Breathing Technique

[Abandon]

When you breathe in, does your stomach go in or out?

I had understood that in meditation and spirituality it should go out, but others tell me that in sport it should go in - so that you are breathing in your chest.

With singing, I am pretty sure the stomach goes out (expands) with the in breath.

What about Tai Chi, a normal doctors advice, archery, violin playing etc.....

[chownah]

Google for "diaphragmatic breathing". In short for almost all activities it is best to breathe from the diaphragm...this results in the stomach bulging out during inhale and returning while breathing out. Note that the stomach muscles must be relaxed for this to happen correctly...it is NOT the stomach muscles that do the work here, it is the diaphragm. The stomach movement in and out is a passive thing and is a by product of the diaphragms movement. This type of breathing is used in every kind of meditation that I've heard of, Tai Chi included...babies breathe this way...opera singers breathe this way...endurance sports uses this. The upper chest muscles should only come into play either when maximum breath volume is required (sprinting) or in a "fight or flight" situation. Upper chest breathling is associated with chronic stress problems.

[Davey]

When you breathe in, does your stomach go in or out?

I had understood that in meditation and spirituality it should go out, but others tell me that in sport it should go in - so that you are breathing in your chest.

With singing, I am pretty sure the stomach goes out (expands) with the in breath.

What about Tai Chi, a normal doctors advice, archery, violin playing etc.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say your 'stomach'. When you inspire or expire your stomach does not move.

Inspiration - Contraction of our diaphragm and intercostal muscles increase the thoracic cavity volume resulting in the expansion of our lungs, ultimately alveolar volume

Expiration - During expiration the volume of the thorax decreases as the diaphragm becomes passive decreasing thoracic volume, forcing 'air' from our lungs.

[Vit42]

"In through your nose, out through your mouth" as i learned it through martial arts training and chi meditation. There's lot's of different techniques for breathing in but to answer your question, it's not the stomach but the diaphram that expands when you breathe in and contracts as you breathe out. Think of it this way, if you were asked to take a deep breath and hold it for as long as possible under water, your diaphram would expand to accomodate as much air as possible. This is natural and would be normal for sport or meditation.

[Sheryl]

When you breathe in, does your stomach go in or out?

I had understood that in meditation and spirituality it should go out, but others tell me that in sport it should go in - so that you are breathing in your chest.

With singing, I am pretty sure the stomach goes out (expands) with the in breath.

What about Tai Chi, a normal doctors advice, archery, violin playing etc.....

I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say your 'stomach'. When you inspire or expire your stomach does not move.

Inspiration - Contraction of our diaphragm and intercostal muscles increase the thoracic cavity volume resulting in the expansion of our lungs, ultimately alveolar volume

Expiration - During expiration the volume of the thorax decreases as the diaphragm becomes passive decreasing thoracic volume, forcing 'air' from our lungs.

As above, breathing is accomplished within the chest through the movement of a muscle called the diaphragm, which separates the chest and abdominal cavities. When breathing in, the diaphragm goes downward making the chest cavity larger and the abdominal cavity smaller. As a result of the dropped diphragm and redcued space the abdomen bulges outward a bit, hence the idea that it expands. In meditation techniques which focus on the sensation of breathing at the abdomen, this is called "rising" although actually it is a bulging outward due to compression.

In expiration the opposite happens: the diaphragm goes up, reducing the sopace in the chest and thereby helping to push out the air. The abdomen then relaxes or, in meditation terms, " falls" back in.

FYI a more refined meditation technique is to concentrate not on the rising/falling of the abdomen but on the sensation of the breath touching the space right below and around the nostrils and passage of air in & out. This is called " anapana" is actually the original technique taught by the Buddha to calm the mind. However for very agitated minds it can be hard to feel so the alternative of feeling the abdomen expand and contract as the diaphragm moves was adopted by some teachers.