What is abdominal breathing

Many people have heard of abdominal breathing, especially those who practice Tai Chi. People who practice Tai Chi know abdominal breathing. Abdominal breathing includes abdominal breathing and reverse abdominal breathing. Abdominal breathing means gently expanding the abdominal muscles when inhaling. On the premise of feeling comfortable, try to inhale as deeply as possible, and relax the muscles when exhaling to make people feel happy physically and mentally. So do you know what abdominal breathing is? Let me introduce it to you. Let's take a look.

Deep breathing is abdominal breathing. From the perspective of exercise, it means to puff up your belly when you inhale, and to fully empty your abdomen when you exhale; from the perspective of Qigong, when you practice Qigong and take deep breaths, you should first try to relax the muscles of your whole body, breathe calmly, then stretch and flex your arms, and breathe deeply through your nose until you can no longer inhale air. Then bring the inhaled air down to Dantian, hold your breath and regulate your breathing for about a few seconds, then let it flow from Dantian through the lungs, trachea, and larynx. When inhaling air and moving it down to the Dantian Qi Sea, the time for holding your breath and regulating your breathing is about three to four seconds at first. With practice, you can slowly increase it to about eight seconds.

Do deep breathing exercises, and be careful not to hold your breath. The so-called "holding your breath" means breathing and regulating your breath for too long, which damages the respiratory organs and other nervous systems. There are many types of breathing methods, such as in through the nose and out through the nose, in through the nose and out through the mouth, in through the mouth and out through the nose, etc.

Deep breathing exercises can be done consciously while standing or sitting, or they can be done in conjunction with other exercises. I do deep breathing exercises while doing squats every day. If you want to know more about the "squatting method" or the "facing the wall squatting exercise", you can refer to my other related answers.

Speaking of this, I would like to tell you more about the benefits of deep breathing. Needless to say, deep breathing is a healthy exercise in itself. Deep breathing is relative to normal "shallow" breathing. From a fitness perspective, deep breathing increases the supply of oxygen and also expel a large amount of carbon dioxide, which plays a huge role in strengthening the body and eliminating diseases in the body's metabolic exchange process. Because slow, conscious deep breathing can increase the alkaline content in the body, while speeding up the heartbeat and blood circulation, supplying the body with more oxygen. The blood transports oxygen and nutrients to cells throughout the body, maintaining health. On the other hand, waste and toxins in the body are excreted through deep breathing and sweat, reducing the acid content in the body, keeping the chemical composition in the human body balanced, and thus getting rid of sub-health.

From the perspective of Qigong, deep breathing, alternating between exhalation and inhalation, can promote the flow of blood and lymph, and restore the connection between the nervous systems. The nerve endings will also be invigorated, directly or indirectly stimulating the blood vessels. The muscles will then receive increased nutrition due to the improved metabolism. Some chronic diseases or internal injuries will follow the nervous system's restoration of normal function, achieving the effect of healing without medication.

The above introduction is what abdominal breathing is. I believe everyone has understood it. I also want to tell you that breathing is a natural law of human beings. Deep breathing can be prolonged according to the function. You can practice natural abdominal breathing first. Don’t practice reverse abdominal breathing from the beginning. You should decide which method to choose based on your personal health condition and illness.