Hello, and welcome to this short video on understanding the role and importance of the diaphragm.

Now you’ve probably heard lots of people talking about the importance of the diaphragm, the importance of the breath, but I personally feel like we are only ever touching the tip of the iceberg.

The diaphragm, which is our main respiratory muscle is the centre point and incredible resource we all have to bring our bodies back into a state of balance.

Now, of course, health is the end result of all the organs and systems in our bodies working together.

And it does rely on the integration of all of these systems.

However, understanding the diaphragm really gives you a very accessible point of entry to understanding the dynamic nature of health.

So let’s dive in.

I don’t want to bore you with too much anatomy.

However, this is really to help you visualize the diaphragm in action, as well as clarifying a few myths around it.

So the diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle.

So if you were to cut a basketball in half and place it in your body, that’s what your diaphragm would look like.

It attaches to the front, the sides, and to the back of the ribcage, of the skeletal bony thoracic cage.

Now it’s a muscle, which means it contracts and softens. It’s a dynamic muscle.

As you breathe in, it contracts, it broadens and flattens.

And as you breathe out, it recoils and becomes a dome again.

So it’s really at its maximal point of tension at the end of the inhale when all the muscle fibers are contracted and tight.

Now, why is this important?

It’s important because I want you to visualize it almost like a jellyfish that flattens and then redomes or recoils flattens and redomes.

The second thing I want you to visualize is actually that the diaphragm is located at the top of the abdominal cavity and at the bottom of the thoracic cavity.

So what this also means is that there’s constantly a difference in how much pressure there is in the thoracic and abdominal cavity, because of the dynamic nature of the diaphragm.

And understanding pressure is key to understanding the mechanics of breathing.

Now, there’s a common myth that when you breathe in, it’s the air that you breathe in that pushes the diaphragm down.

Well, it’s not.

The diaphragm contracts first and flattens, increasing the abdominal pressure, and only then, because there’s a difference in pressure in the thoracic and abdominal cavity, only then do you get air that comes into the nostrils and into the lungs.

So I hope I haven’t lost you.

So next time we’ll cover how exactly the diaphragm affects the different organs, what inefficient breathing patterns might look like and what we can do about it.

So until next time, take care.