Breath Space: The Diaphragm Muscle
In a yoga class a teacher might ask you to breathe into the belly or abdomen. The idea behind this is to try to get you to use your diaphragm muscle during pranayama or during the asanas. The correct use of the breath and the diaphragm in an asana does not only help us control our breath, but also our postural control during and on transitioning into or out of an asana.
There is no perfectly normal posture or perfectly normal breath. However just like inefficient adaptions to posture can lead to neck or back pain, inefficient use of our diaphragm muscle can lead to numerous anatomical and physiological dysfunctions in the body.
The diaphragm is a large dome shaped muscle which resembles a parachute. It is located under the lungs on the underside of the bottom rib cage, separating the chest and abdomen.
For an inhalation breath to occur the diaphragm first flattens, creating more space in the chest and air then rushes into this space through our nose and/or mouth.
For an exhalation breath to occur the diaphragm must return to its dome shape, reducing the space in the chest and then air is pushed out.
I found a great video image on you tube which explains it very well: respiratory system-7 role of diaphragm in breathing - YouTube
A common time to inhale would be as we reach up, stand up or need to create space in an asana. An exhale would usually occur when less space is required in the chest and abdomen or less space would actually be beneficial such as in a folding asana or a twist.
The diaphragm however is not just a muscle used for breathing (respiratory muscle). It is a postural control muscle too. Dysfunction in the diaphragm muscle has been linked to back pain. The fascia networks surrounding the diaphragm links it to transversus abdominis (an important deep core abdominal muscle), abdominals, gluteus maximus, quadratus lumborum, latissimus dorsi and trapezius to name but a few. Fascia can be a sheath or a band that surrounds or connects tissue and organs in the body. Due to the way it links muscles I like to think of the muscles as a chain. One problem with a link in the chain and the chain can’t function properly. No muscle ever works in isolation and its important to be aware of this. It is one of the reasons I was drawn to yoga as the asanas are using the whole body as well as the breath.
The pelvic floor and diaphragm have an important connection too. Both work together to ensure an efficient breathing pattern but also to maintain control of the pelvic floor thus preventing incontinence. Every time the diaphragm contracts there is a stretch response in trans abs and in turn a stretch response in the pelvic floor muscles.
There’s more. The diaphragm also has gaps in its structure to allow other important structures to pass through from the chest to the abdomen. Major blood vessels (aorta and inferior vena cava), nerves (phrenic and vagus), lymphatic tissue (thoracic duct) and the oesophagus which is the tube that delivers chewed food and liquids to the stomach.
The diaphragm helps with venous return which is the route by which blood returns from the body to the heart. It also assists with lymphatic drainage. What body system is this muscle not involved in!
Problems with the diaphragm can result in the following:
Breathing pattern disorder
Reflux
Hiatus Hernia
Pelvic floor dysfunction
Back pain
Vocalisation problems
Balance issues
Resources and References
-Anatomic connections of the diaphragm: influence of respiration on the body system (nih.gov) Bardoni and Zenie 2013. There are some great anatomical images in this paper
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