Your belly should come outward as you take in air, and you’ll feel your lungs opening up. This draws oxygen all the way down into the bottom of your lungs. As you exhale, your stomach will come back in, and your rib cage will contract. This uses the diaphragm muscle to make sure you get the optimal amount of air.

As you exhale, feel your belly deflate. As your belly lowers, engage your abdomen to help expel air out of your lungs. Inhale by leading with your belly and allowing it to expand. Exhale & squeeze your belly to blow all the air out.

When you belly breathe, your belly expands because you are sending the air pressure of your breath down towards your feet. Ideally, that means that your diaphragm is engaging, pulling down, and creating a vacuum that pulls air into your lungs. This allows them to expand fully and gives you all the oxygen you need.

Abdominal (or diaphragmatic) breathing The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle, which separates our chest and abdomen. When we breathe in the diaphragm tightens, flattens and moves down, sucking air into the lungs. As the diaphragm moves down, it pushes the abdominal contents down, which forces the abdominal wall out.

Relearning how to breathe from the diaphragm is beneficial for everyone. Diaphragmatic breathing (also called “abdominal breathing” or “belly breathing”) encourages full oxygen exchange — that is, the beneficial trade of incoming oxygen for outgoing carbon dioxide.

You get aerophagia when you swallow so much air that it makes your stomach feel bloated and uncomfortable. You may also have aerophagia if you have sleep apnea and use a device called a CPAP machine to help you breathe while you sleep.

Types of breathing in humans include eupnea, hyperpnea, diaphragmatic, and costal breathing; each requires slightly different processes.

Proper breathing starts in the nose and then moves to the stomach as your diaphragm contracts, the belly expands and your lungs fill with air. “It is the most efficient way to breathe, as it pulls down on the lungs, creating negative pressure in the chest, resulting in air flowing into your lungs.”

How to do it:

1. Get a feel for belly breathing while lying on your back.
2. Breathe in through your nose, filling your belly with air.
3. As your stomach expands, push your diaphragm down and out.
4. Lengthen your exhales so they’re longer than your inhales.

“You want to try them when you’re breathing OK, and then later on when you’re more comfortable, you can use them when you’re short of breath.” Ideally, you should practice both exercises about 5 to 10 minutes every day.

The interruption of your breathing may indicate a problem with your brain’s signaling. Your brain momentarily “forgets” to tell your muscles to breathe. Central sleep apnea isn’t the same as obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea is the interruption of breathing due to blocked airways.

While anxiety can cause shortness of breath and other physical symptoms, it’s important to acknowledge that experiencing shortness of breath for other reasons may also create anxiety. Here’s what you need to know about this symptom and when to see your doctor.