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Slow diaphragmatic (or abdominal breathing) is what our bodies were physiologically designed to do under normal circumstances. When danger or stressors appear in our environment, breathing operates as a trigger of the fight-or-flight arousal system. It allows us to quickly flee by pumping adrenalin into our system, which increases our heart rate, muscle tension and otherwise adjusts our neuro-chemical balance for readiness.

In a high state of readiness our body shuts down all non critical system like digestion, certain types of thinking, healing, and immunity. (They may be critical systems, but not at the moment when you are being chased by a bear.)

Unfortunately in our very stimulating environment, we have replaced the slow cues from the earth and sky which provide us with an all clear signal with rapid cues from TV, computers, flashing lights, loud noises, advertising, and daily non life threatening dangers such as work stressors. These artificial cues can trigger a high state of readiness on a near constant basis.

Because of this many people have been conditioned to take frequent shallow breaths from the chest under normal circumstances. Casinos know this; we should too. The flashing lights and sounds in casinos create a high level of physiological arousal that causes flight-or-fight to kick in and shutdown cause and effect thinking. This means when in danger our brains are designed to be more likely to assume things are related when they are not and act on them immediately.

When our lives are threatened, it makes sense to shut down the part of our brain that mulls over why the bear is there. Being set to a high state of physiological arousal in a casino however means we are more likely to think things like 'if I wear my lucky red shirt I will get good cards, then I need to keep playing until I win.'. Rather than thinking: 'I am losing money, I wonder if it would be best to quit now'

Marketers know this too. Notice how many flashing scene changes there are on TV commercials and billboards, these are specifically designed to create similar effects by entraining brain waves and putting us in a more susceptible emotional thinking state.

Learning diaphragmatic breathing will allow you to take back control of your own physiology and bring the non critical systems like thinking and immunity online again. Even if you don't mind if American Idol has control of your physiology, deep breathing is essential to maintaining mental and physical health as long as we reside in human bodies. Breathing not only circulates air, but assists oxygenating blood and pumping blood and lymph fluid. We have twice as much lymph fluid in our bodies as blood for a reason. The lymph system's role is detoxification, with the bulk of detoxification occurring through respiration, and not through waste elimination.

Rapid chest breathing shuts down the immune system and other systems temporarily. Repeated shallow chest breathing causes a constriction of the chest and lung tissue itself, further entrenching shallow breathing. Deep Diaphragmatic breathing will:

Decrease heart rate
Regulate moods, particularly anxiety and depression
Decompress the spine
Balance brain chemicals
Help to maintain an optimal level of carbon dioxide and alkalinity appropriate for Oxygen absorption through hemoglobin
Leverage the fact that that the lungs are larger toward the bottom " Decrease resting respiration rate
Help deep core muscles control the movement of the vertebra and pelvis
decrease blood pressure
decrease muscle tension
perform internal organ and tissue massage
enable lymphatic/immune system process to pump more effectively http://www.womentowomen.com/detoxification/lymphaticsystem.asp
decrease oxygen consumption and metabolic rate
increase oxygenation of every cell in the body
improve ability to tolerate exercise by supporting skeletal muscle and metabolic function
increase alpha wave production in the body ( alpha present in the body when healing from injury or stress) .
reducing irritation, anxiety, stress and panic levels
Preventing the ravages of constant stress from accumulating in the body
Improving the ability of sleep to provide restorative energy
Improving concentration and memory
Reducing mind racing
Improving overall immune system effectiveness
Improving pain management
Improving ability to fall asleep and sleep deeply
Reducing physical reactions to stress such as hypertension, asthma, headaches and ulcers
Increasing awareness of one's own emotions via reduced muscle tension( which impedes access to feelings)

Alternately, this is what happens in your body when there is regular shallow chest breathing

It causes a loss of CO2 from the body and makes the blood more alkaline.
The increase in alkalinity makes it harder for the hemoglobin to transport and release oxygen to the cells.
The cells get less oxygen and the body feedback mechanism signals a need for more air, so the person gets the signal to breathe more frequently and loses more Carbon Dioxide.

This can result in hyperventilation, rapid heart beat, panic, dizziness, digestive problems and many others. Teach yourself diaphramatic breathing