I tried the hack for three consecutive days just to see if I was getting the technique right. Even though I’ve blown up dozens of balloons in my adult life (my fear of them popping in my face aside, of course), I was suddenly worried about technique when poop was involved.
On the first day, nothing happened; but I did feel my bowels becoming activated during the balloon-blowing exercise. On the second and third days, things did start moving but not immediately. I had to inflate the balloon a couple of times on two different tries before there was success. However, something else that’s interesting happened. It got me thinking about my breathing while on the toilet seat.
According to Kelly Peterson, the balloon hack does exactly that — it promotes something called “diaphragmatic breathing” to relieve constipation. Diaphragmatic breathing, also known as “belly breathing” or “abdominal breathing,” is meant to help you engage and strengthen your diaphragm while you breathe, something we don’t consciously do in the often shallow, chest-focused breaths we take as we go about our day. The idea is to slowly draw in a breath through your nose and feel the expansion of your stomach, with your chest remaining still. As you exhale, your abdominal muscles tighten and your stomach falls downward, while your chest remains still. It’s meant to help you relax, reduce your blood pressure, decrease your heart rate, and help ease symptoms of anxiety, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and stress. How does it get you to poop instantly, though?