“It is better to give your belly room to breathe”, Frateur recommends. “For many people it is an unconscious habit to pull in their stomach. This could have arisen in two ways. Some have consciously begun to pull in their stomachs to appear slimmer. For others, it’s a more general pattern, where the basic tension in their body increases imperceptibly. This tension usually arises not only in the abdomen, but also in the neck, shoulder, back, buttocks and pelvic floor muscles.”
“In both cases, the movement of the diaphragm is considerably restricted by the retraction of the abdomen. This is not without consequences for our health. The diaphragm is our main breathing muscle. It is responsible for our abdominal breathing and supports the functioning of our stomach and intestines. If you can no longer breathe broadly to your belly, you will breathe higher and more shallow. This makes you more nervous, more hectic, more restless… You can even — often unnoticed — hyperventilate: the exchange between oxygen and carbon dioxide becomes unbalanced, which can cause stress or anxiety symptoms.”
“Moreover, our diaphragm movement is ‘the masseur’ of our stomach and intestines. If we constantly pull our stomach in, we work against this masseur and a lot of digestive complaints can appear.”
Then rather round and healthy, if you ask us!