yoga4healthyliving

De-tox using the Diaphragm

Why is this big flap of muscle and tendon that separates the chest from the abdominal cavities so important to us staying alive?  Well it helps to move the breath in and out of the lungs.  As we inhale, the diaphragm moves  down and gives the upper abdominal organs a massage to aid their functioning, and as we exhale, it moves up, easing the breath out of the lower lobes of the lungs, massaging the heart.

This up and down movement of the diaphragm will aid the venous return of the blood to the heart as your venous blood has no pumping system to bring blood back up from your feet and legs to the heart so the upward movement of the diaphragm literally draws the blood back up.  Similarly your lymph returns in the same way as it also has no pump to bring it back up the lower limbs and lower trunk.  The return journey for blood is bringing back carbon dioxide into the lungs to be expelled during respiration and the lymph is part of the body's sewage system returning the by-products of cell metabolism for elimination.

Postures which help to stretch the diaphragm or the spinal twists, either standing, sitting or lying down.  Shoulder stant will help to strengthen it as the diaphragm is supporting all the abdominal organs and weight from the lower body .

So take care of your breathing by using abdominal breathing and engaging your diaphragm and you will be helping your body to de-tox too!

Effective Breathing

Respiratory areas situated in the brain constantly monitor the breathing process, eg fear inhibits the in-breath; anger produces a panting breath; pain seizes up the breath dramatically.  Natural and effective breathing is not a process of increasing the intake of oxygen, but of securing its effective distribution.  When we are quiet and peaceful, the body's oxygen intake is reduced because the breathing slows down.  So from an average of 15 breaths per minute, when we begin to relax effectively or move into a state of meditation, the rate drops to around 6 breaths a minute with a decline in oxygen intake of up to 10 per cent.  That is perfectly OK for when we are in a relaxed state as we need little oxygen when we are physically still.  However to increase the oxygen intake to provide each cell with the oxygen they need to produce energy, we can begin to breathe deeply into our abdomen and feel our abodominal wall  gently expand as we inhale and contract a little as we exhale.

Happy New Year!