What does it mean to “Belly Breathe”?
Music Minute Monday
You’ve heard your choir teachers, music teachers, voice teachers, and more say it time and time again. “Breathe from your Belly!” “Belly Breathe!” But what does it mean to “belly breathe” exactly? On this edition of Music Minute Monday, voice teacher, Erin McLendon Phillips explains exactly what it means the “belly breathe”
The fact of the matter is, you cannot technically add air in to your belly. When you breathe in and your stomach expands, that air is not going in to your belly, it’s staying in your lungs! However, because you only have so much room in your body, when your lungs expand, everything around them move too!
The muscle called the diaphragm is a big part of why your belly moves. You can read more in depth on how it works here. Your diaphragm just below your lungs at the top of your abdomen. When you breathe in, the diaphragm flattens, creating a vacuum affect to suck in air in to your lungs. When it does this, it also pushes all of the internal organs underneath it down, in to your stomach, causing your belly to expand with it! Hence the term “belly breathing.” When you breathe out, the diaphragm expands, pushing that air up and out of your lungs! Engaging that muscle is also how you are able to “support” your voice but, that’s a different blog for a different time. ;)
Tune in every Monday for more Music Minute Mondays from Caitie & Erin!