Diaphragmatic breathing is a technique that uses the diaphragm — the dome-shaped muscle beneath your lungs — as the primary driver of each breath, allowing the lungs to fully expand and the core to function as it's designed to.
What diaphragmatic breathing involves and why it matters
When you breathe diaphragmatically, your belly rises and falls with each breath rather than your chest and shoulders. The diaphragm descends as you inhale, creating space for the lungs to expand downward, and the pelvic floor and deep abdominal muscles respond in a coordinated way to manage the pressure change.
Shallow chest breathing creates chronic tension in the neck and upper shoulders, reduces the efficiency of the core stabilization system, and keeps the nervous system in a low-level stress state. People recovering from back pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, or postpartum changes often find that relearning diaphragmatic breathing is a meaningful first step in their rehabilitation.
How Sword Health can help
A physical therapist can teach you how to breathe diaphragmatically and integrate it into your daily movement and exercise, making it a foundation rather than an add-on. Sword connects you with that guidance from home, at a pace that works for you.
About the author
Carolina Moreira
Medical Director of Clinical Development at Sword Health
