Content
The Importance of Breathing Hey guys, newcomer here. That’s my first post, so I don’t know whether this has been talked about before. I recently came across an [episode](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0mPoOepkOJZlnPMNvPC10h?si=9K4tIR7uQDSKPuB9ndGf_w) on the Huberman Lab Podcast by neuroscientist Andrew Huberman about breathing. This is what I learned: The diaphragm plays a huge role in the creation of speech (this I knew). I, for instance, always though I breathed deeply, thus using my diaphragm, when expanding my chest area/ rib cage. However, this type of breathing (almost) only involves the small muscles between the ribs. The diaphragm is mostly involved when breathing “in the belly”. Because most people are shallow breathers, a lot of them don’t have a great neural connection to their diaphragm muscle. I realised: this is 100% me. An easy method to test this is by box-breathing. 8 seconds in - 8 seconds hold - 8 seconds out - 8 seconds hold. For 1 - 2 minutes. If that’s hard to do, chances are high you don’t have great neural connection. Again, that’s me. It’s very unusual for me to breathe this way. BUT. I’ve realised whenever I do breathing exercises, let it be box breathing or the Wim Hof method, I’m more fluent in speaking afterwards, when there’s more awareness of the diaphragm, breathing more deeply. What’s your take on this? Thought it might be of interest!