The diaphragm muscle plays an important if not the most important role in respiration. It is innervated by the phrenic nerve which is a branch of the cranial nerves. But the diaphragm is a muscle, a large muscle that also works to support and manage the pressures within the human body specific to the other diaphragms- pelvic diaphragm below and the intra-abdominal pressure, the crevice-thoracic diaphragm above and the lungs and pleura, as well as the cranial diaphragm located in the skull- there is a direct link to respiratory function and the brain and ANS via the phrenic nerves. This one muscle is of the most importance in the body and so few know how to train it, stretch it, or how to integrate it into proper movement patterns. Think about this the next time you are working with your client or patient.