Breathing Part II: The Diaphragm, Fascia, and Structural Integration
In part 1, we explored how breathing is a primary source of energy, its direct effect on our nervous system and stress levels, and how breathing mobilizes all of the fluids in the body.
Now, let’s look at how our fascial system connects to our breathing, and how restrictions in that system can limit our ability to reap all the benefits a fully functioning diaphragm can deliver.
Understanding the Diaphragm
When we inhale, the lungs fill and the diaphragm moves down. As we exhale the air out of our lungs, the diaphragm rises. These pressure changes between the chest and abdominal cavities create a natural pumping action, moving fluids and gently massaging the organs.
Full, smooth breathing creates pressure changes that “pump” the organs like sponges, essential for their functioning and detoxification
The diaphragm is the myofascial divider between the upper and lower body. Our major blood vessels to the organs and lower body—the aorta and vena cava—pass through narrow openings in the diaphragm, as does the esophagus (with the vagus nerve hitching a ride). For blood, lymph, and nerve supply to flow freely, the diaphragm must move freely too.
The diaphragm is a muscular-and-fascial shelf in the body that blood and nerve must pass through
The lungs and heart are encased in fascia, and that fascia coats the diaphragm’s entire upper surface. If that fascia gets “sticky” and becomes restricted, it inhibits both lung expansion and diaphragm movement. So too with the lower surface of the diaphragm, from which eight organs hang via fascial connections. The liver, which is roughly the size of a football in adults, covers nearly half of the diaphragm’s underside. Compromised diaphragm movement or an overburdened liver can put a fascial “drag” on the other.
Compromised Function
By now we have seen how a properly functioning diaphragm is vital to our health and wellness.
Now, imagine what happens when the diaphragm can’t move fully. Breathing becomes shallow, stuck either in a partial “inhale” of fight-or-flight and adrenaline, or a partial “exhale” of fatigue and low energy. This can happen for many reasons: a respiratory infection that leaves fascial restrictions around the lungs, or prolonged stress that holds the diaphragm in tension and the system hasn't restored proper motion. It could be from years of sitting and old injuries that gradually limited movement.
Whatever the cause, the results are the same — higher stress, lower energy, impaired digestion, and a more favorable breeding ground for illness and disease. Restrictions in the diaphragm wreak havoc on overall health and wellness.
The good news is that your body knows how to find balance again. Gentle manual therapy helps the fascia release and the diaphragm move freely, restoring full, natural breathing. As breathing becomes more efficient, the nervous system down-regulates and the body’s fluids flow with greater ease. Better breathing means less stress, more energy, and greater health
Restoring Function
As a Structural Integration practitioner, my work is about helping your body remember how to function the way it was designed to. Dr. Rolf, the founder of Structural Integration, said, “In order to enhance function, appropriate form must exist or be created." Structure and function are inseparable. When structure is balanced, the body’s inherent health can express itself.
Through hands-on treatment, I help align the rib cage over the hips, creating a whole-body alignment for the diaphragm to easily descend and ascend through a balanced torso. Freeing up the fascia around the diaphragm and ribcage releases old compensation patterns and allows the body to find a new equilibrium.
A free diaphragm supports every system and improves overall health. The organs function better, improving digestion. Breathing becomes easier, improving mental clarity and vitality. Treating the diaphragm improves circulation and nerve conduction, often easing lower body conditions such as sciatica, plantar fasciitis, and neuropathy.
Conclusion
Treating the diaphragm is just one of many ways that focused, anatomy-informed manual therapy can restore the body's natural function. When we remove restrictions in the fascial system, we create the conditions for the body's innate self-healing capabilities to emerge, and health arises as its natural expression.
Images
By Pearson Scott Foresman - This image has been extracted from another file, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5553368
By OpenStax - https://cnx.org/contents/FPtK1zmh@8.25:fEI3C8Ot@10/Preface, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30131686
What’s So Important About Breathing?
“The way you breathe is the way you feel, and the way you feel is the way you live” -- Stig Severinsen, four-time world freediving champion
A Deep Dive on Breathing
In 2012, Danish freediver Stig Severinsen became the first person in the world to hold his breath for more than 20 minutes. And to make matters more fun, he broke the record while in a shark-filled tank! Now Stig trains peak performers from top athletes to Navy SEALs on what he calls the most under-appreciated biohack in the 21st century: breathing.
His feat is incredible, but Stig emphasizes that breathing is for everybody, and can be made simple! This article will look at the importance of breathing on virtually every aspect of health, how breathwork makes you healthier and happier, and a simple exercise you can do any time to consciously shift yourself out of stress and into health.
The Vital Importance of the Breath
Humans breathe about 25,000 times per day. Each breath draws in oxygen, our most fundamental, constant energy. Each exhale discards spent energy in the form of carbon dioxide, making breathing a primary source of detoxification.
Your brain uses a full 20% of your body’s oxygen, making the quality of breath directly related to cognitive function. What’s more, the rhythm of breathing directly regulates the vagus nerve, shaping stress response and emotional state.
Your breath’s rhythmic expansion and contraction gently mobilizes everything in the body, from massaging the digestive organs to pumping blood, lymph, and spinal fluid. The lungs and diaphragm’s movement is the pump, setting the body’s internal rhythms in motion.
To sum it up, breathing is a primary source of our energy, is directly related to stress levels and emotional regulation, and mobilizes all of our vital fluids in the body!
The Way You Breathe Matters: Change your Breathing, Change your Life
Although he’s an elite athlete, Stig jokes that he’s actually quite lazy, because to accomplish such amazing feats he essentially sleeps for 20 minutes. His point is that the more relaxed, chill, down to earth you can become, the smoother things tend to go and the better you can perform.
Of course, even the laziest of us still encounter stressors. While we can’t instantly change the world, we can change our internal state toward a relaxed, positive state simply by changing how we breathe. Let me explain.
When we breathe shallowly, rapidly, or through the mouth, our body shifts into high alert—the fight-or-flight nervous system. This triggers stress hormones like cortisol, which affect mood, sleep, digestion, inflammation, and immunity, keeping us in a heightened state of stress.
But the good news is that slow, deep breathing engages the “rest and digest” nervous system, taking the body back toward health and happiness. You don’t need to do two hours of yoga—you can practice breathing while at work, in the car, even before you get out of bed.
Breathing exercise: Relax on Demand (the 2:1 breath)
This exercise triggers the “rest and digest” nervous system by exhaling for twice as long as your inhale (2:1 ratio). The momentary pause at the top of the breath improves oxygenation to the brain and body. Try it out now for just 3 breaths on your own and notice how it makes you feel.
Breathe in with your nose (always!) to a slow count of 5
Hold the breath at the top for a few moments,
Exhale slow and controlled on a “sss” like a snake to a count of 10
Repeat
That’s it! With a bit of practice over time, you will start to shift your nervous system toward more easily relaxing on demand, and find yourself with more energy in daily life.
Stay tuned for part 2, where I’ll dive deeper into how structural bodywork can release restrictions and align your body to make the breath deeper and effortless.