Pay attention to the way you breathe. Take a deep breath in right now. Are your shoulders raising? If so, you’re probably shallow breathing. 

Welcome to Fatal Conveniences™

This is a bite-sized segment that parallels The Darin Olien Show. In these segments, we get into society's Fatal Conveniences™. I define these as the things we may be doing because the world we live in makes us believe we have to. These things save us time and trick us into thinking they're actually good for us. But it's those same things that are breaking down our health and the health of the environment around us.

I've spent most of my adult life obsessively researching these "conveniences." On every show, I pick one topic, and we dive into it. My goal is to make you more aware of these traps so that you can push back on them. Remember, it starts with you and the choices you make. 

So, if you're willing to look at your world from a different perspective and make little tweaks that amount to big changes, then this segment is for you.

Shallow breathing keeps us in a perpetual state of stress.

When you’re stressed, your breathing quickens and you inhale shallowly. However, if you breathe this way normally, your body is constantly in a state of stress. Shallow breathing, or thoracic breathing, comes with a laundry list of negative side effects. And you may not even realize you’re doing it.

Instead of thoracic breathing, we all should be diaphragmatically breathing. This long fancy word just means you should be using your diaphragm to draw air into your body. Watching a newborn is a perfect example of diaphragmatic breathing. They draw air through their nose into their lungs, and their belly expands. As they exhale, their belly contracts. Try doing that now. See the difference?

So besides stressing us out, what other harm is shallow breathing causing? Well, it limits our functional movement and muscular balance for starters. It also messes with our immune system and metabolism and can even cause muscle and joint pain and stiffness. But don’t worry. In this segment, I break down how to tell the difference between shallow and diaphragmatic breathing. And I give you ways to practice how to quit shallow breathing for good. 

Other info in this segment:

• I reveal the reasons behind my obsession with fatal conveniences
• The definitions of thoracic and diaphragmatic breathing
• How to tell if you’re shallow breathing
• How many breaths you should be taking per minute
• PTSD and breathing
• How you can retrain your body to breathe using your diaphragm

Links & Resources:

The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Pain, Anxiety and Depression

Breathing Pattern Disorders and Functional Movement

The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention

The Respiration Connection

The Physiological Effects of Slow Breathing in the Healthy Human

How Shallow Breathing Affects Your Whole Body

The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown

Listen to Patrick McKeown’s episode of The Darin Olien Show

Netflix’ Down To Earth’ Official Trailer

Download Darin’s amazing new lifestyle app and get 3 days free at 121Tribe.com

Barukas Nuts 15% discount with code “DARIN”

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The Darin Olien Show is produced by the team at Must Amplify. If you’re looking to give a voice to your brand, and make sure that it’s heard by the right people, head to www.mustamplify.com/darin to see what Amplify can do for you.