Most people breathe shallowly. They hold in their stomachs and fail to engage their diaphragms when breathing. We all want to look slim but pushing that belly out with our breaths is the only way to fill up the lungs and utilize their full capacity. Analyze and check your breathing.

• Are you breathing quickly or slowly?

• Are you breathing deeply or shallowly?

• Do you feel your breath in the center of your chest around your heart or do you feel it down low in your abdomen?

You want to breathe slowly and deeply from your abdomen, that´s your goal. Breathing incorrectly causes more harm to your body than you realize.

Not only are you not supplying your body with sufficient oxygen to produce the energy you need you are also causing tightening in your neck and shoulders. When you breathe from your chest you are tightening the muscles in your neck and shoulders which is causing increased tension throughout your body.

If you have a pet, look at them. People, who have dogs or cats and watch them while they´re sleeping will see that their stomachs rise and fall with each breath. This is true of all animals, look at your guinea pig or gerbil, they all breathe with their whole bodies.

Now look down at your belly, is it moving at all? Probably not! But this wasn´t always the case.

When you were a baby, you breathed with your whole body, just as all babies do. If you have a young child, look at them when they are sleeping, their bellies rise and fall. This is because they are abdominally breathing. Something happens and as we age, we stop engaging our diaphragm and stop breathing from our abdomen.

You can re-learn the proper way to breathe and re-engage your abdomen again and get your body feeling better than ever before. Getting the most amount of oxygen to your body in the most efficient way will greatly improve your health and mental wellbeing.

Our bodies are engines in need of a lot of fuel. Every cell in our body needs large amounts of oxygen to function properly. Having a healthy diet and watching what you drink is only part of the battle; breathing is an essential component of a healthier body as well.

Oxygen is needed to run the nervous system, digestive system, power the muscles, to sleep properly, for concentration and memory and to provide energy throughout the day. It´s no wonder that when we are having a panic attack and cutting off our oxygen supply with shallow, inefficient breathing that these are the very functions most directly impacted.

Our heart starts beating rapidly, desperate to get the oxygen it needs to run, our digestive system stops working properly, our muscles tense up, we lose feeling or experience tingling in out extremities because our nervous system has gone into survival mode.

We can´t think properly and our sleep patterns are disrupted. Sufficient oxygen is crucial to restoring normal function, that´s why forcing yourself to breathe slowly and deeply can trigger the relaxation response so deeply needed by your body.

It´s hard to breathe slowly and deeply, our minds tell us that we need to gulp in air as fast as we can. This is the worst thing to do in a panic attack or anxiety filled situation. Gulping in air quickly, using only your chest actually supplies very little oxygen to your body and helps fuel the panic attack because all the quick shallow breathing isn´t having the desired effect and thus you are more nervous.

Breathing slowly and deeply from your abdomen is the key and a technique that you need to learn and practice so you can utilize it in an emergency. By breathing from your abdomen and engaging your core, you are helping your body to get the oxygen it needs and triggering a calming effect in your body that will help ease the unpleasant sensations.