Releasing Stress with Belly Breathing

I had heard of belly breathing, or diaphragm breathing for years over and over again. When I tried it, it didn’t work. I was so tense and out of sync with the natural flow of my breath that I dismissed this breathing technique as ‘that’s not for me.’
Last year I came across a YouTube video by Bob van Oosterhout explaining natural rhythmic breathing (his term for diaphragmatic breathing). He explained the basic functions of our autonomous nervous system and I FINALLY GOT IT. I understood why belly breathing is such an efficient tool to release stress and return to a natural state of balance.





Please let me share with you what I learned.

• Belly breathing is the natural way of breathing when we are in the green zone, when we are in a state of balance.
• Belly breathing is the way babies breathe. Chest and shoulders hardly move, only the belly rises and falls with every breath. There are no breaks between the inhalation and exhalation. There is a continuous movement, a continuous flow of breath.  
• Belly breathing helps us to relax and recover from stress. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system (the relax and recover part of our autonomous nervous system) by activating the vagus nerve with its gentle movement. This raises our vagal tone and leads to a state of coherence. Breathing in this way clears stress hormones out of our blood stream which helps to reduce states of upset and anxiety.
• Stress and tension accumulate in our bodies over time. Extended periods of belly breathing clear out accumulated stress, that’s old stress that is stored in our bodies.
• Practicing belly breathing increases our body awareness thus helping to detect and release tension in our bodies more often and more easily.
• Belly breathing is often recommended to be practiced daily for a certain amount of time. This is a good start. I aim to make it my default mode of breathing.
• Calming our bodies with belly breathing also calms the mind. We know that the nervous system is the communication network between the body and the brain. Research shows that 20% of this communication is from the brain to the body but 80% is information that is send by the body to the brain.
  
• By calming and relaxing the body we signal to our brain and to our mind that everything is okay. We don’t need to worry.When the body relaxes the mind can relax as well.
  

We often understand things and know how good they are supposed to be for us, but does that mean that we do them?
In my case, I did more belly breathing after I understood its benefits, but I wasn’t motivated enough to really make it a priority. That changed a couple of months ago when I was faced with extremely stressful life circumstances. That’s when I put my knowledge into practice. I made BB a priority and it worked like a charm. I could sleep again. I could move through an extended period of high-level stress with relative ease. This stress period ended a week ago and I am amazed to experience how balanced and lighthearted I am. There is no residue of the stress I experienced in my body or mind. It’s an amazing feeling that makes me a strong and passionate advocate for Belly Breathing.

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