The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle that is between the lungs and your Ab’s. As you inhale this muscle will lower, leading to an expansion of the abdomen. As you exhale the diaphragm rises up, which will move your stomach back inward. Whenever you feel stressed or anxious, check your breathing pattern. Diaphragmatic breathing will relax your sympathetic nervous system (responsible for fight and flight) while stimulating the parasympathic nervous system, (responsible for rest and digest) through the Phrenic nerve. . Diaphragmatic breathing will in turn slow the heart rate, facilitate digestion, & calm the body. Chest Breathing is more of a shallow breathing style, often associated with emotional or physical stress. Side effects with this type of breathing includes, weakening of the diaphragm, a speeding heart rate, & overuse of accessory muscles such as the pec’s, scalenes, & sternocleidomastoid. Remember, the Diaphragm is part of the integrated spinal stabilizing system, therefore is considered a core muscle! . Note: While laying on the @pranamat I use my hand as a resistance cue to activate the diaphragm, it is NOT meant to challenge the diaphragm from activating. Modern life stimulates the sympathetic nervous system far too often, leading to overdrive. Note 2: This mat has been shown to decrease pain, with the large amount of sensory stimulus from the mat’s sharp lotus (via gating mechanism at the wide dynamic range cells). This acupressure mat has also been shown efficient for normalizing muscle tone, improving microcircultation, facilitating oxygen supply to tissues, and normalizing metabolism. Mikelsone I. Clincal trials on pranamat ECO mat April 2014
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