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Diaphragmatic breathing, also called belly breathing, means breathing low into your stomach rather than shallow into your chest. One hand on your chest and one on your stomach makes it easy to feel the difference: the goal is for the stomach hand to move more than the chest hand.
A 2017 study published in Frontiers in Psychology trained healthy adults in diaphragmatic breathing over eight weeks and found measurable improvements in sustained attention and mood, along with lower cortisol levels after a stress task, compared with a control group who received no training.
Unlike box breathing or the physiological sigh, this is less a specific pattern and more a general skill: learning to breathe from your diaphragm by default, so that shallow chest breathing under stress becomes less automatic over time. It takes practice to feel natural, most people notice it more easily lying down before trying it seated or standing. Once this feels natural, it also makes structured patterns like box breathing easier.
Written by Storme Brand, HPCSA Registered Counsellor, Reg. PRC0023531, practising since 2012. Last reviewed 11 July 2026. This handout is general information and not a substitute for counselling.
If you notice you are breathing shallow and high in your chest most of the time, not just when something stressful happens, that pattern is worth addressing properly rather than only managing in the moment. You can read more about anxiety counselling, or get in touch, there’s no obligation to book.
References
Ma, X., Yue, Z.Q., Gao, Z.Q., et al. (2017). The effect of diaphragmatic breathing on attention, negative affect and stress in healthy adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 874. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874
