Learning how to Breathe (Migraines away)

So I've been breathing for quite some time now.  It almost feels like I've got it down.  I inhale, the breath comes in.  I exhale, the breath goes out.  That's all there is to it, right?

Apparently not.  Over the course of my life I've gone back and forth over several different styles of breathing.  And most of these techniques only serve to exacerbate my migraines, anxiety, stress, and physical tension.

I've been a self-taught chest (thoracic) breather for most of my life.  When I breathe, my upper chest rises and falls.  It's the wrong way to breathe.  It's called Paradoxical Breathing for a reason. 

The reason is the diaphragm and abdominal muscles are working against each other.  It takes effort to breath this way.  The muscles of the neck and shoulders also get involved.  And that's a lot of activity on a perpetually tense area of my body.

Everything I read said to breathe with the diaphragm: belly breathing.

So I've been practicing that for a year now, with a regular refocusing of the breathe that lasted at least six months before it started to become natural.  Now, I breathe with my belly.  In general, that feels more natural.  And it does feel like an improvement.

However, from time to time, I feel like I can't get enough air.  Like I'm pushing my belly out, to the point of making it sore, and still having difficulty breathing.  In these moments I reverted back to breathing with my chest. 

Now what am I doing wrong?

Recently, I've been getting into meditation and attending a local Buddhist group to gain more insight into the practice.  Last night I learned something quite interesting.  I've been doing it wrong again...

The problem is the term belly breathing.  It can be misleading. 

We're not talking about pushing our belly out for breath.  That's no better than breathing with the chest.  The proper way is breathing at the abdomen, directly under the rib cage.

A good way to determine if you're doing it right is to put your hands on your hips, and then slide them up until they meet the ribcage on the sides.  You should feel this area expand outward towards your hand when you breath.

Wouldn't you know it... the truth lies in the middle way.