How Diaphragmatic Breathing Can Improve Resonance Breathing

Have you ever noticed how your breath changes in response to stress or relaxation? The way you breathe has a powerful impact on your body, influencing your heart rate, stress levels, and overall well-being. Many people tend to breathe shallowly from the chest, especially when stressed, which can actually increase stress by limiting oxygen supply and engaging the body's "fight or flight" response. On the other hand, slow breathing with your diaphragm can effectively calm both your body and mind, promoting relaxation and reducing stress. In this blog post, you'll learn how mastering diaphragmatic breathing can enhance the benefits of resonance breathing, improving your health and sleep.

The Best Way to Breathe: Diaphragmatic Breathing

What is Diaphragmatic Breathing?

Have you ever wondered if there's a right or wrong way to breathe? You might think that breathing comes naturally, and as kids, we typically breathe correctly using our diaphragms. However, as adults, we might start breathing differently, relying more on our chests. In fact, there is a best way to breathe.

Diaphragmatic breathing, or "belly breathing," is the most effective way to breathe, allowing you to oxygenate more with less air compared to chest breathing. Diaphragmatic breathing involves drawing air deeply into the abdomen by engaging the diaphragm muscle, a large, dome-shaped muscle at the base of your lungs. This allows for fuller lung expansion, particularly downward, creating more space for the lower regions of the lungs. The lower regions of the lungs have a greater number of alveoli with better blood supply, leading to more efficient oxygenation of the blood and removal of carbon dioxide. Additionally, the movement of the diaphragm is highly effective, and the exhalation process is fully passive, making it much more energy-efficient compared to using chest muscles.

How Diaphragmatic Breathing Impacts your Nervous System

When you practice diaphragmatic breathing, you directly influence the activity of your autonomic nervous system, which regulates involuntary bodily functions such as heart rate, digestion, and respiratory rate. Diaphragmatic breathing can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and recovery, while reducing the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the "fight or flight" response. These are the reasons why diaphragmatic breathing is a foundational element in practices such as yoga and meditation, playing a crucial role in supporting physiological efficiency and overall body function.

The Impact of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Resonance Breathing

Maximizing RSA and HRV

Resonance breathing relies on the concept of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), the natural fluctuation in heart rate that occurs at a breathing pace between 4 - 7 breaths per minute. During inhalation, the heart rate increases, and during exhalation, it decreases, which reflects a healthy and adaptable autonomic nervous system. Chest breathing, however, tends to be shallow and irregular, disrupting the steady rhythm needed for effective resonance breathing. By practicing diaphragmatic breathing to match a slow, steady rhythm, you can maximize RSA, HRV and blood pressure oscillations, leading to greater synchronization between your heart and respiratory systems. A strong RSA and high heart rate variability (HRV), are indicators of a healthy and responsive autonomic nervous system and cardiovascular system. These oscillations train your nervous and cardiovascular systems, helping reduce stress, improve emotional regulation, enhance cardiovascular health, and improve sleep quality (for further info read: Enhancing Your Sleep with Resonance Breathing).

Breath at Your Optimal Resonance Frequency for Best Effects

Everyone has a unique optimal resonance frequency—the breathing rate at which the oscillations in heart rate and blood pressure are most pronounced. Finding and practicing at your personal resonance frequency amplifies these oscillations, providing the strongest training and best effects of the practice. Diaphragmatic breathing helps you achieve and maintain this optimal frequency, ensuring you get the maximum benefits from resonance breathing.

Mastering diaphragmatic breathing can significantly enhance the benefits of resonance breathing, leading to improved cardiovascular health, better stress management, and more restful sleep. By understanding and practicing diaphragmatic breathing techniques, you can achieve optimal resonance frequency, maximize heart rate variability, and support your body's natural rhythms. Integrate these techniques into your daily routine with tools like the Oxa app, and experience the transformative power of breathing.

Experience Breathing at Your Optimal Pace with Oxa

To help you master diaphragmatic breathing and improve your resonance breathing, we invite you to join the Oxa program about Personal Resonance Breathing for Better Sleep. This structured program is designed to enhance your sleep quality through scientifically-backed techniques, namely:

• Learn about the benefits of resonance breathing and how it can improve your sleep.
• Train your breathing skills to calm your nervous system and bring your body into better resonance with diaphragmatic breathing.
• Discover your own optimal resonance frequency, revealing the breathing pace that is most beneficial to you.

By following this program, you will learn how to use personal resonance breathing as an effective sleep preparation routine, helping you fall asleep faster and improve your overall sleep quality.

Further Reading:

How Habits Influence Circadian Rhythm and Improve Sleep

Enhancing Your Sleep with Resonance Breathing

Scientific References

Hopper, Susan I., et al. "Effectiveness of diaphragmatic breathing for reducing physiological and psychological stress in adults: a quantitative systematic review." JBI Evidence Synthesis 17.9 (2019): 1855-1876.

Urfy, Mian Zain, and Jose I. Suarez. "Breathing and the nervous system." Handbook of clinical neurology 119 (2014): 241-250.

Bilo, Grzegorz, et al. "Effects of slow deep breathing at high altitude on oxygen saturation, pulmonary and systemic hemodynamics." PloS one 7.11 (2012): e49074.

Lehrer, Paul, et al. "Heart rate variability biofeedback improves emotional and physical health and performance: A systematic review and meta analysis." Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback 45 (2020): 109-129.