When you breathe in does your stomach go out?

I was teaching a private yoga class this morning when my client discovered that she was breathing backwards, a.k.a paradoxically breathing. Instead of her belly expanding as she breathed in, she was contracting her stomach and breathing into her upper chest. As she learned how to breathe normally, it released tension from her body and lowered her anxiety.

If you find yourself breathing into your upper chest a lot or not releasing your stomach out as you breath in...learning how to breathe will change your life forever. I'm serious.

Deep belly breathing is a required skill. As we breathe deeply into our low belly, our lungs massage the vagus nerve, which cues our parasympathetic nervous system to activate. The parasympathetic nervous system does all the rest and digest functions that rejuvenate your body.

The lungs are the only organs we can consciously control. Please learn how to use them.