly does air enter my stomach? Air can only enter and exit from the lungs, and the lungs are clearly in the chest cavity. What did I get wrong?
The answer to this question turns out to be very simple.
Simple, that is, once you understand some of the basic principles of breathing, it quickly becomes very complex. To explain the difference between "chest breathing" and "abdominal breathing," I'll cover some of the basics here.
First, it helps to distinguish between two ways in which we can evaluate the concept of breathing.
Breathing is a physiological process.
Breathing is something we experience.
Sometimes these views are consistent, sometimes they are inconsistent – and this can cause a lot of confusion.
Take this common command, for example: "Exhale into the abdomen."
From an empirical point of view, the phrase is meaningful and may even feel very intuitive. Most of us feel the rise and fall of our abdomen as we breathe. Focusing on inhaling the breath into the abdomen can help some people breathe deeper, smoother, and more consciously — all of which we usually want to encourage in yoga, which is why the phrase is often used.
On the other hand, but from an anatomical and physiological point of view, the "breathe into your abdomen" password is a bit vague and can be misleading. As I mentioned earlier, when I first started my yoga class, I found myself thinking: If the air is only in and out of the lungs, how can you breathe in your stomach? What am I missing?
One thing I overlooked was the difference between the concepts of air and breathing. Air is an invisible gaseous substance that moves in and out of the lungs through the bronchi (to be precise) during breathing. And breathing, can refer to any type of movement ... Accompanied by breathing.
So even if the air doesn't get into the abdomen, the breath does. This just shows how important the precision of the language is in the teaching process... At least when there are literal thinkers like me in the class...
Okay, that clarifies a bit, but why does the abdomen move when we breathe? To answer this question, let's look at the diaphragm. Let's dissect it first.
The main muscle of breathing is the transverse diaphragm. It is shaped like a parachute or jellyfish and is located under the lungs. Hidden under the ribs, the trunk is divided into chest and abdominal cavities.
The outer edge of this "parachute" is attached to the sternum, the bottom of the rib cage and the front part of the lower (lumbar) spine. Together, these connection points are called the origin of the muscles.
The top of this "parachute" is a flat surface called the central tendon, formed by non-contractile fibrous tissue. This means that it doesn't contract on its own like a muscle. It can only move, but only if the muscle fibers attached to it contract. The insertion of the central tendon is called the transverse diaphragm.
When the diaphragm contracts, it changes shape and, more importantly, increases the volume of the thoracic cavity. The increase in volume leads to a decrease in the pressure in the cavity. This decrease in pressure causes air to flow into the lungs. This is the inhalation.
When the diaphragm relaxes, the lung tissue and chest cavity bounce back to their original shape and volume, draining air out of the lungs. This is the exhalation.
In relaxed breathing (e.g. when we sleep), exhalation is passive – this occurs as a result of muscle relaxation. This is not always the case when we change or control our breathing while performing physical exercise or breathing (yoga breathing).
The muscle fibers of the diaphragm are predominantly vertical (up and down).
This means that when it contracts, its fibers are shortened, pulling the central tendon (insertion) and the root of the rib cage (the starting point) towards each other. The "parachute" began to flatten.
The movement of breathing surrounds the trunk, depending on which part of the diaphragm (origin or insertion) is stable and which part remains free to move. That's the difference between "chest breathing" and "abdominal breathing" that you've been waiting for!
Chest breathing: the central tendon is stable and the ribs are moved
When the tendon remains in place and the ribs move freely, when the transverse diaphragm contracts, the base of the rib cage is lifted towards the central tendon. This causes the thoracic and thoracic cavity to expand to both sides, anteriorly, and posteriorly. This is considered a type of "chest breathing".
When the ribs remain in place and the central tendon moves freely, when the diaphragm contracts, the central tendon is pulled down towards the base of the chest cavity. This compresses the abdominal cavity.
We already know that the shape and volume of the chest cavity changes during breathing, which is how air is sucked in and discharged from the lungs. However, the abdominal cavity changes shape only when breathing.
Comparing the abdominal cavity to a water balloon illustrates this point. When you squeeze one end, the other end swells. The shape changes, the content changes, but the volume doesn't change. (Note that the volume of the abdominal cavity may change in other ways that are not related to breathing, such as when you have a big meal or are pregnant.) ）
When the diaphragm compresses the abdominal cavity, making room for the expansion of the chest and lungs, these organs are pushed away and the abdomen bulges like a water balloon. This is considered "abdominal breathing".
That's the result. Once you understand that the diaphragm is a muscle that can stabilize at one end and allow movement at the other, the "why" behind chest and abdominal breathing becomes very simple.
It is worth noting that the scene described above is two extremes. They can occur independently or simultaneously, just to varying degrees. It depends on the activity of two sets of muscles, which are the breathing aids and the postural stabilizers of the trunk, respectively.
The last thing I want to emphasize is that the diaphragm is always at work when we breathe. You sometimes hear abdominal breathing called "diaphragm breathing," which means you don't use your diaphragm to breathe into your ribs, but in fact every breath is a diaphragm breath. A person's breathing pattern may be efficient or inefficient, but it will always involve the contraction of the diaphragm (on inhale) and relaxation (on exhalation).
The main function of the diaphragm is to draw air into the lungs by increasing the volume of the chest cavity. It does this in two ways:
The transverse diaphragm lifts the rib cage and the base of the sternum, extending the rib cage forward and backward, on both sides and behind, forming a "chest breath".
The diaphragm compresses the abdominal cavity downwards, and the abdominal cavity rises forward, producing "abdominal breathing".
#"Flashing Moments" Theme Essay Issue 2 ##健康出行节 #