When athletes and swimmers, actors and singers need to be oxygen rich they use diaphragm breathing. It is the most effective way to clean out carbon dioxide and get plenty of fresh oxygen. It sounds complicated, but it is not. Diaphragm breathing feels as if you fill up your naval area, and then fill up the chest. Watch how babies breathe, they 'belly-breathe' towards the naval. We lose this deeper way of breathing with stress and poor posture, and form a habit of shallow rapid upper-chest-breathing.

YOUR BREATHING MACHINE
Your lungs are shaped like a bell, with a narrow top and a large bottom. The texture is like a sponge. They need to be squeezed and expanded by the walls that surround them, for air to move in and out. The ribcage holds the lungs, with the large Diaphragm muscle as the dome shaped floor of that cage.

During breathing the ribcage expands a little. The bigger expansion comes when the thin muscle floor pulls downwards. Then air flows in and fills the the lungs, both the large bottom and the top. You can actually feel the lower half of the lungs drop, when you' belly-breathe. (If you do this, you also massage the digestive track and improve the blood circulation in your lower torso.)

GET TO KNOW YOUR DIAPHRAGM MUSCLE
First it is best to do that lying on your back, with one hand on the stomach. Breathe in and allow your naval area to go out first, and then fill up the chest.Pause for a second and breathe out.

Remember this 'full-torso' feeling you get, so you can repeat it sitting or standing anytime. Your breathing slows automatically, as the air intake is much greater. You become oxygen rich, and that has a quick calming effect on both your body and your mind.

To manage stress well, it is worth learning this. Conscious good breathing rhythm is always the best tool of choice.

When you know your Diaphragm movements, you can fill both the naval and the chest area in slow unison, not one ahead of the other.

Do this Full-Torso-Breathing slowly, and enjoy the peaceful pauses, at both ends of the breathing cycle. Calmbreath gives you the rhythm.