Breathwork, the Diaphragm, and the Stress Response Cycle
article at a glance:
The diaphragm supports the respiratory process, the stress response cycle, and core strength & stability
Mobilizing the diaphragm is more than just taking a ‘deep belly breath’. There are lots of techniques we use at SomaWell for diaphragm mobilization
Supporting the diaphragm can help interrupt the feedback loops and messaging to the brain to always be braced and ‘ready’
Overused and overworked accessory breathing muscles can cause pain overtime
Supporting the diaphragm also supports stimulation of the vagus nerve, increasing parasympathetic tone in the autonomic nervous system. In other words, vagus nerve stimulation enhances our ability to come out of stress and activation and enter into rest & digest mode.
‘Take a deep belly breath’…
Have you heard your yoga teacher say this in class? I know I have said this myself while teaching. When using this cue, some yoga teachers may be trying to encourage students to use the diaphragm while breathing, with a basic understanding that this type of breath can help create relaxation. However, it’s much more complicated than this and the motion of moving the belly out and in is not using the diaphragm, it’s simply engaging the abdominal muscles in a different way. Perhaps this cue can create a good visual for some people, however, the benefit a breath work requires much more than just moving the abdomen out and in with each cycle of breath.
This cue is not always helpful, and the action of moving the belly doesn’t do much to support a person. However, mobilizing the diaphragm can help support the nervous system, improve breathing and movement patterns, and can be a great way to support mental wellbeing. Let’s explore some more!
What is the diaphragm?
The diaphragm plays an important role in the respiratory system, the stress response cycle, and also inner core unit stability. The muscle sits at the base of the rib cage and as we inhale, it contracts down, on the exhale it settles back into place.
I know I am a visual learner myself, so here is a video if you want to see how the diaphragm moves (or see below!).
Notice that the diaphragm moves in a global way - on the inhale, the sides of the rib cage expand AND the front and back of the rib cage expand (it’s more than just moving the abdomen/belly out and in).
The Diaphragm: “Is the coast clear Muscle”
The diaphragm is also an important muscle that helps communicate to the brain if places, people, and situations are safe or unsafe. As I studied with Jane Clapp in her Movement for Trauma training, she introduced the idea that the diaphragm communicates to us like “whiskers communicate to a cat”. The diaphragm muscle is a key player of the neuroception process.
Neuroception is a subconscious process of detecting danger and safety in the external (and internal) environment. It’s our primal way of knowing what is safe/unsafe, our gut instinct, and a subconscious process that happens beneath our conscious awareness. The diaphragm helps to communicate to us if ‘the coast is clear’, or if we are in danger.
When we feel generally safe:
When we feel generally safe, it’s more possible for the diaphragm to move freely, supporting us to take natural breaths. As the muscle contracts and settles through a breath cycle, it also stimulates the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is the major highway connecting the brain to the organs of the body; 80% of the vagus nerve’s function is to send information from the body up to the brain.
As the diaphragm flows freely and moves up and down in its natural form, it also stimulates the vagus nerve. As the vagus nerve is stimulated, the nerve sends a message to the brain that ‘all is well’, and the brain sends information back down through the vagus nerve highway to inform the organs they can function with ease. With a sense of safety, there is no need to activate and mobilize energy to respond to stress.
When we sense stress, danger, or life threat:
Generally, we are always using the diaphragm to breathe until we are stressed (the diaphragm is still used even under stress just not in its full capacity). When we sense stress, the diaphragm braces and restricts which sends a message up to the brain (through the vagus nerve) that something is not right, and the brain initiates the process to take action (fight/flight/freeze). All of this happens faster than we can consciously think to make a choice.
As the fight/flight/freeze response kicks in, the diaphragm muscle and other muscles engage as core stabilizers, helping us to brace in a stress response and prepare us for action. When braced and used primarily as a core stabilizer, the diaphragm cannot function in its full capacity as a respiratory muscle, so the accessory breathing muscles kick in to support the breathing process and to take in oxygen so the body can continue to take action. The accessory breathing muscles include the muscles of the upper chest, neck, and back. These muscles fire up and take over the breathing process to help expand the rib cage to get oxygen to the lungs. Without the support of the diaphragm, the breath becomes short and more restricted.
The body’s beautiful survival response
This is a natural and necessary process, the body is doing its beautiful job of surviving! We don’t want to inhibit this process, and its also not a great idea to try to diaphragm breathe when we are truly facing danger. We need these movement & breathing patterns, and the activating life energy to respond to stress!
It is also important to note that in a protective and braced response, the diaphragm may not mobilize fully until the body feels safe.
When traumatic stress or chronic stress becomes our norm, our body memorizes these breathing patterns, as if the muscles were frozen with only one way of functioning. Even if we are generally safe, these patterns create a never ending feedback loop messaging to the brain to be hypervigilant and ready to brace for danger. Overtime, these accessory breathing muscles are overworked and overloaded and can create chronic pain. The diaphragm also weakens as a muscle in core stability and strength, resulting in less than ideal movement patterns in the body.
Cueing belly breathing, slow breathing, or deep breathing in a yoga class may not be useful for people, especially those with a braced diaphragm due to traumatic/chronic stress. These types of breathing cues may contribute to a person trying to ‘breathing deeply’ which in turn causes them to push down on tight diaphragm. In this case, all accessory breathing muscles end up overworking to make space for air, which puts more pressure on the organs, and doesn’t create a relaxed state in the body. Possibly creating the opposite effect - more stress, more bracing, more hypervigilance.
Creating new patterns for healing
If you sense that you have pain, tightness, and tension in these areas of accessory breathing muscles, it’s possible they are overworking. To support breathing biomechanics, we work together to find what is most supportive for your body in terms of breath work to help remind the body how to breathe in its natural way. Mobilizing the diaphragm is a gentle and slow process, as we work to de-thaw it from its frozen pattern of functioning.
As more optimal breathing patterns are introduced to the body, the body may opt to breathe with the newly established pattern that creates more ease and resilience. Until new options are introduced, the body may continue breathing and moving in suboptimal patterns.
If you want more support in exploring breathing biomechanics, schedule a session.