𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲 𝗜
Today we present the third lesson of medicine, written by Professor Gaeta. Enjoy the reading!
"Ancient Eastern practices, both martial and Taoist in origin, rightly considered the diaphragm a muscle of extraordinary importance for both physical health and mental and emotional well-being.
I cannot go into detail here, so I will limit myself to providing a summary of the basic, anatomical and functional information on this muscle, reserving the right to return to the subject in future posts.
It is therefore the most important muscle among the respiratory muscles, that is, those muscles that, by expanding the thoracic cavity, suck in, according to a very precise physical law, air from the outside towards the inside of the airways, exactly as happens when we aspirate air or liquids by moving the plunger of a syringe.
Are you a fan of the past and present?
They are certainly voluntary muscles like those of the limbs and back but with one big difference: the arms move only when we send the motor command with our will.
The respiratory muscles, on the other hand, respond like those of the arms to our voluntary commands but normally, without us realizing it, they are activated rhythmically and automatically by commands that come from specific and involuntary centers of the brain.
This very particular relationship between breathing and our brain and our will is notoriously one of the cornerstones of yoga practice and philosophy.
But we promised ourselves not to digress so let's go back to the anatomy of the diaphragm.
The diaphragm is a thick, dome-shaped, convex, muscular-tendon sheet that separates the thorax from the abdomen.
With its upper face it is in contact with the lung bases and with the heart, with its lower face it is in relation with the liver, the stomach, the spleen and the left kidney.
It inserts with its peripheral tendon bundles on the last 6 ribs, on the sternum and on the lumbar vertebrae while in the centre towards the top of the dome the muscle fibres converge in a large tendinous area in the shape of a clover which is crossed by the inferior vena cava which enters the thorax from the abdominal cavity.
The right and left tendinous pillars of the posterior peripheral insertions on the lumbar vertebrae delimit, together with the vertebrae themselves, the so-called aortic hiatus, the orifice placed against the vertebral column that allows the descending aorta to pass through as it passes between the thorax and the abdomen.
These pillars with the vertebrae form a sort of rather rigid and non-deformable osteotendinous ring to protect the aorta from the continuous movements and contractions of the diaphragm.
It is important to always consider the diaphragm when talking about cervical or lumbar problems: if the diaphragm starts to not work well it will inevitably also involve the vertebral structures.
However, the diaphragm may not work well and when it has difficulty and therefore does not work 100% we could have:
-
Very difficult to use well and therefore it is difficult to "inflate the belly"
-
Difficulty taking deep breaths
-
Muscle that is painful or “untouchable” when you try to feel it under the ribs
When this happens, there can be a series of consequences at various levels:
𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙙, the diaphragm is the first victim of our anxiety and consequently our breathing becomes faster and more superficial.
ℂ𝔸𝕌𝕊𝔼 𝕄𝔼𝕋𝔸𝔹𝕆𝕃𝕀ℂℍ𝔼, the diaphragm is in direct contact with the stomach which can be a cause of contracture especially if it occurs only on the left side, so if this is your weak point your diaphragm will suffer and consequently all your breathing.
𝕄𝔼𝔂𝔂𝔸𝕀𝕂𝔍𝔼, the diaphragm cannot work well if you spend a good part of the day in a sitting position or bent forward and it is therefore much more difficult to take deep breaths with full lungs.
In the next lesson we will see how to breathe well with the diaphragm."
𝚋𝚢 𝙴𝚕𝚒𝚘 𝙶𝚊𝚎𝚝𝚊