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Diaphragm Function Explained: A Breathwork Coach’s Guide to Breathing and Performance
Introduction
The diaphragm is the primary muscle of respiration. It plays a foundational role not only in breathing, but also in posture, spinal support, lymphatic flow, digestion, and nervous system regulation. Its movement influences circulation, core stability and recovery. Despite being one of the most important muscles in the human body, it's often ignored in training programs, clinical approaches and rehabilitation.
At The Breath Coach, breathwork coaching begins with understanding how the diaphragm functions and how to restore its movement. This blog explains why this matters for health, performance and resilience.
Why Start with the Diaphragm?
When people come to us for breathwork training, they’re often dealing with stress, anxiety, fatigue, pain, or reduced performance. In nearly every case, dysfunctional breathing is a hidden part of the problem. At the centre of that dysfunction is the diaphragm.
The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle that sits beneath the lungs and heart, separating the thoracic and abdominal cavities. When it contracts on inhale, it flattens downward, creating a vacuum that draws air into the lungs. On exhale, it relaxes and recoils upward, helping push air back out.
This movement also massages the organs, moves blood and lymph, and coordinates with the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles. It's deeply connected to multiple systems in the body.
Breathwork training begins by improving the function and coordination of this muscle. Without it, breath regulation, nervous system balance and recovery are compromised.
Breathing Mechanics and Posture
The diaphragm attaches to the inside of the lower six ribs, the base of the sternum (xiphoid process), and the front of the lumbar spine via two muscular tendons called crura. These crura reach down as far as the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae and create deep connections to the spine and core muscles. Thinkk of the diaghragm as a jellyfish as it moves seemlessly up and down and the crura as the tenticles which attached it to the spine.
It also blends into fascial structures like the thoracolumbar fascia, psoas, quadratus lumborum, and transversus abdominis. This means that good diaphragmatic movement supports upright posture and spinal integrity.
Poor breathing mechanics often lead to chest-dominant or neck-driven breathing. This limits diaphragm engagement and shifts work to secondary muscles like the scalenes, sternocleidomastoid and upper traps. Over time this can lead to:
Retraining the breath means restoring diaphragmatic movement and rebuilding the link between posture ,the autonomic nervous system and the breath.
Nervous System and Emotional Regulation
The diaphragm is unique because it's under both conscious and unconscious control. Most muscles are either voluntary or involuntary. The diaphragm is both. This gives us a powerful window into the autonomic nervous system.
Through controlled breathing, we can shift from sympathetic (fight-or-flight) activation to parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) balance. Diaphragmatic breathing activates the vagus nerve, which plays a central role in emotional regulation, heart rate, digestion, and resilience to stress.
Breathwork for stress management often begins here:
When people breathe better, they feel better. They think more clearly, sleep more deeply, and recover more fully.
Circulation, Lymph Flow and Organ Health
Each breath you take moves more than air. The diaphragm shifts pressure in the chest and abdomen, helping circulate blood, lymph, and cerebrospinal fluid. Its central tendon connects directly to the pericardium (heart sac), influencing cardiovascular function.
It also assists the movement of lymphatic fluid through its rhythmic motion, aiding immune health and recovery. Breathing through the nose releases nitric oxide, which improves blood flow, reduces inflammation, and enhances oxygen delivery.
If breathing is shallow or dysfunctional, these systems slow down. That means:
In breathwork coaching for athletes, this is one of the first areas we target, improving the functional movement of the diaphragm to support better movement, mobility, oxygen delivery, blood flow and recovery. Awareness and biochemistry being the oher key areas of focus.
The Diaphragm and the Pelvic Floor
The diaphragm and pelvic floor are two ends of the same system. When you breathe in, the diaphragm descends and so does the pelvic floor. When you exhale, both recoil upward. This coordination regulates intra-abdominal pressure (core stability) and supports:
If the diaphragm is not moving well, the pelvic floor often takes on excess strain. This can lead to dysfunction, poor stability or even injury.
Breathwork training restores this coordination. In many of our sessions, we work on breathing mechanics alongside posture and movement to improve functional integration.
Why Most People Struggle to Feel the Diaphragm
Unlike other muscles, the diaphragm has very few sensory neurons. You don’t feel it contract the way you feel your bicep or hamstrings. Most people are only aware of it when they get hiccups which is a sudden spasm of the diaphragm. We can't visually see it either so we tend not to have a strong connection with it.
Instead, we notice the diaphragm through the structures it influences: belly movement, rib cage expansion, pressure changes in the abdomen and chest. This is why breath awareness exercises often begin by observing these movements rather than trying to feel the diaphragm directly.
Building a strong mind, diaphragm connection are important in the regulation of breathing and making it functional. Watching videos of how the diaphragm functions, moves and massages our internal organs and heart are a great start. Check out a video on my instagram page.
How Dysfunction Shows Up
Dysfunctional diaphragm use and poor breathing patterns can show up in many ways:
Our breathwork programs address these patterns through assessment, coaching and guided training tailored to the person’s goals and health status.
What Does Training the Diaphragm Involve?
At The Breath Coach, we teach:
These methods and much more are part of our 6, 8 and 10-week breathwork programs, designed for athletes, professionals and anyone looking to improve their breathing for health, energy and resilience.
We offer breathwork training for athletes, breathwork for workplace wellbeing, and breathwork for stress and performance. Sessions can be done in person or online.
Why This Work Matters
Breathwork is not just a tool for relaxation. It’s a method of restoring function across multiple systems of the body. And at the centre of breathwork is the diaphragm.
When this muscle works well, it:
If we ignore it, these same systems begin to falter. The science is clear. Understanding and training your diaphragm is one of the most important steps you can take toward improved breathing and health.
Want to Learn More?
If you're curious about improving your breathing, we offer tailored programs and 1:1 coaching for individuals, athletes and organisations.
You can explore:
Book a free consultation or a Workplace Wellness Call to find out how we can help.
Thomas
