The diaphragm is a dome-like sheet of muscle attached to the bottom of the rib cage. It is not externally palpable so it cannot be worked on by direct touch. Instead, it is affected by any work with the breathing.

Many people have the misconception that the lungs are the main breathing organs. In actuality they inflate and deflate passively as part of the breathing pulsation which is centered on the contraction and expansion of the diaphragm. When you breathe in, the diaphragm contracts and descends toward the abdominal cavity, somewhat like a rubber plunger (used for unblocking drains) when the handle is pushed down. This descent of the diaphragm's center compresses the intestines and causes the abdominal wall to swell outward. On the out-breath, the diaphragm relaxes and expands again; it releases upward with the intestines springing back as they follow so that the abdominal wall sinks inward as the chest comes down. The diaphragm's total movement is something like that of a jellyfish whose dome contracts downward while its circumference expands, then relaxes upward while its circumference diminishes.

Since the diaphragm muscles originate in the base of the ribs, diaphragmatic movement may be impeded by a chest block. The diaphragm must contract downward into the abdominal cavity and rigidity of the abdominal wall (which may not expand to let the intestines push down) may prevent it. Since it drives the breathing "pump," the diaphragm may also be impeded by blocks keeping throat and jaw tight and thus restricting air flow. Finally, diaphragmatic movement may be impeded if the muscles between the legs, which form the pelvic floor, are in a state of chronic tightness since this also prevents the expansion of the abdominal cavity as the diaphragm contracts downward.

Thus, the diaphragm may be mobilized by work on the oral, cervical, thoracic, abdominal and pelvic segments. And, since breathing is often blocked by repressed fear which may in turn be anchored in oculomotor rigidity, even work on the ocular segment may help mobilize the diaphragm. As the center of the whole breathing pulsation, the diaphragm is effected by work on any other segment.

It would be hard to associate the blockage of any specific feeling with a diaphragmatic block. It may be obvious that rigid eyes or jaw block tenderness, or that rigid shoulders block longing, or that a stiff pelvis and thighs block pelvic movement in sex. But the diaphragm itself, since it is invisible, is not associated with any particular expression. Reich remarked, however, that a diaphragmatic block expresses a general "no" to the movement of life. In it the organism's whole center of pulsation is partly shut down. Any release of emotional repression may dissolve part of the diaphragm's basic "no." In therapy the breathing is not usually mobilized in any lasting sense until the hard emergency feelings of fear, hatred, and rage emerge. As always, this seems to be necessary before the pulsation can open further into a solid expression of longing or pleasure or joy.

The work you will have done so far on the upper segments may already have mobilized the diaphragm to some extent. Only a few direct measures can be taken and they are more or less useless as long as the chest has not been mobilized enough to let down well. They may, however, help in the final stages of the chest's letting down and as a general stimulation to the breathing at any stage in the work.

Without becoming morbidly concentrated on it, some work on gagging will help mobilize the diaphragm. Do not pursue this to the extent that you associate the whole of this couples work with the rather unpleasant experience of gagging, nor, of course, to the extent that it becomes a necessary ritual. It is not necessary to gag in every work session, especially once it is established that the explorer can gag.

5:1 A more direct way of working on the diaphragmatic area is to ask the explorer to lie face down. Look for a "belt" of raised muscle just behind the waist. Such belts are not uncommon even higher up the back. One frequent block in the chest segment is a belt in the center of the back in approximately the same place as a woman's bra strap, and about the same size (it exists just as frequently in men). This and the diaphragmatic belt can be tackled with some direct pressure from the knuckles while the explorer breathes out. This may make the explorer squirm or kick and yell. Check whether they object to the momentary pain, and whether it lasts. Do not press so hard that the pain is severe.

5:2 With the explorer lying on their back you can massage gently with your fingertips along the Iine of the lower ribs (if this hurts, stop). There are sensitive internal organs in this area (pancreas on the left side, liver and gall bladder on the right). Two or three fingers breadth above the navel there is a sensitive area over the solar plexus. You can press gently down on this with the flat underside of your fingers each time the explorer breathes out, as an aid to making the out-breath more complete. Be sure the explorer lets the chest down as well.

In general, any work in which the person screams or yells angrily tends to be best at mobilizing the diaphragm. The previous work on anger may have helped.

A very severe diaphragmatic block, meaning a spasm of the diaphragm itself without any heavy armoring of the chest and abdominal segments, may have originated in "respiratory depression" as far back as at the time of the person's birth or in very early infancy. It is unlikely to be relieved in couples work. Even in therapy it is at times difficult to effect greatly. Its main effect is a somewhat low energy level, and this may have to be accepted. A relatively low-energy level person who has mobilized the expression of the emotions can function more healthily than a higher energy person with major expressive blocks. Everything is relative. The great poet and novelist Thomas Hardy was born in a state of respiratory depression and as an adult was low in energy. He lived and wrote until the age of eighty-seven.