<p> Are you a Chest Breather?</p><p>Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen. Which one moves when you breathe in? </p><p>Babies breathe naturally, that is they are natural abdominal breathers. As we get older we are told to stand up straight and hold our tummies in. By doing this we can only breathe using our chests. </p><p>Chest breathers:  Waste a lot of effort just to get air into their lungs.  Tend to raise their shoulders and employ incorrect muscles in breathing.  People that are chest breathers tend to take more breaths per minute than abdominal breathers.  Abdominal breathers:  Employ the diaphragm to get air into the lungs.  Use this efficient method of breathing to obtain greater oxygen transfer.  Can use breathing as a strategy for stress relief and relaxation. Abdominal breathing is also known as diaphragmatic breathing. The diaphragm is situated between the chest and the abdomen and is attached to the lower ribs. </p><p>Respiration is an automatic or reflex action. The volume of air in the lungs changes with each respiratory cycle. Although the total lung capacity is around 6000 ml, the tidal volume (volume of air taken into and out of the lungs with each breath) is only 600 ml. As we get older our breathing becomes shallower, so there is even more reason to increase the amount of oxygen that we take into the body by abdominal breathing. Breathing provides oxygen to the blood stream and body – inhalation provides us with oxygen and exhalation removes carbon dioxide.</p><p>How you breathe also affects your nervous system. Chest breathing creates shorter brain waves than the brain waves produced by abdominal breathing. The longer, slower brain waves are similar to those that the brain makes when you are relaxed, so abdominal breathing helps to relax and calm you.</p><p>Look at this web link to understand the differences in brain waves: www.crystalinks.com/medbrain.html </p><p>Gill Brydon When you practise abdominal breathing regularly, the breathing will be slow and deep. This is the ultimate goal of abdominal breathing. Deep abdominal breathing combined with slow graceful motion helps to oxygenate the body, improve blood circulation, move lymphatic fluids, and release skeletal muscle tension. </p><p>The mechanics of abdominal breathing  As the diaphragm contacts it descends: this increases the volume of the chest cavity.  There is a subsequent decrease of air pressure so the greater air pressure outside the body, forces air into the lungs.  As the diaphragm relaxes the diaphragm moves upwards and so air is expelled from the lungs.</p><p>Now is a good time to look at abdominal breathing from the TCM perspective. The diagram below shows the correct breathing for your Shibashi practice.</p><p>Once you have mastered abdominal breathing you can move onto Qi breathing. Qi breathing involves using intent (Yi) to draw the ‘breath’ down through your body, into the dantien. Abdominal breathing brings energy into the dantien: this is where you can store, cultivate and develop qi, your life force energy.</p><p>You may well need to come back to this handout once you have completed the TCM Unit!</p><p>Gill Brydon</p>