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Breathing Technique For Labor and for Life: Relaxed Abdominal Breathing
Many traditional cultures, including
Some important factors about breathing can
influence a woman’s experience of labor: Shallow, chest breathing tends to
increase anxiety, which tends to increase pain. It also limits the oxygen
supply to bodily tissues, which again can increase the pain experienced during labor.
Deep, abdominal breathing can increase relaxation and provide a sense of
well-being. It also ensures adequate oxygen supply.
Early pregnancy is a perfect time to start
changing your breathing habits. This can be done through formal means, by
taking classes that include attention to the breath, such as yoga, qigong / tai
chi, and meditation classes, or by working with audiotapes which focus on
healthy breathing. It can also be incorporated into your daily routines, just
through developing some new habits: for example, focusing on healthy breathing
while driving, or while reading, or while soaking in the bathtub at the end of
a day. Once you have unlearned dysfunctional habits, and practiced breathing
techniques, your regular breathing habits will change naturally. The more you
re-train your body to abdominal breathing during pregnancy, the easier it will
be to employ it during labor as a relaxation and pain-reducing method.
The information below is taken from Kenneth
S. Cohen’s The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing,
and also can be heard on his audiocassette Healthy Breathing.
Breathing rate: A relaxed adult in
a quiet environment should breathe at about 5 breaths per minute. However, the
average adult in
Practice breathing slowly at a rate of 5-7
breaths per minute. Do not hold your breath, air exchange is continuous and
relaxed. Take 5-6 seconds to inhale, and the same amount of time to exhale.
Problems with Breathing Quickly and Benefits
of Breathing Slowly:
Rapid Expansion and contraction of the chest cavity actually causes oxygen to
bind too tightly to the hemoglobin molecules, so less oxygen is released to the
cells, which means less energy and an impaired ability to carry out normal
bodily processes. It also causes a constriction in the blood vessels, further
preventing the oxygen from reaching its target. The respiratory rate will
increase further, just to keep the same amount of oxygen flowing to the cells.
Slow, abdominal breathing causes even the
tiniest blood vessels, the capillaries, to relax and gently dilate with a
greater flow of blood, oxygen, and energy.
Problems with Chest Breathing and Benefits of
Abdominal Breathing:
Chest breathing may appear full and deep because of the visible movement of the
chest; however, it does not allow as much air into the lungs as abdominal
breathing does.
Abdominal breathing allows the diaphragm to
drop, which opens the lower lobes of the lungs, where most of the oxygen
exchange takes place. Abdominal breathing causes muscles to relax, improves
circulation, and increases oxygen delivery. Many people also find that when the
breath is relaxed, they are more focused on the present and can find healthier
ways of coping with personal problems.
Pain and Breathing: If the diaphragm is
frozen with tension, then the chest and ribcage must move instead. This is a
common symptom in people experiencing chronic pain, and some patients
experience pain relief when taught abdominal breathing. There may be a direct
correlation between free movement of the diaphragm and alleviation of pain.
Hyperventilation Syndrome: This involves
chronic rapid breathing, focused on the chest, with little abdominal movement,
irregular or interrupted breathing. May involve just a rising and falling of
the sternum with little lateral expansion of the chest.
Hyperventilation is a common symptom in the
seven major psychosomatic diseases: asthma, hypertension, ulcers, rheumatoid
arthritis, colitis, hyperthyroidism, and neurodermatitis. It is also seen in
migraine, chronic pain of any origin, seizure disorders and heart disease.
Improper breathing does not necessarily cause
these diseases, but it can be a precipitating factor, and can intensify or
prolong pain and disease symptoms. The decreased oxygen supply created by rapid
chest breathing can contribute to anxiety, strokes, more frequent epileptic
attacks, high blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia, and angina. Proper abdominal
breathing can cure or alleviate many of these conditions. There is clinical
evidence that one can learn to abort, control, and possibly cure migraines, and
reduce cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure.
Note: In the case of a few diseases that
create metabolic acidosis, such as hypoglycemia, diabetes, and kidney failure,
chest breathing and a quicker respiratory rate may actually be necessary to
maintain the correct acid-base balance.
How To Breathe Deeply:
·
Breathe
in through your nose and out through your nose for the most relaxed, meditative
breathing. In more active situations, breathe in through your nose and out
through your mouth. (If your nose is congested, as is common during pregnancy
because of the effects of estrogen, then you may find it more comfortable to
breathe in through your nose.)
·
On
the inhalation, the diaphragm muscle contracts and moves downwards, pushing the
abdomen out. This increases the volume of the lungs, creating a partial vacuum
and sucking air in.
·
During
exhalation, the diaphragm relaxes upward, the abdomen releases inward, pushing
air out.
·
The
chest should be relaxed, not tense. During quiet, resting times, most of the
movement is in the abdomen. During more active periods, the abdomen will expand
first, then the chest will also visibly expand and contract.
·
It
may help to envision the breath spiraling inward, as abdomen expands, then
spiraling outward.
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