An accepted definition of breathing might be something like “Human beings breath with their lungs. Air enters the mouth or nose, travels down the trachea, and into the lungs where the oxygen is absorbed into the blood stream”. That definition is factually correct and accepted by the science and medical professions.
Human beings can also perform what is referred to as “Belly Breathing”. The name makes no sense in light of the accepted definition of breathing. Air goes in and out of the lungs. Air does not go in and out of the belly. It seems physically impossible for human beings to do “Belly Breathing”.
Understanding Belly Breathing requires a bit more thought about what is involved in breathing. The previous definition of air entering the lungs is correct as far as it goes. But how does the air get in the lungs? The reply “A human being breaths in to move air into their lungs” is not a real answer. What is it exactly that moves air into the lungs? How does a human being breath in?
Breathing requires muscular exertion. Breathing is usually considered to be accomplished with the chest muscles. Most readers will have seen the chest of other people moving up and down, or they have watched their own chest move up and down as they breath. A person who gave more thought to what was involved in breathing might also include the action of the muscles of the throat or head as being involved in breathing also.
Since “normal” breathing involves the muscles of the chest, it seems obvious that “belly breathing” involves the muscles of the belly pulling air into and pushing it back out of the lungs. Belly Breathing does not involve air moving into the belly.
After reading all of that, most people will be curious as to what is so special about Belly Breathing. Belly Breathing is “special” because it is associated with good health, strong thinking, and spiritual as well as mystical achievement.
The next thing likely to be on the mind of the curious person is “What does Belly Breathing look like?”.
The video linked below shows a man who is breathing with his belly. The belly of the the Caucasian man belly is clearly moving in and out while his chest remains relatively motionless.
The curious person who tries to imitate what the man in the video clip is doing will likely find it to be difficult. A person who does not naturally belly breath will usually have to spend some time, on the order of months or years, to train themselves to breath with their belly.
Some people might discover that they breath with their belly and they did not even realize it, or it is very easy for them to breath with their belly. For curiosity’s sake, these people might during their idle moments examine other people and try to classify them as chest breathing or belly breathing people.
The point in doing that would be to then look for other differences in the two different types of people. Do all belly breathing people share any other common traits? Do all chest breathing people share a set of common traits?
Do no limit your examination to physical traits. It is possible you will also find similar mental and emotional traits shared by the members of each group.